No one goes through the Pearly gates
Without St. Peter’s holy nod.
Nobody is allowed access
To the Heavenly Throne of God.

So he was stopped at Heaven’s gate
And told that to atone for sin,
He must name good things that he’d done
To earn enough points to get in.

He said that he had been married
To his wife for fifty years,
And had been a faithful husband
Through times of strife and sometimes tears.

“That’s worth three points”, St. Peter said,
And entered it into his book.
The man complained, “Only three points?”
And gave St. Peter a hurt look.

“Well, I have always paid my tithes,
And always given to the poor;
And when a stranger needed help
I always had an open door.”

“Well, that’s good for another point;”
St. Peter wrote it as he said,
“And I will add another point
For all the hungry souls you fed.”

The man asked, “How am I doing?”
How many points to enter in?”
St. Peter said, “One hundred points
Are needed to atone for sin.”

“To earn that many points”, He said,
“Would surely take the Grace of God!”
“That’s all it takes” St. Peter said,
And then gave him the Holy Nod.