St. James Anglican Church Nov. 4, 2012

I arrived late for church, rushing on Sunday morning as I normally do, waking late, taking too long to dress, racing in the Miata with Gilbert. "Better late, than never," I said, hurrying up the stairs. "You're early. It's day light savings time." Assistant Priest, Mother Jessica Schaap, said smiling. Now I know why my friend Laura had written on Facebook that she was changing all her clocks the day before. Well, it was good to be early. A baptism occurred. An adult. I was baptized as an adult. In the Baptist tradition I grew up in, adulthood was a common time for baptism. Certainly John baptised adults, including Jesus. It's a commitment of faith to a body of spiritual seekers following in the footsteps of the Lord. When anyone is baptized we all gather to recite our vows again. We are in the company of saints. "Lord hear our prayer." AJ had had her baby too. That was obvious from her slim figure as much as the little guy who woke up to object to my taking his picture. He'd no doubt been plagued by papparazi. Little Alexander. He sure has good lungs. Lovely family. I told Father Mark Greenaway-Robbins about my father's dying. He was petting Gilbert, my cockatoo at the time, and expressed his kind condolences. He included John Hay in the prayers. Dad's name sounded fine in the church. I teared up too, thinking of quail hunting, fishing and camping as kids, my brother, mother, the dogs, Fort Garry. "Mom and Dad were together more than 60 years," I told Father Mark. The Anglican priest in Kanata had an outreach to the home where Dad stayed. Mom and Dad had started out in a Baptist church but there's no denominations in heaven. I'm glad Father Mark asked if he could include Dad in the prayers. Mom and he would have liked that. I did. New life and death and new beginnings. Sister Mary Christian Cross read from Revelations: "I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end." It was good to be at communion. The communion antiphon was "Protect me O God, for I take refuge in you: I have said to the Lord, "You are my God, my good above all other."