The River

" 'Have you ever been baptized?' the preacher asked.
'What's that?' he murmured.
'If I baptize you,' the preacher said, 'you'll be able to go to the Kingdom of Christ. You'll be washed in the river of suffering, son, and you'll go by the deep river of life. Do you want that?'
'Yes,' the child said, and thought, I won't go back to the apartment then, I'll go under the river.
'You won't be the same again,' the preacher said, 'You'll count.' . . .
[H]e tightened his hold and swung him upside down and plunged his head into the water. He held him under while he said the words of Baptism and then he jerked him up again and looked sternly at the gaping child. Bevel's eyes were dark and dilated. 'You count now,' the preacher said. 'You didn't even count before.' "

From Flannery O' Connor's story The River. I don't want to give the end away, but the story is about a neglected little boy who learns to hunger for the Kingdom of Christ, which he associates with the river. Its highly disturbing and its all about meeting grace. I especially love this section where he gets baptized...You count now...