Baptism

 On the day that I was born in New Orleans, I was enrolled in the Cradle Roll Sunday School Department at First Baptist Church.  As my father was a minister and my Mother a Sunday School teacher, going to church was a way of life.  We would go mornings and evenings on Sundays, and sometimes on Wednesdays.  I also went to Vacation Bible School every summer, and Baptist conference centers with Daddy.  Our lives were intertwined with church. 
 In 1964, my father decided that it might be time for me to accept Jesus as my Savior; join the church; and be baptized.  So, I spent some time reading the Bible, and learning what all of this meant.  When I told him that I was ready, I did all of that on Easter Sunday at First Baptist Church in Columbia.  That night, Daddy was going to baptize me.  The pastor of the church was Archie Ellis, and he was to baptize others on that night.  We were in a changing room, putting on robes for baptizing, and waiting for the moment to go down into the water.  My father had always worn white underwear.  I had always worn white underwear.  So, I thought all preachers wore white underwear.  When I saw Dr. Ellis changing his clothes into his robe, he was wearing blue underwear.  I thought that was a sin.  I was shocked that the pastor would sin like that.  I never told my father, but I was quite disappointed in our pastor.   White was right.