(2) Then there must be, too--every true fisherman knows this--a _ripple on the water_ for fishing, best of all a light breeze in the morning. That means that it is a fishing-day. And do you not know what I mean when I say that there seems to be no ripple on some parishes at all? The whole of the surface of the parish seems as dull as ditch-water--no ripple, no fish. If there is no sense of expectancy, no keenness, no enjoyment, no happy spirit, among the workers, there will be no fish. I would like you to ask yourselves whether there is such a ripple in your parish, or whether it is all very dull and dead. And I would like to ask anyone who seems to recognise that there is nothing going on, and that there has been no catch, yesterday, to-day, or the day before, to ask himself if he cannot go back and create a ripple in the parish. When you think over how that ripple is to be created, of course, it can only be by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT brooding over the waters, as He originally brooded over the waters and brought cosmos out of chaos. I believe the chief way, if I may reduce the metaphor to prosaic terms, the chief way must be by constantly praying for the parish and the people, that the HOLY SPIRIT may come and stir the dulness by creating a spirit of expectancy and a joy in the work. When you are obviously enjoying your work yourself, and making the Sunday-School teachers and the workers enjoy it, you may expect a ripple in the parish. Joy in the work is a most attractive thing. There must be the joy throughout the parish, among clergy and workers; the curates and the Vicar must be at one, with no friction between them, and they and the workers a real band of brothers and sisters all fishing in the same waters. Pray very earnestly for this. I shall not bring in more at this point about the necessity for intercession. Remember that it is the parish priest who is perpetually praying for his people individually, and teaching his people to pray, who is the most successful. In my experience it is the praying parish that has a ripple on the surface. I see a wonderful quantity of fish caught in a parish of that kind. (3) Then think what is the cord or line by which the fish are caught. "I will draw them with the cords of a man," by human influence, by _personality_. Now this question of personality is a very difficult one. Dr. Newman is said to have stated that he dreaded personal influence. Well, of course, it is quite easy to see what he meant. He dreaded such personal influence in religion which is used to make people simply like us or to draw them to ourselves and to leave them there--that is to say, he dreaded a misuse of personal influence. So misused, no doubt, personal influence is a dangerous thing. But that does not alter the fact that people are drawn to CHRIST by personal influence, and that we must use our personal influence if we are to be successful fishermen for CHRIST.