Yesterday THE STAR treated us to the tale of a popular preacher in east Kingston, who got into fisticuffs with a man who said he had seen him in a go-go club.

To make the matter worse (or better, for those who delight in the man's discomfiture), the man was able to describe the preacher's alleged club-going attire with a damning level of certitude.

As far as preachers being involved in matters of the flesh goes, we should recognise that this is a minor matter, that is, if that sighting really happened. We live in an era in Jamaica where one prominent pastor has been held for carnal abuse (a double, at that), while in Ireland a Papal statement on the long-term abuse of boys by priests does not seem to have gone far enough.

We need to ask, though, if we are not expecting too much of these men, in not yielding to temptations of the female flesh. For if this east Kingston pastor really went to a go-go club in St Thomas, then certainly he was attempting to be discreet.

Can we reasonably really ask for anything more from a human being and their sexual urges? Or maybe it is the preachers who set up themselves by raising the bar much higher than they can reach, much less maintain the mark.

If we would all cease to attempt to strictly separate the flesh and the gospel, then just maybe we will stop seeing failings and just recognise natural, undeniable human drives and desires.