It's hard to believe, that Robert Mugabe is still at it, isn't it? We had almost begun to hope that the situation in Zimbabwe was resolved, or at least on it's way to resolution. The road was never going to be easy, but there was a plan and a way forward. However the news is not that simple. Not only has power not been shared, but now we hear that Mugabe has snubbed Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter and Graca Maca Machel (Nelson Mandela's wife, if you are interested) I do find it amazing that one man can exercise so much power. It is the thing that I have never quite grasped about the second World War, that Adolf Hitler exercised such enormous personal influence and lead a nation so far from where it wanted to be. This is, however a situation which is repeated over and over again for both ill and good. Even in our personal lives we find ourselves lead, sometimes being lead astray and sometimes positively influenced. I guess this leads me to two reflections. The first is the vital importance of choosing those we associate with wisely. We are deeply formed by our relationships and our heroes. Most of us learned as teenagers that who we befriend matters; let's not forget it as adults. Secondly I never cease to be shocked by the pervasiveness of what the Bible calls sin. It spreads and gets everywhere, far beyond where rational people would choose. Of course it is easy to condemn the Mugabes of this world, but on a basic level we need to be watchful and alert for we too are all too easily lead. And it's a basic truth, but non-the-less a vital one that the one relationship which is vital if we want to be lead rightly is the one into which God invites us in Christ.