Saying thank you to the one that baptized me

I just got off the phone with my first pastor, Fred Moffat. He is in his late 90s now, retired and living in Kentucky. I found out recently that his wife Jane passed away last week after suffering a bad fall and the late stages of Alzheimer’s. I had not talked to Fred and Jane in years. They moved back to Kentucky after serving at East Highland Park (which is now New Highland) for 10 years.

Fred was the pastor who baptized me at the age of 20. He was the one to answer all my questions about baptism, what baptism means, what a life with Christ means, and what that decision is about. He was basically the one who started me on the journey and after my baptism, gave me a lit candle and a dash of salt – “you are the light of the world and the salt of the earth,” he said.

Being a University of Kentucky graduate, he was also the one who started my competitive nature between Kentucky and Duke. When Kentucky beat Duke on a Saturday night, Fred wore his Kentucky tie to church on that Sunday and in the pulpit, he looked at me and just rubbed his tie. I tried to figure out how to “return the favor” when Duke and Christian Laettner beat Kentucky, but if you can picture a 6’5”white haired, Harley riding pastor standing in front of you; it’s a little intimidating. So I just smiled and moved on.

Anyway, while we were talking on the phone, I realized that he did not know that I am currently serving as a minister and that made me also realize that I never said thank you to him. I’m sure I did when he consoled me after my dad died. I am sure I did before he left our church for retirement. But I never said thank you for starting me on the journey that ultimately finds me serving a church with his witness in my foundation. So I thanked him. He smiled in a way that I was able to “see” it over the phone…and then he did something I was not expecting…he returned the favor. He gave me some wise counsel and then we said goodbye.

So it begs the question, have you thanked the one who baptized you? You just might find an unexpected gift – someone who understands.