Various people are always giving me advice

Probably, because I listen to it.

Over the years, I have become less outgoing

Probably, because when I say things, they look at me, as if I’m crazy.

That hasn’t stopped me from thinking, though.

People are concerned about their freedom of speech

but they never complain about their freedom of thinking

Probably, because they do so little of it.

The women at work think I’m crazy

Probably, because I offer-up some of my creative opinions, without fear

Let’s just call it, The Kanye West Effect.

Say something original,

and they get intellectually violated.

My father likes to give me advice from the couch.

“The reason those women at work are giving you a hard time, is because they’re jealous. Now, you are following God, and they are Godless feminists. Let me read you a passage out of Deuteronomy. It says, their foot will slip and God will deal-out justice. In God’s good time, they will be judged.”

“Thanks dad. Do you think God will make me more powerful, if I follow Him?”

“Yes; but you must remain humble. You must remain obedient to God. God rewards those who follow Him.”

“I just want to be respected.”

“Oh—they will respect you, and if they don’t respect you, they will fear you.”

I smiled. “Sounds good to me.”

I wondered if his advice was true.

It felt good to have the love of my father telling me I was invincible. In a sense, I was being hypnotized, and brainwashed, but it was too good to question.

“It says here, in the Bible, that the women of Sodom loathed their children and their husbands. They resented their families. Does that sound familiar to you?” My dad asked.

“Yes! It’s the women at work!”

“You see—nothing changes, and God will judge them, as he judged the women of Sodom. You know, as I was following God closely—the way you are now—God gave me power. The furnace in our church wouldn’t turn-on. I told our pastor and the leadership committee that I was going to pray for it, and they looked at me, like I was crazy, but I did it anyway. Nothing happened. And then, I placed my hand on it, and WOOSH—it turned on. God will give you that power, and you will have the respect of men, and the fear of women.”

“Thanks dad.”