A Tall Tree

This one's a repost, from 2009. It reflects the kind of 'civic pressures' a minister may need to cope with: "Often people target a minister, even if the minister is the wrong target. Here’s an example. The Church dismissed a staff member for assault -- repeated assault -- on the Church premises. A commissioner called me in a fury, saying that he would have me up before a commission. I said: 'You need to approach the Church about this.' He refused to accept that. He said: 'You are the minister, and you will answer to the commission!' I said: 'I’ll really be of no use to you, and what then?' Often people find it hard to understand that a minister (typically) is not a CEO. There’s the saying: A tall tree catches the wind." OBSERVATION: When the commissioner came to understand the situation -- but it was touch and go at first, with the 'climate' he created -- he dropped the case.