THE 2024 ROLLER COASTER AND BATHTUB BAPTISMS

I wish I could tell you the 2024 will be smooth sailing, and a piece of cake.

But I don’t think that will be the case. Instead, 2024 could prove to be a gut-wrenching roller coaster ride. In fact, the nausea and vertigo could result from things happening in many different areas and levels.

There was a time when I really liked roller coasters, but my love affair with death defying rides left me a number of years ago. I know that I am not now a prime candidate to be a test pilot or an astronaut. I have no desire to go from 3 Gs to 0 Gs in thirty seconds. When I was a teenager, I had fantasies of being an astrophysicist for NASA, and going to the Moon or Mars. But now I am sufficiently happy to confine my travels to the interstate highway system.

Last summer, I went to Busch Gardens with my daughters— Therese and Robin. Therese was the 8-year-old daredevil, who wanted to go on all the roller coasters. Fortunately, she was several inches too small to qualify for ridership on the scariest of the upside-down nightmare steel beam gizmos. But I still accompanied my daughter on a roller coaster where the cars fell for at least 8 feet— and so did my stomach. “Let’s do it again, Daddy,” she said to me at the end of the ride.

I think turbulence and challenges could come to us from many different sources in 2024. First, we will be having a contentious presidential election in November. I believe we will see even more polarization in our society.

But before election day even arrives, we will be going through several difficult court trials throughout our land. Whichever way the verdicts go we are going to have many unhappy campers.

Second, so far it has looked like we may experience a “soft landing” where high inflation is drained out of our system without causing a massive recession. However, prior to my call to ministry I was a “card-carrying” economist, and I can see several potential storm clouds on the horizon.

For example, continued high interest rates have helped reduce the rate of growth in the price level. However, consumers, businesses, and financial institutions could face real difficulties in the face of relatively expensive capital. Also, in many foreign markets, things have not been going as smoothly as they have been so far in the United States. We may have to deal with increased foreign economic turmoil. Problems in the Chinese real estate, and labor market sectors do not bode well for the world economy.

Third, climate change and the environment, are presenting us with growing risks of dangerous weather patterns. Rising sea levels and serious storms could significantly increase worldwide migration. These shifts have had significant political ramifications. It has vastly altered voting patterns in some countries and created more discord. The notion of “civil society” has become almost antiquated in several of the leading industrialized nations.

Fourth, we have seen a rise in gun violence, and the lack of trust and faith in many of our key institutions. This is not just a US phenomenon, but I believe these trends do not bode well for the challenges we will have to face in 2024. On top of this, I do not believe that we are out of the woods, yet in terms of pandemics.

Fifth, I would point to a wide range of data from the Pew Charitable Trust, Gallup, and other sources, which show a decline in the connection people have with a spiritual path. They may still be seeking “transcendence.” But to play around with the words of a famous country music song: “They are looking for transcendence in all the wrong places.”

Lastly, we are in the middle of a number of local wars. Any one of these conflicts could break out and become major regional – – or even worldwide – – catastrophe. In recent months, we have seen the insanity of war being conducted next to the largest nuclear reactor in all of Europe.

Any one or all the above could create a very difficult roller coaster ride in 2024. But instead of giving way to despair and negative thinking I would ask you to listen to a story which is about a “bathtub baptism.”

Tia McCollors

Tia McCollors is an insightful spiritual writer. She is the author of many books, including: A Million Blessing and A Cross to Bear: Miracles and Mysteries.

Recently, it has been anything but smooth sailing with her older son who is now almost out of his teenage years. Sometimes it has seemed as if the frontal lobes are not connected to the rest of her son’s brain. He has often been reacting without really thinking, and this has gotten him into some real trouble.

Nevertheless, Tia has been remembering a time when things were different. She is looking beyond the current “crisis du jour,” and she is remembering that there is a Christ within her son.

It was a typical school night during a cold winter. “I was perched on the side of the tub while my then five-year-old son was using a cup to scoop in pour water through his soapy fingers. He loved bath time and would soak until the water grew tepid, and his fingertips would like wrinkley raisins,” Tia remembers.

“Mama, I want to be baptized,” her son said. Tia responded that they could make plans to schedule a baptism date at their church. “Right now,” her son insisted!

“He stopped scooping water, and looked at me with bright, wide eyes. It was a simple, but powerful, request. My husband is a minister, so I figured there was no time like the present. I called him to the bathroom, and we led my son through a confession of faith that he could understand. Even though my son wanted to be completely submerged in the cloud of soapy water, I turned on the faucet to refill his cup with freshwater, then poured it over his head,” Tia explained.

It was a moment that Tia will never forget. “And I’ll never forget God’s promise as it pertains to all of my children. Promises to give them help and a future,” she insisted.

Parenting her teenage son has really had some challenges and growing pains. It has been a roller coaster that has had some mishaps. During those times, Tia drew strength from her memories of her son’s earlier faith, and the moments that Spirit was there in their daily lives.

Tia remembered that the Christ remains in her teenage son, and she had faith that the sun will shine again, even though the current weather might be cloudy.

I would suggest that we follow Myrtle Fillmore’s advice, and “look beyond appearances” as we face the challenges of 2024. I also would suggest that we remember similar “bathtub baptisms” that may have occurred in our lives and society in the past.

Sometimes we may wish that the spiritual seeds that we have planted would take root and grow sooner than what is happening. But in these cases, we can affirm DIVINE ORDER and not lose our faith.

Remember, 2024 can be a year of real spiritual growth despite the challenges. In fact, it even may be a year of profound spiritual growth because of the challenges.