A REALISM ... OF SORTS

when he sat down in the robes of a roman catholic cardinal I sat up and took notice ... I queried him ... are you so highly placed in the church as that ... despite what you may think I have he replied a penchant for good living and some success he smiled in achieving it ... I think by good you mean comfortable I said ... as comfortable as can reasonably be managed he replied ... I put the highest stock in reason and therefore have the highest stake in seeing it not devalued ... I don't know I objected ... the robes might become you but only as an affectation that is of a costume of a period piece ... and overall soul by soul a thing that has more defeated you than not no this church ... I have nothing against your church he said ... the smile had not left his face ... I love the pageantry the artistry the whimsy of the stories the charming myth of the incarnation the splendid pathos the tragedy of the crucifixion ... I cannot attend you good brothers all the way to the resurrection ... there we must part ... I am after all a realist and I see as for current ideas nothing but death for human beings ... ultimately