The beginning of the end of an institution

Dear Friend,

You'd think this fine wrought iron menagerie was a left over from a fallen institution. Or perhaps moved in from a nearby cemetery. You'd be wrong. The gates are not that old. Put up by a local businessman who drew inspiration from "if you build it they will come" and "if they come they will spend money", the gates of St. Peter, MN aren't much more than two decades old. But allegedly, people have flocked, from all over, to have their picture taken at "the pearly gate."

Somehow religious types love the idea of gatekeepers. It seems to be a common theme of the stories you tell about your past. All I can say, one more time, on behalf of myself and the rest of the pharisees, is "Please forgive us. For we really suck. And have. A lot. For a long time. And we've done a lot of damage to a lot of people. All in the name of Jesus." And that passage that we think is always written for someone else? Those words that ought to haunt us?

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Maybe it should bother us more that this comes on the heels of "judge not lest you be judged." Although us religious types have never cared much for context. We prefer to pick and chose truth and bend it to our tolerance, so we can be intolerant of others. Whoops-- that was almost too honest.

But, yeah. you. Sometimes I can't believe that you believe. That testifies to Faith, for sure, God's faith in you, and maybe even your faith in God. Because the rest of us yahoos? I'm not so sure sometimes.

thus spake,

me