The day was sunny with a warm breeze which wafted along the jagged canyon. The congregation of twenty sang gently as a Baptist minister led a young woman by the hand into the tan coloured waters of the slow-moving river. A river which flowed along the canyon and passed the small wooden, white painted church.
He stopped when the pair were waist deep and placed one arm around her waist and dipped her upper body under the surface.
“I baptise you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost,” he boomed. He then raised her up and asked: “Who’s next?”
A young man in a crumpled suit strolled into the waters. He had short brown hair and a thick stubble grew around his gentle chin. The singing came to a halt as he stopped in front of the minister who gazed at the stranger then knelt down in the river. Only his head and the tops of his shoulders remained above the surface.
“Forgive me my Lord, I cannot baptise you. It is you who should baptise me!” he said with downcast eyes.
The young man raised the baptist up with one hand under his left arm.
“It is I who must ask for your forgiveness as it is I who have brought this and further developments into being for a purpose. We are here in a different time and a different place my friend, but the message is the same and so the actions must be the same-so please!” He said as he opened a hand to the river.
So, the man was baptised in front of the quiet congregation, who, after the ceremony, rushed into the water and knelt before him as he strode out of the river.
“Rise my friends for the Kingdom of Heaven is nigh. Spread the joyous news,” he shouted.
“I don't understand my Lord: about bringing this into being?” The baptist asked as he caught up with the man.
“John, I have to find out who I'm up against this time, and the only way to lure a snake out of its lair is to present it with the prey.”
“I see.”
“The stakes are high this time John. You must make ready for a desperate war my brother,” the man said putting a hand on the baptist's shoulder and then walking out of the river.
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