By Taylor Caldwell
Excerpt, page 103, “Soul Seven, The Betrayer” (1960)
He waited. No one answered him. Then something rose in him
like the high and thundering swell of a wave. He fought it down, but it rose
high and higher, and out of its smothering he cried, “’Profession!’ I call it ‘profession’!
But it is a calling—a calling!—isn’t it? That is what my father said—‘a holy
calling’!”
He put the heels of his hands hard over his eyes. “Oh, my
God,” he murmured. “To think that there were people long ago who thought God ‘called’
them! Now we gravely consider the impulse we have toward the ministry and
wonder if we are well rounded enough, and fully psychologically educated, and
adjusted, to become ministers of the Gospel! Are we good administrators? Do we
like people? Do people instinctively like us? Are we excellently grounded in
the social ethic? Do young people naturally gravitate toward us? Are we expert
businessmen? Do women like us? Are we liberal in our ideas? Do we have good voices
which inspire confidence? Can we meet men on their own ground easily and
confidently, whether it is the golf course, the broker’s office, the club, the
family living room, the parish hall, the community activities, the schools, the
theater, the good restaurants? In short, are we ‘good fellows, sweet guys,
regular people’? Are we enthusiastic about sports and take an active part in
them? Are we ‘broad’? Men of ‘diversified’ interests? Conversant with
television? Are we on the board of this and that? In short, are we ‘active’?”
He stood up, looking about him with a kind of wild
hopelessness. “In short,” he cried, “must we be everything but ministers of the
Gospel?”
The white walls were lined with his questions.
Alias Barack Obama: a lie is born: The greatest identity fraud in history Paperback – July 10, 2012
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