The 18th Camel (or a Presidential Address)

So - we know about one camel and the eye of a needle, but what have eighteen of them to do with anything? It's like this, said the Archbishop of York to the Synod. Once upon a time a man died and left his estate - consisting entirely of camels - to his three sons as follows. To his first son, he left half his camels, to his second son a third of his camels, and to his third and youngest son a ninth of the camels. This would have been well enough, were it not for the fact that the old man left seventeen camels in total. Now, given that a fraction of a camel is useful only for a barbecue, the sons had a problem, and being unable to see the solution themselves, they went to see the local Wise Man. What you need, said the Wise Man, is another camel. I'll lend you one. So - now they had eighteen camels and they divided them up. The eldest son took half of the camels - nine in total. The middle son too his third - six in total. The youngest son took his ninth share - two camels. Then the Wise Man took his own camel back.
 
We, says Archbishop Sentamu, should be that eighteenth camel in our dealings with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We should be that extra part of the Body of Christ that enables the rest to function as they should. His remark at the end? "Thank you for listening, and let's go for it!" Amen, Archbishop.
 
(You can find the Archbishop of York's official Press Release on his address here, and an audio of his speech here.)
 
Justin GS373