Left to my own devices, I’m like a tide pool, with these little crabs and animals struggling for survival. I run out of soul food or emotional nourishment. Then from the audience or from my church or whatever, I can feel the tide come in and bring with it little bits of seaweed or krill or nourishment. It’s gentle but it’s startling--the cold water is startling and it brings with it everything I need.

 

I’m a worried person and that’s why I think it’s such difficult work. Our whole lives have been practicing not being startled or surprised by water and by the baptism.  That’s why baptism is so profound—you’re submerged, you can’t breathe, and you sputter for a minute--but when you come out, you’re a different person.

- Anne Lamott, interviewed on Beliefnet.com