Practical inspiration

A lovely day today, but with the best of the morning given up to the second part of my Zoom Safeguarding training session. To prepare for the session I had to watch the two case study videos on YouTube of the Bishop Peter Ball case - an uncomfortable account of how a secular predator within the church courted members of the British establishment of church and state which was taken in by his charismatic pious personality, blind to how manipulative he was, and then in denial when the law caught up with him. I had seen it before, but it was good to review it for present purposes.

It occurred to me listening to the dramatized transcript of his police interviews that he was a man who sincerely believed in the rightness of his abusive actions, seeing and interpreting them as acceptable to God. On the surface it seemed as if he was promoting a kind of mediaeval penitential asceticism, but dig down beneath the layer of ostensibly orthodox monastic teaching and what you have is a peculiar kind of syncretism, 

Christian faith with a hidden layer of belief in an alien deity that embraces aberrant sexual behaviour, cruelty and domination. The worship of ancient middle eastern deities centred around nature's cycle of fertility and found a place not only for human sacrifice but also temple prostitutes, both male and female, as part of sacred ritual. such secret beliefs justifying his actions to himself wouldn't make much sense of forensic interrogator. There was evidence he had broken the law, but on theological reflection his behaviour stank of idolatry.

In the Zoom session, we looked at a rather complex case study and discussed how its developments should be responded to from a safeguarding perspective. It was very helpful. I think more sessions of this kind would be valuable, to keep us on the alert, as new kind of vulnerability keep emerging in an ever changing, not always benign world. Completing the training means that my Permission to Officiate can now be re-issued, making me completely 'legit' for three years locum service, not just provisionally for the next couple of months.

Afterwards, I started work on my Sunday sermon as I had an idea I to pursue prompted by the training. Looking at the parable of the Good Samaritan in its context of discussion about 'Who is my neighbour', I realised Jesus was good at presenting case studies of real life issues, rather than indulging in abstract generalities, and that got me started. It turns out to be particularly relevant at this time in St German's as the church is hosting a Safeguarding training session for the Ministry Area at the end of this month.

I was so absorbed in what I was doing that it took me until lunchtime to realise that I had forgotten to take the car to N G Motors in Splott for its MOT test, booked for today. I drove straight over and left the car there for the weekend. I'll have to use the bus to get to St German's on Sunday.

After a snack lunch, I recorded and edited next week's Morning Prayer audio, finishing just in time for the arrival of Kath and Rhiannon mid afternoon for an overnight stay. We planned to go out for a meal but Rhi was feeling unwell with a cold, so we ordered a takeaway from Stefano's instead. 

It was sunny and warm enough to eat outdoors - a very enjoyable meal, followed by a quiet hour of catch-up chatting. The others turned in at eleven, but I went out to stretch my legs and walked in the park for half an hour before bed.