When I was a new minister, one morning shortly before Christmas, I found a bottle of wine on my doorstep. It was from a local firm of undertakers. It made me feel deeply uncomfortable, and I couldn’t wait to put it in a raffle to get rid of it.
Now it seems that people in positions of influence gladly, even eagerly, accept gifts from those who would persuade them. It’s a different world. Maybe it always has been.