Kenneth Frank

The Reverend: a Novel Kenneth Frank

Why not then remain pure in body, if not in heart? For one, my marriage had made me cynical; for another, my faith was no longer unassailable. Never having heard God say anything, I found too many contradictions in the body of theological non-knowledge as interpreted by Baptist doctrine. I was ready to stray, the principal deterrent being my childhood training, or lack of it. I knew only what they told me. And about women, they told me precious little. How could I conceal from myself that the ever present, all powerful, all knowing God of my sermons-that personal, loving Father-was a stranger to me, even as I insisted that my listeners must surrender to Him or face eternal damnation and punishment? Would I spend the rest of my life as a sexually frustrated hypocrite? Should I continue to preach and pray when I was convinced that Prayer Changes Nothing? Or should I be the real me and sample some of the pleasurable bounty of God's creations? One vote for pleasure. It's unanimous and so ordered.