The road to this paradise was not as comfortable and alluring as the road to the religious paradise; but it has shown itself reliable, and I have never regretted having chosen it.

Definitely not as comfortable! Even if I wanted to go back to the other road, I can’t do it.

Decades ago, my folks were kicked out of a very fundamentalist church (even by fundie standards) for believing people in other churches were also saved. They were later asked by some people in the church to come back (after the pastor and other extremists were sent packing in disgrace). My dad said (paraphrased), “Coming to that church was like opening a door and coming in from the dark to a lighted room, and I enjoyed it. Then I saw another door and I opened that and walked into an even bigger and more well lit room. I can’t go back to the small dimmer room now”.

They’re still happy members of a more liberal church, but a few years later I saw another door and like my folks, I walked through that one and found a much greater room than any of the rooms I’d seen thus far. It is not as comfortable, it many ways it is harsh, but there are things in that room that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. I can’t go back now…there are still doors I have yet to open.