Today is Maundy Thursday, which turns my thoughts to a special
Maundy Thursday years ago. . . .

My foster dad (My mom died when I was 13.) was the youth minister at Casa Linda Presbyterian Church. In his wisdom, he didn't make me go to church or church events. I had a wide independent streak, so that would have likely backfired. And so I didn’t go to church. But both Rick and Annette impressed me, especially with their peace. So I decided to check things out for myself by reading the Bible, starting with the Gospels.

Anyway, he invited me to come to a Junior High lock-in at the church. My attitude was “Well, it’s a church thing. But it sounds like fun anyway.� So I went. (Yes, my church experiences before my teen years were not positive. Church was a place where you saw a lot of hypocrites and got bored out of your gourd.)

Well at the lock-in there was a girl who took an obvious liking to me. And I liked her. This was the first really cute girl I can remember liking me. As to be expected of a 13 year old guy, I was as high as a kite.

Towards the end of the night, she invited me to come to Communicants class. I didn’t know what the hey Communicants class was, but she was in it, so I went.

There was one last class (I joined in the middle of it.), then the Communicants retreat.

At the retreat, one of the church elders explained the Gospel to us. And it immediately clicked with me. Probably I had the Gospel preached to me in Church before, but it was just religious words to me. But this time I understood it and accepted it almost immediately. At what point it became more than just an intellectual acceptance and I trusted in the Gospel for myself, I don’t know. But that came very quickly, perhaps on the retreat itself.

Meanwhile, the girl dumped me at the retreat. I went to my cabin and cried hard. But, like I tell people, I lost the girl but gained the Lord.

As was the custom at that church, we made our public profession of faith and took our first communion on Maundy Thursday. I remember having a strong peace after the service that was almost tangible.

That was on Maundy Thursday, March 27th, 1975.

Oh, there’s a reason I remember that -- it was my 14th birthday.

How many people can celebrate their physical birthday and spiritual birthday on the same day?

(By the way, in writing this, it occurred to me that next year will be my 30th spiritual birthday. I think that will be worthy of a celebration. So I looked up when March 27th will fall next year – it’s Easter Sunday! Next year will be one special Easter for me.)