大象传媒

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Fr Dermot Preston

Good morning.

I was the only pupil tall enough to wear The Kilt.

The school was putting on Gilbert & Sullivan鈥檚 Ruddigore and there is a scene where the ancestors come to life as ghosts and step from their portraits to haunt the hero with his family duties.

The costume department had a proper kilt and, keen for visual variety, as the tallest and shyest sixth former in the chorus, I was dressed as The Scottish Ghost.

The scene was a colourful spectacle which always drew applause when the curtains opened and the ancestors emerged.

I had some words to speak, and the dress-rehearsal revealed that the line 鈥淓verybody does that鈥�, really should NOT be delivered in a terrified Burnley accent.

Intense coaching from cast & crew (all of whom had Lancashire accents) resulted with 鈥淗oots mon, everybody does that,鈥�, delivered with a Scottish accent that was so unconvincing, it brought the house down every night.

But my main memory was from after the final performance, when photos were being taken to record the production.

The colourful Ghosts were eventually gathered together and posed before the official photographer鈥� 鈥淪mile!!!!鈥� ... Click鈥� But the flashbulb didn鈥檛 flash.

In that awkward moment, for once in my life the obvious zinger came to mind 鈥� as clear as a bell and exactly right for the moment. In the uncomfortable pause I should have boomed out 鈥淭HE SPIRITS ARE WILLING, BUT THE FLASH IS WEAK.鈥�

But I didn鈥檛. I was shy & terrified. The moment passed and disappeared, never to be repeated.

Lord, Christmas can be a time of rare opportunities. Give me today the courage to overcome a shyness and seize the present moment.

Amen.

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