I believe in God but does God believe in me? It was the favoured expression of an old priest friend of mine.
Sinn Féin and the DUP might do worse than ask themselves something similar. 'I believe in Britain but does Britain believe in me?' is the DUP version and for Sinn Féin it is 'I believe in Ireland but does Ireland believe in me?'
The last few years of politics have been like watching paint dry and within the general population it has nurtured cynicism and apathy. But the political stalemate has had one beneficial effect.
It has stripped away all the superfluous issues and has shone the spotlight on the central one that has underpinned all of the divisions and all of the troubles that has been our lot for all too many years. Are we British or are we Irish or are we both?
And returning to the original question, which of those two countries wants us the most or, more pertinent, which of them wants us the least?
When Tony Blair met Bertie Ahern in Dublin last week the body language and the somewhat inarticulate press conference was interesting.
Most commentators that I read described the summit as lacking in substance and direction.
I don't think that is true.
For the first time in a long time, and maybe for the first time ever, both prime ministers admitted that the political vacuum was not an option. Both talked about the dangers in the undergrowth of political stalemate. Nothing particularly new in those observations but both then went on to assert that if the parties here were unwilling or incapable of reaching an accommodation then it was the responsibility of the governments to do something. None of this was said with any great force or passion. It came out in a stuttering and stammering manner.
They were sticking to the script that Plan A is still a devolved government accompanied by the all Ireland institutions but plan B was reluctantly, delicately even, being placed on the table.
So what is plan B?
Well, if it involves both governments, it can only be one thing. It is a form of joint management, joint authority or joint governance. It can be called any of those or indeed some other juxtaposing of words but what it means is that both governments take responsibility for governing the north. It means that both put in ministers to run the various departments. It would probably be about three ministers from each government, chaired by a type of secretary of state. Both governments would put in money to continue the financial subvention that is necessary to keep the economy going (the money will become the difficult and defining factor).
There is no other plan B and if the impasse is too dangerous to be allowed to continue and our politicians are incapable of reaching an agreement or sustaining an agreement and if both governments have to take responsibility, then what else are they talking about and what else can they do?
Unionist politicians of all shades go berserk at the mention of joint authority. They cry foul and dangerous.
I have known politicians from that tradition who have been able to discuss a united Ireland with more equilibrium and rationality than they have been able to discuss joint authority.
Those same politicians talk quite eloquently and sensibly about the need for Sinn Féin or the IRA or both to reassure and build trust in the unionist community. They never appear to understand or address the converse of that very sensible argument. They never seem to understand that the nationalist/Catholic community needs reassurance and confidence about their future.
And they are certainly not getting it at the moment.
Every vibe coming from unionist politicians and particularly from the DUP is that they would be more than content to live under direct rule forever and a day.
Joint authority has much to recommend it. It incarnates the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement in giving equal expression to both traditions. It neuters all the paramilitary organisations. It draws a clear line between politically motivated actions and criminal actions. It encourages all of our parties to move beyond the suffocating parameters of the Troubles.
It shames our own politicians and prods all of them into finding a way into their own regional government. But maybe its greatest attraction is that it will slowly but very surely evoke and define an answer as to whom we believe in most and, more importantly, who believes in us?
