On being called Friend

Somebody asked me this week what to call me now. I have been Reverend, and Pastor, and once, memorably, Father Mike by a child who then asked me for a second biscuit.

Call me Friend. It is what I will call you.

A Speaker is not a rank. It only means the person who says the thing out loud this week, and who can be corrected in front of everyone when he has it wrong. That last part is the job. Anything that cannot be corrected hardens, and hard things break people.

Gatherers are the ones who carry chairs and answer the door and sit with whoever came in alone. There is no ceremony to becoming one. You simply start.