Male. 50|+ 204 words. PT Barnum: “Fire and Brimstone.”

From To the Great Egress by Paul Pasulka

Not that it’s your concern, but yes. I do. I’ve always contributed to the church. I was – am - a proud and generous member of the Universalist General Convention. And you want to know why? Because it’s truly Christian. Let me tell you a story. When I was a child, I attended a horrible fire and brimstone establishment.  Often I returned home terrified – still smelling the infernal waves of boiling sulphur. Hearing the agonizing shrieks of mothers and children.

Or worse, I could see mothers calmly, serenely watching their children’s agony in Hell from the secure battlements of heaven. And with my eyes streaming I would drop to my knees and pray to God to let me die immediately, just to save myself from His endless wrath. I professed to love Him, but my love was like that of a woman for a brute who threatens her with death – or worse – if she dares to not love him. I grew to know that we cannot truly love the unlovable, and that God can be no brute. No, I believe God’s nature is love. And I believe that no finite man can commit infinite sin, and can never deserve infinite punishment.