“I am so glad to see you all this morning, family. It fills my heart with such joy.” Abner’s love penetrated the makeshift room. “The word tells us that no one can enter the kingdom unless they are born again. I was reborn while away, and all of you must be reborn in the same way if you want to join me in the kingdom. If we are to be born again, then we must put to death our old identity.” His hands never stopped moving, punctuating his words and accentuating his gestures. Will and Keith started bringing out the yoga mats we kept piled in the left corner underneath the blue canopy. “Today Will is ready to renounce his old, sinful life and be reborn into the kingdom.” He started clapping, and we all joined in, even though we didn’t know what was happening. The room reeked of nervous sweat. “Please clear a spot in the middle,” Abner instructed. We moved to the sides, creating an opening within the circle. Abner and Keith rolled out the yoga mats next to each other. Abner motioned to Will when they’d finished, and he stepped onto the mats. I’d never seen him look scared. Even when Abner was barking orders and threatening punishment, Will remained calm, impassive. Not today. His face was white. He ground his teeth back and forth. His other hand twitched with nervous energy as he tried to be still and wait for whatever was going to happen next.

“The same rules will govern every ceremony.” Abner spoke like a drill sergeant. “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom.” He turned his attention to Will. “Are you ready?”

“I am.”

“Then, as we discussed, you must stand naked in front of God.”

Will pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the floor. He undid his pants and took them off until he stood in his underwear. He stepped out of his underwear next. I looked away out of respect for Margo.

“Jesus told Nicodemus it was impossible for a man to return to his mother’s womb and be born again, but God has called us to return to the womb.” Abner’s gaze pierced the room while Will lay down on the mat. His body formed a T on it. He crossed his arms over his chest, his body glistening with sweat. Abner and Keith took a dark hood and threw it over Will’s head before spreading one of our thick black sheets on top of him. They tucked it in around him before taking another sheet and rolling him on top of that one. They kept rolling him over until it was tightly wrapped around his body, with only his feet sticking out, and there was no way for him to move. They repositioned him on the mat so that his body stretched the length of it.