The I and the Thou

(Nothing to do with Martin Buber’s “The I and the Thou”)

The “I” becomes the sigh
If the message is purely from the “I”
There’s nothing wrong with the perspective of the “I”
As long as it is not the staple all the while

The preacher who uses the “I”
Should understand that there are the thou
The thou are the thou who don’t care about the “I”
Because too much “I” give the thou the sigh
How it is wished that the preacher would leave the safety of the “I”
And instead proceed to the relevant spiritual needs of the thou

Stories of the ‘I” must run out
And if this happened what would be left are conflicting accounts
That if measured would a thousand years amount
Now, no preacher can live as long as a mount
So the “I” stories are nothing more than recounts
Of tall stories of long discounts

The preacher whose staple is the “I’
Should instead prepare hard
For there are more realistic and powerful and edifying
Illustrations for messages
Than the trite and long overused “I”

(Even the Lord Jesus
Seldom used stories from His the “I”.
Jesus use fables and stories exclusive of His “I”!)

The “I’ should think of the thou
For thou has need that the I” will never be able to give
For the “I” is the worst source of edification
For the thou.
And if this continues, the “I” should realize
That the “I” is preaching to the “I”

_______________________

“No preacher would (or should) deliberately judge the credibility of his message by the credulity of his audience.”—Msgr. Ronald Knox