Do you know that thing where your ego is being cruelly and unfairly attacked and you’re unable to adequately defend it anymore and the situation is rapidly becoming very uncomfortable indeed? People are saying all these terribly unfair things about you and you’re just not able to deflect them all in the way that you used to be able to. All these terrible things that they’re saying about you are starting to sound more and more true. ‘No,’ you scream, ‘that’s so unfair. How dare people say these terrible awful things about me?’ You’re outraged of course – why wouldn’t you be? You are stung to the very core. Your ego is being most cruelly and unfairly attacked and that hurts. That’s where our story begins – with these very painful feelings. They hurt so much, don’t they? Those feelings are so very painful, they smart and they sting. You can’t believe how much it hurts – you want to howl and scream and run about the place but you don’t because there’s no dignity in that. Instead, you put on a smart suit and your shiniest shoes and you go from door to door talking to people about Jesus. You don’t know anything about Jesus of course – how could you? You know nothing at all about Jesus but you’re not going to let that cramp your style. You’re knocking on the door, you want to talk to people about their personal salvation which is very important. You want to speak to them in a frank and honest way. You want to tell them about God’s Plan. You’re burning to pass on the good news and you won’t be put off, no matter how rude folk might be to you when you broach the matter on their doorstep. You’re knocking boldly on the door – you have ideas that you wish to impart, important ideas, vital ideas. This is where your story begins: you are unhappy and confused but you want to put all that behind you, that’s not something you want to talk about anymore. It is now time to move on. Anything that isn’t under the control of the ego exists only to be denigrated and that’s why my official title is Chief Denigrator – that’s my role in life and I am pleased to embrace it. It’s what I do and I do it well. Suppose that there were forces out there, unruly and insubordinate forces which… I’m tempted to end the sentence right there; I’m tempted to go no further than that. ‘Unruly and insubordinate forces which what?’ you might conceivably ask, in an understandably irritated fashion. If you happened to have any interest at all in all of this, that is. This would then be my moment, my opportunity to expound at length, but unfortunately I have lost interest myself at this stage. I’ve fallen into a slump. I’ve become morose and uncommunicative, as is my wont. I am staring blankly into space, ignoring you completely, taking no further interest in anything. This is the scenario that is playing out in my head, anyway. This is how it always ends….