Is that you, God?

I’m looking for God again
The small southern churches welcome me
Where are you from and what church do you go to?
But they ask in reverse order
First the church
My lips form the answer
Buddhist
But I am cautious
A newcomer, hesitating
You’re a sinner aren’t you?
I laugh but they are right
In this strange new world of a million churches
I am lost
How can there be so much holiness
In one place?
The Baptists win

~ Gwen C.Murray

A sacred holy place

Varanasi, also Benares, Banaras or Kashi, is a city on the banks of the Ganges in Uttar Pradesh, 320 kilometres southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It is holiest of the seven sacred cities in Hinduism and Jainism.