Of Temples That Forgot Why They Were Built
1 Every faith begins close to the ground.
2 A voice cries out. A people gather. A fire is shared.
3 Bread is broken. Water is poured. The poor are centered.
4 Then comes storage.
5 Then comes protection of storage.
6 Then comes justification.
7 The gift becomes an asset.
8 The steward becomes a gatekeeper.
9 Vaults are dug beneath altars.
10 Gold sleeps where prayers once echoed.
11 The hungry are told to wait while interest compounds.
12 The leaders rise higher, farther from the dust they were meant to serve.
13 This story is old.
14 Temples fell when treasure replaced devotion.
15 Prophets raged when offerings eclipsed mercy.
16 And a carpenter once overturned tables and called it worship.
17 Yet the lesson was archived, not learned.
18 Robes grew richer. Doors grew heavier.
19 The poor were told holiness looked like obedience to wealth.
20 The powerful claimed distance made them holy.
21 But no truth survives elevation away from the people.
22 Any church that must defend its riches has already lost its god.
23 Any faith that fears the poor has mistaken gold for glory.
24 When the house forgets its purpose, collapse is mercy.
25 When the treasure is buried, it will be lost.
26 Always.