The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out

by Brennan Manning

A man walked into the doctor’s office and said, “Doctor, I have this awful headache that never leaves me. Could you give me something for it?” “I will,” said the doctor, “but I want to check a few things out first. Tell me, do you drink a lot of liquor?” “Liquor?” said the man indignantly. “I never touch the filthy stuff.” “How about smoking?” “I think smoking is disgusting. I’ve never in my life touched tobacco.” “I’m a bit embarrassed to ask this, but—you know the way some men are—do you do any running around at night?” “Of course not. What do you take me for? I’m in bed every night by ten o’clock at the latest.” “Tell me,” said the doctor, “the pain in the head you speak of, is it a sharp, shooting kind of pain?” “Yes,” said the man. “That’s it—a sharp, shooting kind of pain.” “Simple, my dear fellow! Your trouble is you have your halo on too tight. All we need to do is loosen it a bit.”1 The trouble with our ideals is that if we live up to all of them, we become impossible to live with. The tilted halo of the saved sinner is worn loosely and with easy grace.