'It is not just curiosity which makes people listen to a preacher when he speaks directly to a man and a woman whose marriage he blesses or to the children of the man whom he buries in th3 ground. They listen in the deepseated hope that a personal concern might give the precaher words that carry beyond the ears of those whose joy or suffering he shares. Few listen to a semon which is intended to be applicable to everyone, but most pay careful attention to words born out of concern for only a few.'
Henri JM Nouwen, The Wounded Healer, p.73.
