“I should have guessed.” I closed my eyes and invoked Witness . The whole action was instinctive, and it was over in half a second – but when it was done, I was shocked. I felt like I was on the verge of disintegrating … but this machinery – as much a part of me as anything organic – still worked perfectly.

He began, “When I was a child, my parents used to take me to the most beautiful church in the world.”

“I’ve heard that line before.”

“This time it’s true. The Reformed Methodist Church in Suva. It was a huge, white building. It looked plain from the outside – austere as a barn. But it had a row of stained glass windows, showing scenes from the scriptures, carved by a computer in sky-blue, rose and gold. Every wall was lined with a hundred kinds of flowers – hibiscus, orchids, lilies – piled up to the roof. And the pews were always crammed with people; everyone wore their finest, brightest clothes, everyone sang, everyone smiled. It was like stepping straight into heaven. Even the sermons were beautiful: no hell-fire, only comfort and joy. No ranting about sin and damnation: just some modest suggestions about kindness, charity, love.”

I said, “Sounds perfect. What happened? Did God send a Greenhouse storm to put an end to all this blasphemous happiness and moderation?”

“Nothing happened to the church. It’s still there.”

“But you parted company? Why?”

“I took the scriptures too literally. They said put away childish things. So I did.”

“Now you’re being facetious.”

He hesitated. “If you really want to know the precise escape route … it all started with just one parable. Have you heard the story of the widow’s mite?”

“Yes.”

“For years, as a schoolboy, I turned it over and over in my head. The poor widow’s small gift was more precious than the rich man’s large one. Okay. Fine. I understood the message. I could see the dignity it gave to every act of charity. But I could see a whole lot more encoded in that parable, and those other things wouldn’t go away.

“I could see a religion which cared more about feeling good than doing good. A religion which valued the pleasure of giving – or the pain – more than any tangible effect. A religion which put … saving your own soul through good works far above their worldly consequences.

“Maybe I was reading too much into one story. But if it hadn’t started there, it would have started somewhere else. My religion was beautiful – but I needed more than that. I demanded more. It had to be true. And it wasn’t.”

He smiled sadly, and raised his hands, let them fall. I thought I could see the loss in his eyes, I thought I understood.

He said, “Growing up with faith is like growing up with crutches.”

“But you threw away your crutches and walked?”