Soft Power

Soft Power ©

By

Michael Casey

I’ve had a nap and I thought I’d write a 2^nd piece for the day and in actual fact this will become the 1^st piece in my next book, my 15^th, which will be called 15 Down. No, not Watership Down, though some might say my writing breeds like rabbits. Just 15 Down, no not Just William but simply 15 Down, because it will be the 15^th book I ‘ll have down on paper. Let it loose at Christmas or whenever. So my words are my power, my soft power.

I used to be as strong as an Ox, now I just smell like one, I have retained my lightning fast reactions though, do you want to see that again, as Ali might say. Which brings us to what Power is, and more especially what Soft Power is. A priest has power, we come to church to hear the Word of God, today it was the parable of the sower. The priest has power over us and not just because he has heard all our confessions. He has power because we are there to listen and we want to listen.

However if the sermon is boring and badly constructed then people switch off, or start going to another church, or just stop going at all. See what is happening all over the world. I would offer to write a non boring sermon delivered at a god pace, that was a typo, but its correct its God’s pace, a good pace. Not a rambling Oxford Don pace with too many references. Today’s sermon should just contrast and explain the differences in message.

If you are looking at a photograph of your grand-kids you are not interested in where the camera was bought and which shutter speed was used, you just want to enjoy the snap. So the priest should explain the snap by being snappy in his explanations, and nor bore or confuse by talking about Samsung v Kodak or 35mm v 70mm or digital. All we need is the good quality snap. Only film buffs etc are interested in all the rest. So sermons should follow that path and not get stuck in the weeds. The parable of the sower should be used to explain how best to talk about explaining the word of God itself.

Ok, I’ve bored half of you already, especially those who only believe in Nothing. I’m trying to examine how Soft Power can be used if you use it in a good non boring manner. Perhaps I should write simple sermons for clergy and maybe the congregations will stop writing complaint letters to the bishop.

Enough of the Holy what about the Profane? Your mum has soft power because you love her from the nipple and you’ll do anything for your old mum, even if you call her the old bitch. Your mate who saved your life when you fell in the canal in Birmingham he has soft power as you’ll always buy him a pint. Your girlfriend his sister has soft power too, because he’d throw you back in the canal if he knew the kind of home movies the pair of you make. But its love and they are for your own private consumption, and you are not so stupid to load them to the cloud like the film stars do, only to be hacked.

The girl in the chip shop has power over you too because she always gives you an extra portion of chips, so you become friends and you fix her motorbike. The smell of chips and the sight of her in her biker leathers is too much for you, so you become more than friends amongst the mountain of potatoes behind the chip shop. Soft power peels away the leathers amongst the potato peelings. So much so that you have to go visit the priest, to arrange a hasty wedding, and a christening is booked at the same time, as the priest’s diary is always full. The priest also mentions the parable of the sower, in relation to what a good relationship should be like. Not vigorous and then dying and choked by weeds.

So to finish or conclude if you are posh, power is good, but influence or soft power is better. Because soft power is gentle and persuasive like a kiss, or a gentle breeze, and a reed that bends in the wind still can grow after the storms. Here ends the parable of the sower, so you can all go down the pub now, while the priest counts the collection.