It never ceases to amaze me how periodically someone joins the church thinking with great naivete that he or she has now left the imperfect, money-grubbing, power-hungry secular world and entered some holy, monastic community where everyone is good and kind and loving and no one ever gossips or spreads rumors or disagrees on any subject. When this happens, I usually watch to see how long it takes before this person’s whole idyllic image of the church comes tumbling down like the proverbial deck of cards.

Usually, all it takes is serving on one committee or doing one job for the church. Whatever it is, sooner or later it happens. And then I watch what comes next: either total loss of enthusiasm and withdrawal, maybe a little sabbatical to regroup and re-evaluate or more church hopping, ever …