Getting Together

Poem:

There’s a story I once heard of a rabbi and a priest,

differing in religious views, but friends to say the least.

One day the rabbi asked the priest in total confidence:

“Could you put up with any man that airs his impudence,

when he confesses that he needs no sermon nor advice

from those like us whom he believes are not so worldly-wise?”

The priest thought for a moment, then answered with some ease:

“A man who frankly speaks his mind is finally at peace,

not only with himself, but God, confession being the bridge

across which he might reach the top of his salvation’s ridge.”

The rabbi shook his head and said: “There’s no way, of course,

confession without penitence could be the bridge to cross.”

“But,” said the priest, “consider this, by God’s eternal grace,

we choose two different routes, yet get together in one place.”