Our granddaughter is a water-baby. Of course, I would get in all sorts of trouble for labeling her a “baby” of any sort, since she’ll soon reach the ripe old age of six. But she truly does love the water. If she could, she would spend endless hours in the pool, or, if no pool is available, she would settle for running through the sprinklers – or taking a shower – or squirting Papa with a squirt gun ….

Papa, on the other hand, is not so fond of swimming. In the first place, you have to change clothes and that seems a bit too much to ask on my day off. And, besides that, I don’t actually swim all that well and would rather die of old age than drowning. But a Papa's got to do what a Papa's got to do so Friday afternoon found me treading water in a close friend’s pool while the soon-to-be 6-year-old swam circles around me and offered to teach me how. Does the phrase “insult to injury” sound about right?

A funny thing happened on the way to the deep end, though. I started feeling rather refreshed. I’m not sure if it was the outside air, the company of my three favorite females, or just the cool, clear water, but something washed over me and left me feeling brighter, newer, cleaner and a bit saltier as well.

Sometimes people feel that way about their time of worship. It’s not really their thing. They don’t attend very often (and when they do, someone worships circles around them and offers to tell them how to do it). Some folks are afraid to get in over their heads or completely immerse themselves in the experience, only to realize that they thoroughly enjoy the time of refreshing. Looking back, they can easily identify the brighter, newer, cleaner, better self that emerges.

If it’s been a while since you’ve been to worship, why not get your feet wet this Sunday? I can recommend a great place to visit (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) and I promise not to dunk you – unless you want me to. See you Sunday.