We had Jimmy Swaggart 8-tracks...

Saint Martins Saint Francis Episcopal Church, Rockport, Wash.

We had Jimmy Swaggart 8-tracks in our van. 

Dad kept the grounds of an Assemblies of God college.


When I was eight or nine, a couple college students—women—

joined us for dinner Sunday afternoon.


One asked my folks about televangelists and scandal;

or as I'd ask the question now, 


“Why does the faith 

produce so many rogues?”


Maybe the promise of belonging to a winning side 

leads us to compromise what we confess. 


Tribes and institutions often value charismatic leaders 

more than the ones those same leaders abuse. 


Then we sweep the broken pieces on the floor

and wonder if there's anything worth saving anymore.



Comments

  1. Anonymous11/3/24, 8:02 PM

    This was true for me, and a reality so painful it made me choose a different road:
    Tribes and institutions often value charismatic leaders
    more than the ones those same leaders abuse.

    ReplyDelete

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