Take A Galvanized Tub, Add Water And Prayer

A number of years ago there was a big event at the Richmond Coliseum and a friend of mine who was participating in the event needed a galvanized tub for drinks or some such thing. Somehow he found out we had such a tub and that we weren’t using it to dip sheep or dogs or to make home brew, so he asked to borrow it.

Now I know that going to downtown Richmond can be problematic at times, as in many cities (sorry Richmond Council on Tourism), and I know that you have to watch your pocketbook or purse – but of course I guess you pretty much need to do that wherever you are these days, and even in those days. What I didn’t know was that you also needed to watch your galvanized tub. Someone must have needed the tub more than my friend because when he went to pick it up in order to return it it was gone.

Now if I’d known about the value of the thing I’d have insured it or placed a GPS thingamagigger on it – though I don’t know if they had those GPS thingamagiggers back when this happened.

When my friend told me the tub was missing I told him not to worry about it, after all the event was the Lord’s event to serve the people of Richmond so the Lord could do what He wanted to with the tub. My friend and I referred to it afterwards as, “The Lord’s tub.”

There is a passage in the Gospel of John, Chapter 5, (that would be page 1078 in the Bible), about a man who Jesus healed at the Pool of Bethesda. Seems that the water of this pool was occasionally touched by an angel (no, not Della Reese) and that whoever made it into the pool first was healed. Since this was long before Jacuzzi or other jet-type tubs I have no reason to doubt the Gospel account. It seems the old boy in the Gospel could never quite make it in on time – kind of like going to a ball game where they give a free gift to the first 100 people through the turnstiles and you are always number 101.

I have worked with folks who never seemed to make it in on time; the dog ate their keys, or the car had a flat, or they stopped to give CPR to a stray cat – but I digress.

Years ago in a little country church in a little town I saw a Pool of Bethesda service. I never saw one before that night and I’ve never seen one since that night, but I did see one that night. But why make this post any longer than it already is? Why not wait a day or two to finish it?