Thank You Nicholas

Baptismal events at the Episcopal Church tend to happen on certain days; today was one of those with the bishop in town.

I did not know the little boy before hand, nor his parents. They brought him in his stroller, a Pooh bear attached to the front bumper bar. Once they passed toward the front, I could see the medical devices. Then, I noticed the tubes -- they looked like ventilation ones. No special stroller however; a family working hard to make this youngsters life what some would call "normal."

I know a little bit about those rigors. One of our kids had a monitor, we have had both parents face long-term care issues. I say little, because our challenges were nothing compared to what I could perceive theirs might be.

But today, that was not evident at all. Smiles. Faces of genuine glee. And, an angelic sort of contentment. Maybe blessing is a better word.

They were so happy. They had gotten their young son to church, and he would make it to his baptism.

A lot of our ceremony is about the commitment of the god parents and the congregation to support the babies and young children baptized along their life long path. I couldn't help but wonder if this little man -- I say that because children who weather such challenges are often more mature, more sated, more together at times than adults -- will be with us for us to live up to our end of those prayers.

This much I know today. Whatever difficulties I face, whatever events that seem so terribly important, they aren't anything like his. And I could only bask in the true happiness of little Nicholas and his parents and extended family.

Thank you Nicholas. God bless.