Spiritual vs. monetary riches.

For me, a church isn't a church. It's a man-made edifice. A real church is the great outdoors. Surrounded by nature. By natural beauty. Created by the creator. By god himself. That's the grandest cathedral of all. I think the money spent on building churches could have been better spent. Maybe on helping the poor, the downtrodden. Yes, people in dire need. Think of all the riches of the church. Take the Vatican, for instance. I'd sell it all. And operate out of shacks. And the outdoors. No need for the artificial splendor. I'll bet that if Jesus returned for a few moments and saw how religions spend money on artifacts, he'd weep. And call it an utter waste. I thought he said something about it being very difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yet, the church has accumulated boundless monetary riches. A fortune that could be converted into housing for the homeless and destitute. --Jim Broede