I grew up in a fundamentalist family. They took the Bible 'literally', except when they did not.

A week or so ago I had a run-in with a middle-aged man who came up to me on the sidewalk where I was waitng for a taxi.

After small talk about the rainbow on the hillside, he said, Do you believe in Jesus?

I said, Well, I'm not sure. I believe there was a teacher named Jesus who lived on the earth, yes. But I'm actually more of a Deist. I get the impression that Jesus himself was a Deist.

He said, Jesus said I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. When we pray, we have to speak in the name of Jesus, not in the name of God.

I said, Yes, and you know, that's odd. In the only example of prayer that Jesus gave us, he didn't.

He said, You're prideful. You are going to Hell.

I said, And you are rude and annoying. You may go now.

He yelled back, You are going to Hell.

I took a step toward him, feeling like bonking him with my bag of books. He skedaddled.

I wasn't necessarily proud of how I reacted. But I am glad that I may have given him something to think about. Or at least, to pray about. *G*