Standing on the bank in my cotton shift, my hair loose upon my shoulders, I watch as the others are raised in the Spirit.
Arms hugging my chest, I try to calm my shivering – not against the cold, but fear. Fear that when I’m laid under my hair will rise around my face, threatening to choke the life out of me.
I am a fraud. Prepared for this ritual my entire life, I cannot believe what I do not understand. I pray that I don’t die before I’m saved.
Yet, isn’t a life of lies still an eternity of torment?
100 Word Song, a writing challenge from Lance based on a weekly music prompt. This week’s challenge is inspired by Live, “Pain Lies On The Riverside.”
Pain lies on the riverside
And Pain will never say goodbye
Pain lies on the riverside
So put you feet in the water
Put your head in the water
Put your soul in the water
Edit:
When I was younger, about 12 or 13, I attended baptism class at my church. It was several weeks of religious education that once completed, the participants traditionally were baptized. It wasn’t required, but I don’t remember anyone ever not being baptized after the classes. I didn’t want to follow through with the final ceremony, but it was what was expected of me.
At this church, baptism was total submersion. We weren’t baptized in the river, but there was a baptistery at the front of the church behind the chancel. It was usually closed off by a heavy curtain. The pool was like a huge aquarium. A clear glass wall rose up about four feet, and was open at the top so the pastor and supplicant could be seen and heard by the entire congregation.
On these graduation Sundays, we kids were all dressed in white robes. Stepping into the water, the first thing we noticed was how cold it was. Crossing our arms over our chest, the pastor laid one hand over ours, and the other on our back. There were several questions asked and answered in the affirmative, then we were drawn under the water.
The natural tendency was to struggle to get above the water, to try to get a foothold. To struggle would have been embarrassing to us, and to our parents and other family attending the ceremony. We had to give over complete trust to our pastor.
As an adult, it’s still difficult to not struggle against convention, to set aside my doubts and surrender to blind faith. I need to feel grounded, but I didn’t then, and I don’t now.
Thin spiral notebook 
I love the post, and the picture especially. Eerily tranquil. It’s got a quiet kind of menace to it, which I feel is very reflective of the piece.
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I like! Certainly not what I was thinking when I chose the song for this week. The terror is palpable.
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religion freaks me out. And ceremony like this doubly so. I just don’t see how it could benefit my life so…I stay away 🙂
I can see a terrified young girl debating to stay or peel out of there and never look back. Nice job
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Love this: the picture AND the post. So descriptive it makes me feel like I’m there.
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Gorgeous. I LOVE that photo, and oh what an interesting take on accepting faith on many levels. Great choice on this one!
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This piece hit me. Hard, Beautifully done.
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You’ve really gotten me to feel what this girl must be feeling, and that picture seems perfect for it!
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Love this. The way you conjure up her floating hair as she’s submerged, before it even happens, is lovely and unsettling.
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Talking Heads came straight to my mind, too. It’s an interesting question about what someone who isn’t prepared before such an alarming ritual. (My mind goes straight to brain eating bacteria.)
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wow, so glad you’re slated for the next song choice because this is amazing. My middle daughter is asking to go through this and I know she’s not ready or knowledgeable enough.
amazing imagery and thought…one of your best short pieces
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