A holy man and a soap-manufacturer went for a walk together.
The soap-maker asked the holy man,
‘What good is religion? Look at all the trouble and misery in the world after these thousands of years of teaching about goodness, truth, peace and love,  all those wasted prayers, sermons and teachings.

The holy man said nothing. They continued walking until he noticed a child playing in the gutter. Then the holy one  said,
“Look at that child. You say that soap makes people clean, but see the dirt on that youngster. Of what good is soap? With all that soap in the world, that child is still filthy. How effective is soap after all?”

The soapmaker protested and said,
“Don’t be stupid, soap can’t do any good unless it is used regularly. It is not magic”.

 “Exactly,” replied the rabbi. “So it is with faith, prayer and religion, They are not magic either. They are only effective when they are regularly used.”