Me: How have you been today?
Trevor: I've been having a lot of problems with voodoo.
Me: Right, in what way?
Trevor: Adam has told me I'm under attack from voodoo, and I went to see a Christian counsellor called Jan who told me that voodoo was attacking me too.
Me: You've told me about her before, and the last time we spoke about her you said that she'd said that no evil influence could affect you because of God's protection, and you were encouraged by that.
Trevor: She said I was under attack and I know I am.
Me: Look, you know what I think about this, and I don't want to talk about it any more.
Trevor: You're a fucking idiot!
Me: Right, thank you and goodnight!
So that was a relatively short conversation with Trevor. On the one hand I don't have to put up with being sworn at (and feel resentful given that I am supposed to be cooking lunch for Trevor on Monday and filling out a form for him to apply for a grant to buy him a new bed), and I wonder how he treats other people who disagree with him, but on the other this is yet another failure. I should have told him, as I will do when he inevitably gets in touch again, that abuse is unacceptable, but even that arises out of his other problems. Today is the feast of St Gregory the Great, and I'm always haunted by blessed Gregory's warning that pastors all too often get into the terrible habit of behaving harshly to the weakest of the brethren because they lack the moral fibre to criticise the strong.
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Those are wise words from Gregory the Great. I think they probably apply to people in a position of authority in most organisations - by no means only the church.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. He was writing about AD 600 and what he says (not just about this, either) is bitingly relevant now, as ever.
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