An object of concern

The trouble with revealing in a public blog that you are not a Christian is that enthusiastic Christians in the land see you as a person of concern, one who needs saving before it is too late. Ah, me. I'm reminded of the ending of Lord Byron's dramatic poem Manfred:

ABBOT. Alas! how pale thou art-- thy lips are white--
And thy breast heaves-- and in thy gasping throat
The accents rattle. Give thy prayers to Heaven--
Pray-- albeit but in thought,-- but die not thus.

MANFRED. 'T is over-- my dull eyes can fix thee not;
But all things swim around me, and the earth
Heaves as it were beneath me. Fare thee well--
Give me thy hand.

ABBOT. Cold-- cold-- even to the heart--
But yet one prayer-- Alas! how fares it with thee? 410

MANFRED. Old man! 't is not so difficult to die. [MANFRED expires.

ABBOT. He's gone, his soul hath ta'en its earthless flight;
Whither? I dread to think; but he is gone.

Manfred will not convert on his death bed. "Old man! 't is not so difficult to die."

I would like to say this was an extraordinary and daring work in its time but alas our own time has come to be as spiritually limited as the 19th century. So to some this will be as shocking today as it was then.

The nice thing about electronic offers of salvation is that it only takes one click to delete them.