I figured it was just a matter of time…and sure enough, there came the text.

Don Lawrence.

Hmmmmm….the senior pastor at Christ’s Church. I don’t get a ton of texts from him. This is something that’s going to be either funny or deadly serious (someone died or is in the hospital, for example).

Turns out it was both.

Unless you’re totally unplugged from American society, you’ve probably heard about or seen something concerning the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

People are dumping buckets of ice cold water on their heads and challenging others to do the same. It’s been a brilliant and totally unplanned fund raiser and awareness raiser for the ALS Association.

ALS stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

The progressive disease aggressively attacks nerve cells and eventually leads to total paralysis, even though the mind stays sharp. An estimated 30,000 Americans are suffering from the terrible disease.

Folks are making videos of themselves dumping ice water on their heads – or creatively having others do the dumping – then challenging friends, family and others on social media to do the same within 24 hours or donate $100 to ALS.

Of course many people are doing both. The New York Times reported Aug. 17 that more than 1.2 million videos have been shared on Facebook alone between June 1 and Aug. 13.

The ALS Association said it had received $13.3 million in donations between July 29 and Aug. 17, compared with $1.7 million during the same period last year. By Monday (as I write this) the figure had climbed to $15.6 million. Who knows what it will be by Wednesday?

So Don’s text included the video he shot of his ice bucket dump, challenging myself and two other friends. Like I said, the text was both funny and serious – at least the cause is serious…

By Sunday afternoon I had my ice video posted on Facebook, challenging a friend, a co-worker and a niece to take up the cause as well.

The ice bucket challenge was apparently making the rounds on the Internet and elsewhere at a low key level until it was specifically tied to ALS earlier this summer, being inspired by Pete Frates, a 29-year-old former college baseball player in the Boston area, and some of his friends and family.

Frates suffers from the disease but wanted to turn the ice trend into a fundraiser for the disease.

My video has already been posted on The Times’ Facebook page if you want to see it.

Also, a gathering is being organized for all citizens at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 23, at Fountain Park’s amphitheater for a group ice bucket challenge (see story on the Spouts page). Bring water, ice and a towel. And don’t forget the checkbook.

If you want to skip the fuss and simply donate, go to www.alsa.org.

Maybe this disease can be iced…