A Belly Full of Pasta

“I am so glad that Jesus Christ has compassion. I have made so many stupid and often rebellious mistakes that if Jesus was not merciful and compassionate, I would bust Hell wide open, and deservedly so.” – Bob Williamson

As my freshman year in college was drawing to a close, I started weighing my options for a summer job. Although my parents were kind enough to foot my tuition bill, I still had to pay for my off-campus apartment, my food, my books, and other necessities of life.

Fortunately, my oldest sister had secured a position as a Water Safety Instructor at a local summer camp. It was owned by Bobby Clarke, a Hall of Famer who played center for the Philadelphia Flyers. Since Noreen would be running the pool and hiring all the lifeguards, all I had to do was earn my Advanced Lifesaving certificate and the job was mine.

And so, one Friday after my last class was over, I drove home from St. John’s University in Jamaica, New York to our home in South Jersey. However, before I headed to Jersey Wahoos, the indoor swimming complex where the American Red Cross was teaching the lifesaving class, I sat down for my favorite meal: spaghetti!

Back then, I could eat a full pound of spaghetti in a single sitting, which is exactly what I did that evening, covered with my mom’s homemade meat sauce. Then, it was off to class, where I figured that the first night would be simply a review of the basics. In fact, I doubted whether I would even get my bathing suit wet.

Well, I figured wrong. Very, very wrong, because the first thing the instructor told us to do was to swim 20 laps of the Olympic-sized pool. I will spare you the gruesome details, but after two laps of freestyle, I did about 10 laps of breaststroke, followed by eight laps of sidestroke. As I completed each lap, I tried to bribe the person who was counting to cut me a break. After all, I was carrying a full pound of spaghetti in my stomach and could have used some compassion.

As you might imagine, I was required to swim the entire 20 laps and – since my summer job hung in the balance – I made it by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin. Then, it was all I could do to pull myself out of the pool and… jelly legs and all… walk to my seat.

Thank God that He is much more compassionate than my swimming instructor!

“But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President