“Be helpful when you are at the bottom of the ladder and be the lowest when you are in authority.
Be simple in faith but well trained in manners.
Be demanding in your own affairs but unconcerned in those of others.
Be guileless in friendship, astute in the face of deceit.
Be slow to anger, swift to learn, slow also to speak, as St James says, equally swift to hear.
Be up and doing to make progress, slack to take revenge, careful in word, eager in work.
Be friendly with men of honour, stiff with rascals.
Be gentle to the weak, firm to the stubborn, steadfast to the proud, humble to the lowly.
Be ever sober, ever chaste, ever modest.
Be patient as far as is compatible with zeal.
Be persistent in study, unshaken in turmoil, joyful in suffering.
Be vigilant in the cause of truth, cautious in time of strife.
Be gentle in generosity, untiring in love, just in all things.
Be respectful to the worthy, merciful to the poor.
Be mindful of favours, unmindful of wrongs.
Be a lover of the ordinary man, and do not wish for riches.
Instead, cool down excitement and speak your mind.
Do not envy your betters, or grieve at those who surpass you, or censure those who fall behind, but agree with those who urge you all.
Though weary, do not give up.
Weep and rejoice at the same time, out of zeal and hope.”
Excerpts from Letter to a Young Disciple by St Columbanus (c.540 – 615), patron saint of motorcyclists, whose Feast Day is celebrated today
Chorlton Unitarians 