I went to church with my best friend, Jared. We spent the whole day learning.
We were separated by grade. I was considered 5th, due to being a 5th grader in elementary school. My friend was a 3rd grader, so me and him were separated.
The teacher was an old guy, easily 50 years old. He told us a story. "There's a good man who's good all his life and wasn't baptized, but he didn't go to heaven. There's a mean guy who wasn't good and was baptized, and he went to heaven. Why did the mean guy go to heaven and the good guy didn't?" There was silence.
I knew the answer to this question, it was obvious. I raised my hand. "Yes?" He asked me. "It's because the mean guy was baptized and the good guy wasn't." I said. "That's correct." He replied.
He went on to explain that being baptized is important. I was convinced. I wanted to be baptized.
A few days later, I went with Jared again to church. I watched him get baptized. The priest dunked my friend in the water and pulled him back up quickly.
That's it? Is that all I have to do to get baptized? Was that holy water? Does holy water feel different than regular water? What is the difference between water and holy water?
All these questions flooded in my head as I was watching from the sideline.
Everyone cheered and I was proud. My best friend was now safe from Hell.
A few days after, Jared wanted me to get baptized. "You need to be baptized." He said "You could die at any moment!" I believed him. I wanted to get baptized.
I told my parents I wanted to be baptized. My mom was a bit awestruck but I didn't notice at the time. My dad asked me which religion I wanted to be baptized in.
"Jewish, Mormon, Catholicism?" He asked. "Uh..." I said, the only noise I could conjure. Why was there so many? "Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism?" He went on.
There was the word, 'Christianity.'
"I want to be baptized in Christianity." I said. "I want to go to heaven."
"You shouldn't just be baptized because you want to go to heaven." My mom replied.
"No, that's not the reason, I want to be baptized because I love God." I said, half lying.
"Good because you don't need to be baptized to go to heaven." My mom said.
I agreed but was confused. Why would the teacher at the church tell me that I needed to be baptized? I didn't think God would send me to Hell just because I wasn't baptized, but would he? I had to make sure, so I decided to be baptized. I wouldn't tell my parents the full reason why.
