Jesus is not here
to save you
any more
than the bartenders
or the politicians,
any more than
the drug peddlers
or the girls
in magazines.
The church
like the queens of late night
infomercials
will take your money
but have no interest
in your soul,
leaving you to fend
for yourself
as you always have,
scouring the ruins
of everything made
and unmade by man.
It’s a terrible freedom
but to embrace it
is to take your place
among the truly living.
Take my hand and look
to the indifferent sky;
it’s as magic as anything,
as empty and as beautiful.
–William Taylor Jr.