The preacher steps from the pulpit, the ancient book is closed, the choir has finished, the benediction is given, the Threefold Amen is sung and the notes die away from the organ. Now, 1eft with your thoughts, it was good, you think to yourself, all well and good -- the preacher was adequate, the prayers, the choir quite good, the organ fine. But a nagging question keeps tugging at your brain. You try to put it aside, to keep alive the sounds and sights of the service, but the question will not leave you. The question: What good did that do.

What -- the prayers, the preacher, the anthem, the procession, the organ, the stained glass windows -- good did that do? The world to which you return at the close of the service looks exactly like the one on you left. The sun is a bit higher in the s…