TRUTH . . . IS PERSONIFIED

I used to think we needed men and women with a message. Now I know that we are the message.

Britain's senior politician recently delivered a moralising speech about money not being everything, about nurses needing a sense of vocation even if they took less pecuniary rewards than others in society. Fine stuff I thought, but why don't you kick-start the self-denial trend? This leader is highly paid and also married to a barrister with huge earnings. Of course he may well be a generous man, but this is not the point. His expensive lifestyle was well beyond those he was urging to live on less. Inevitably they would read his lifestyle, not just his words.

There was a time when my capacity to produce inspiring messages completely dried up. It was quite a shock for I made my living by public speaking. 'What's happening now?' I cried to the heavens. 'I have given up a lucrative secular job, embarked upon this grand trusting crusade and now I have no ministry!'

My familiar inner whisper started another conversation:

'You are going to learn to preach Christ not concepts.'
What on earth does that mean?
'You could preach Eileen, couldn't you?'
That's different, I've lived with her for years, I know how she ticks, I know the tone of her voice...
'Precisely!'

Obviously it was time for me to ponder once again. This brought me to the realisation that there were many Eileens around, but I would only have to hear someone describing her behaviour, her demeanour and her unpressurising attitude to know if it was likely to be my Eileen or not. For, like us all, she is unique.

//Continued