that there are some of you out there who do not believe it fitting that a man of God should participate in a program like American Hero, associating with sinners and unbelievers. I’ve read your letters and your emails, and I do appreciate your concerns, though I cannot share your views. Our Lord was criticized for keeping company with prostitutes and publicans as well, the Gospel tells us, yet he taught us that only those without sin should be casting stones . . . and none of us are without sin. We are all God’s children, believers and unbelievers alike, and each of us needs God’s mercy. Judge not, lest ye be judged.
Yes, there are aspects of the show that any person of faith might find distasteful. One of my correspondents has gone so far as to say that these television people are like unto the moneychangers that Jesus drove from the Temple. Hollywood is their temple, however, and Jesus also told us to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, let us not forget. No man can hope to do good in this world unless he walks among his fellow men, and loves them.
Television is a powerful instrument, and like any tool, it can be used for good or evil. It is my belief and my hope that my appearance on American Hero will help to inspire others, especially the young people. And if it is God’s will that I should win this contest, I mean to use the million dollars to build a fine new broadcasting studio back in Natchez, to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ and his Joyful Revelation from coast to coast across this fair land. The airwaves are full of preachers, it is true, but too many of them are blind guides who strain at gnats and swallow camels and preach hatred in the name of Jesus Christ. That was never what my friend Jesus was about. His message was one of love and acceptance. The truth needs to be heard.
Be they aces, jokers, or nats, all Christians should be heroes.
And those of us who have been blessed with powers and abilities that our fellow men do not share . . . well, God moves in mysterious ways, it is true, but He does nothing without a purpose, and surely He would not have given us these powers unless He meant for us to use them in His service, to make the world a better place.
Some will tell you that the wild card is the work of the Devil, or the men of Takis, that jokers are an abomination unto the Lord. I say, beware ye of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are as ravening wolves. For as Paul said to the Colossians, “By Him were all things created, that are in the heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible.” The Lord God made even distant Takis, whose proud lords and mentats are but instruments of His Holy Will, as are we all. It is not given to me to understand why some men are jokers and some are aces, no more than it was given to Job to understand why he was afflicted. It is enough for us to accept His Will, and do the best we can.
Only God can hope to know what will happen next week or the week after, or who will emerge at the end as the new American Hero. I am not so vain as to believe I will prevail, but certainly I have prayed for victory, and if the cup does pass to me I shall not flinch to drink from it. And if in the end I am discarded, and the laurel given to another, that too will be as God wills it. His Will be done.
Confessional: Guadelupe Maria del Rosario Garza aka Rosa Loteria
Hey there, America. Rosa again.
So, you wanna know what’s going on with me and the Spades? The contest this week? I think we did great, and if they’d asked the vatos at the homeless shelter, they’d agree. I mean, do you wanna sing “Old Time Religion” with a guy who’s so fat that the only time he can get his ass out of his wheelchair is when he turns into a giant beachball? Or would you think it was cooler to have a dragon heat your soup, have it served to you by dancing teddy bears, have your picture taken with a