By the time I was six or seven,
I was well-convinced that my denomination
Was the best there was, and that
My congregation was the best in town
Of that denomination.
And I’m pretty sure that I never
Heard any preacher or teacher
Say such a thing.
I wonder, then, at how such arrogance
Could have passed under the radar,
Going unaddressed and uncorrected
Under color of good religion.
And if the reasoning of a schoolboy
Can reach such heights of pride
In so few years, how does anybody
Ever manage to escape it?
Why does time harden the one further,
While softening the other?
