Richard Littledale
Richard Littledale
radio microphone
BBC Radio 2Sarah Kennedy Show
Pause for Thought
Richard Littledale: Series 6, Number 1
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Thursday 20 November 2008

If what they say about policemen looking younger is true, then I must be getting old. The other day two young policemen came into my church to check up on an abandoned vehicle. It took no time at all to sort the vehicle out, and then the young policeman looked a bit disappointed, rocked back on his heels and asked expansively whether there was "anything else they could help with". At that precise moment a baby arriving for a clinic in the building started crying an ear splitting cry just nearby.

I have never seen a policeman go so pale so quickly. I don't know whether he actually thought I would ask him to sort the baby out - but he didn't seem keen to find out. Clutching at his radio, and nodding to all concerned, he and his colleague beat a hasty retreat.

Never having worn the uniform, I don't know what it feels like to serve as a police officer. But I suspect that there are days when people treat you as if you can sort anything, simply anything out - just because of the uniform you wear. We're often told that police officers are called in to sort all sorts of things out. Some of them are really terrible things, and others are simple ones, where it's not so much the long arm of the law as a decent conversation that's needed. People just need to talk to each other. It's silly really. Wearing a particular uniform, or for that matter bearing the title 'Reverend' before your name, doesn't turn you into some kind of superhero who can right every wrong and solve every problem. Far from it!

Some years ago, an elderly Christian friend stopped me as I rushed by and passed the following piece of advice onto me. 'Richard', he said 'I have decided that from now on I am going to let God run the world rather than doing it for Him. You ought to try it too.' The twinkle in his eye revealed that he was not being overly serious - but he certainly had a point. Nobody can sort everything out - only God. That is why people like me called upon to meet the needs of others, frequently find themselves turning to God for help.

Turning to a higher authority, a bit like the policeman clutching instinctively for his radio, can sometimes be the wisest thing to do. Prayer is not the resort of the desperate, but it is the recourse for the honest who know when they need back up.

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© BBC 2008
This talk by Richard Littledale was first broadcast as BBC Radio 2's
breakfast time "Pause for Thought" during the Sarah Kennedy show.
It is reproduced here by permission of the BBC.