The Henson Journals

[171]

Friday, January 16th, 1925.

Another brilliantly beautiful day, but becoming colder at nightfall, and tending to fog. I worked on "Spiritual Healing" all morning, and, in the afternoon, motored to Durham, where I presided over the education committee, and then had tea with the Bishop of Jarrow.

It is a grave responsibility which a Bishop incurs when he admits as a guest to his house a young clergyman & his wife. For they will inevitably form impressions, & these will inevitably be determined by the behaviour of his Lordship in the perilous freedom of his own hearth. "By thy words thou shalt be justified: and by the words thou shalt be condemned". Was there ever a more terrifying pronouncement? It is vain to plead that the reckless talk, which has become "second nature" indoors, does not truly represent the genuine set of one's mind, or even the normal type of one's conversation. The guest will not see it in its true relative proportion, but only in its insistent & unbalanced actuality. And inevitably it provides both a standard for judgement, and a model for imitation. If, moreover, the unhappy bishop be a man of arresting personality, of brilliant improvisation, of easy & mordant wit, all these circumstances of intercourse will be emphasized. A visit to the Castle may undo the effect of a hundred exhortations & solemn public efforts!

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