Can’t read this. Please correct.

A bit hard to read due to the format but a great story.

Can't read any of it.

This is a story about a very young man and his struggle to find and understand the truth.

There was once a young man named Amadeus. He was tall for his age, and some say he possessed an intelligence beyond his years. One day his parents approached him and they began a conversation about his attending a local church. Amadeus' mother was forced to attend Catholic school at an early age, and she found it to be the great nightmare of her life, so she decided early on that Amadeus would have the option to choose what denomination and what church he'd like to attend, if any. Amadeus decides he'll check out the local Baptist Church. He remembers stories about John the Baptist being a great friend of Jesus, and he thought he couldn't go wrong with company like that.

Young Amadeus, wanting to do everything with enthusiasm and vigor, attends the local Baptist Church. He begins participating in Bible study. He tries to follow the line of thinking that unfolds before him in his Bible study group. Not wanting to be misinformed, he notices some inconsistencies in the material he's studying. So he decides that the best way to get solid and definitive answers to his many questions is to ask the Pastor who gives the sermon every Sunday. The congregation Amadeus attended had about twelve hundred attendees.

Young Amadeus drew on his courage, and finally decided to question the Pastor openly to help explain the inconsistencies in what he had learned so far. He started by asking the Pastor if God was omnipotent, the Pastor naturally said "Why yes son, the Almighty is indeed omnipotent." He then questioned the Pastor on God's ability to create, and the Pastor smiled and replied, "Why yes son, our Lord the great God Almighty did in fact create all that you can see, and even things you can't see, like the other side of the earth, which we know is there."

Amadeus decided that he'd go out on a limb, and ask if it was true that there was nothing in the world that God did not know about, and furthermore it's God who is making everything happen from the grass growing to the sun shining, "Is that so?" Amadeus asked innocently. The Pastor replied "yes son, that is so, it's all happening because God made it happen just the way it is happenning." Amadeus really got his courage up and flatly asked the Pastor his final question: "Then how is it you are in a position to question or to judge God's Creations?"

The Pastor, with the most confused look on his face queried the young Amadeus, "Why, whatever do you mean by that son?" Amadeus answered, "God made the devil didn't he? Has it occured to you that God may have known what he was doing? Who are you, a mere mortal man to question God's Creation?" Suddenly, a very still hush fell over the congregation. And it was plain for all to see that the young Amadeus had caught the Pastor between a proverbial rock and a hard place. A relaxed look came over the pastors face, and he calmly told the young Amadeus, "Take it on faith."

Amadeus instantly realized that this was no kind of valid answer to his line of questioning. He attempted to ask the Pastor just what exactly it was he should be taking on faith. Roars of approval and applause from the congregation, and shouts of "Take it on faith!" and, "Yes!, Yes!" quickly drowned him out. Amadeus, a bit surprised that he had been brushed off by the pastor, slowly took his seat to ponder this upsetting and sudden turn of events. He noticed movement and looked up in time to see the trustees of the church enter the pulpit area. The Pastor announced it was time to pass the baskets to collect donations to help pay for the construction of the addition to the church.

Amadeus experienced an epiphany. His face lit up with realization that quickly became a grimace. He could see the deception that had been perpetrated upon him! It occurred to him that this Pastor was a charlatan. Easily pulling the wool over the eyes of the unsuspecting. And he vowed to himself that he would never again be fooled by worldly and pompous men.

And as far as anyone knows, he never has.