demands of courtesy, modesty, filial piety, etc.  The "statements" we thereby make are generally made through symbolic action rather than direct verbal expression, and critics of tradition may well wonder why that is.  If tradition and hierarchy exist to "say" something, why not just say it in plain English and have an end to the hocus-pocus?  There are two answers to this.  First, a direct statement can only belong to the one who says it; you and I could both separately say the same thing, but we could not say it with one voice.  If you allow me to speak for you, we have already resorted to representative symbolism.  The life of the community, though, is supra-personal and transcends the consciousness and personal limitations of its members.  This brings us to the second reason, that symbolic action is supra-rational .  It is a type of showing rather than saying and so is not limited by our conceptual categories.  Our traditions do encode propositions but could not be exhausted by any finite set of them.  Symbolic action is thus the most fitting way to corporately express mysterious truths. Authority is one way that God's will is made present to a community.  As the magnificent Islamic-Persian maxim puts it, "a just sultan is the shadow of God on Earth" .  According to Saint Paul, the magistrate imposes justice as the representative of God, while a husband loves and rules his wife as the image of Christ over His church.  The Apostle was