"It's really kind of a beautiful story..."

It took a while to get Ellie and Brenda pulled away from the front yard of the church.  Jess and Leslie went ahead and put the little girls in the back and settled down to wait.

"Gee, I'm really glad I came."

Jess turned to Leslie in unbelief.

"It was better than a movie."

"You're kidding."

"No, I'm not."  And she wasn't.  He could tell by her face.  "That whole Jesus thing is really interesting, isn't it?"

"What d'you mean?"

"All those people wanting to kill him when he hadn't done anything to hurt them."  She hesitated.  "It's really kind of a beautiful story---like Abraham Lincoln or Socrates---or Aslan."

"It ain't beautiful," May Belle broke in.  "It's scary.  Nailing holes right through somebody's hand."

"May Belle's right."  Jess reached down into the deepest pit in his mind.  "It's because we're all vile sinners God made Jesus die."

"Do you think that's true?"

He was shocked.  "It's in the Bible, Leslie."

She looked at him as if she was going to argue, then seemed to change her mind.  "It's crazy, isn't it?"  She shook her head.  "You have to believe it, but you hate it.  I don't have to believe it, and I think it's beautiful."  She shook her head again.  "It's crazy."

---from Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson.