"Mr. Williams, when you pray, do you or do you not have a mental picture of your god in mind?"
"Yes, most generally I do." "Will you please describe this mental picture?" asked Mrs. White.
"When I close my eyes in prayer, I usually see the spirit of God as though He was appearing through the clouds," said the pastor.
"Does this spirit of God, as you call it, have a human face?"
"Yes, Mrs. White, a face that is radiant with goodness and love."
"Mr. Williams, don't you see that this is a god of your own making, an imaginary creature of your own mind?"
"I don't quite understand," said the pastor, somewhat confused.
"When you close your eyes to pray, you imagine you see the face of a man, appearing through the clouds. You know this is not real, but the face appears only in your imagination, and when your congregation close their eyes, they each have an imaginary picture of some kind before them, or else a void, and if you were to compare notes, you would find no two persons to have the same picture or idol. Are there so many gods as that? If not, which one of the congregation has the right one? The fact is, most people pray to a god of their own making, a man-made god, a thing that does not exist, except in their own imagination, and then wonder why their prayers are not answered. Have I proven my assertion, Mr. Williams?"
"Yes, Mrs. White, you have, but you have also robbed me of my God, and now I am entirely at a loss."
"Better no god at all than a false one," said Mrs. White.