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Hitting the Buffers
There was a time when I did not object to having my picture taken, even by the press. I do now, because they always contrive to make me appear to be so old and decrepit. On my study wall is the passing-out portrait of October 1961, with the platoon commander, Second Lieutenant Wood, looking as if he was at least twelve years old. In the album are the annual school staff photographs, where I seem to have worn the same blue crimpolene jacket for ever, and where my colleagues and I aged visibly from year to year. Then there is the collective ordination photo-shoot, from the Northern Echo, taken more than a quarter of a century ago. A fine bunch of men!
What high hopes we had! We would be bishops, archdeacons, or at least canons of cathedrals. A few did achieve the dizzy heights of rural dean, not I! For a man with a brain the size of a small planet and an intellect that would put a Cambridge Theologian to shame, I seem to have been a singular failure. No Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, no MBE, no canon's cope, I even managed to leave the teaching profession at the bottom, where I had started. Now that June is here I am at the end of the line, an OAP who has hit the buffers and is in extra time, which is the point in the game in which Middlesbrough Football Club usually concede the vital goal or two.
I am, I conclude, an all-time loser. But am I? How many children have I baptized? How many enquirers have I introduced to the faith? How many young (and not so young) people have I guided through confirmation? How many of the bereaved have I consoled over the past twenty-five years? How many of the sick have I cheered up with my insane hospital humour? How many of those about to die have I prayed through their last hours? Quite a lot of all of the above.
Jesus' ultimate reward for all his efforts was to be nailed up on a cross. Too many people want their achievements reported in the press or expect coloured ribbons and fancy letters after their names. We were told, at ordination, to look to the Good Shepherd for our example. All that he did was to care for the flock. If it is good enough for him, it is good enough for me.
May God bless you all, Fr. Allan
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