Sam's Sermon

It was exactly a year ago that we had many family members here to visit and be part of Ben and Sam's baptism at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church here in Incline. The entire service was beautiful with Matt and Steph taking on the roles of godparents for the boys and our Reverends Jim Beebe, and Dave Mussatti, along with our local ordained monk, Santa Claus, carrying out the blessings. I remember being teary-eyed watching our babies become "real" members of the church and feeling the love from the congregation all around us.

I guess it's only appropriate that today Sam let his voice be heard.

Reverend Beebe always delivers great sermons. They are thoughtful, engaging, sometimes humorous, and often have a touch of pop-culture to bring the point home. My only issue with his sermons are that they are so interesting that I am disappointed to miss about 60% of each one because of my attempts to keep the boys quiet and in their seats. Today's sermon was no different. Jim was talking about people's needs. He spoke of the sisters, Mary and Martha, sitting with Jesus and listening to him speak - well, Mary was listening but Martha was distracted by all the things she needed to do. She was annoyed that her sister was so caught up by Jesus' words. (I may have gotten that wrong but you can check out this link to Jim's actual sermon notes to clarify :) http://tahoeepiscopal.com/doc/sermons/INeedINeedINeed.html)

Jim went on to quote the movie, "What About Bob?" In the movie a successful psychiatrist (played by Richard Dreyfus) loses his mind after one of his most dependent patients - Bob (Bill Murray), a highly manipulative obsessive-compulsive, tracks him down during his family vacation. At one point in the movie Bob says, "I need. I need"

As Reverend Beebe came to this quote in his sermon Sam piped in with his own, "I nee, I nee!" You can imagine the response from the congregation - chuckles, and even a few belly laughs erupted in the sanctuary. Brian and I both began laughing to the point of tears. Sam immediately saw the reaction and continued on with his chanting, "I nee, I nee!"
Jim came back with, "We couldn't have timed that better!"

After the service Jim came up to us and jokingly asked if we had cued Sam. He also added that it's always nice to know people are listening to his sermon. Jim seems especially impressed with how pious Sam is...when receiving communion Sam will stand at the altar and let Jim place the bread in his mouth rather then having it placed in his hands ("What is he?" Jim asks while smiling, "a Roman Catholic?"). And upon sneezing Sam will say, "Amen," rather than, "Bless you."

So, exactly one year after getting teary-eyed at St. Pat's during the boys' baptism I did it again as I rejoiced the marvel that is my little boy, Sam.