Rosie Wench's Cottage

Homage to The Story of a Soul 🌹 (art by me)

St. Thérèse of Lisieux did not initially set out to write a book. She was a young Carmelite nun who put pen to paper only because her sisters asked her to. Between 1895 and 1897 she wrote three short manuscripts: one of childhood memories, one a retreat letter to her sister Marie, and a final account composed while she was already dying of tuberculosis at twenty-four. After her death, her sister Pauline gathered the pages into a single volume and sent two thousand copies to other Carmels in place of the usual obituary notice. It became one of the most widely read spiritual books in history.

At its heart is what Thérèse called her “little way”. Christ said “You must become as a little child.” The little way is one of simple trust and absolute surrender to Christ. She longed to be a great saint but felt as small as a little flower or a grain of sand beside a mountain. But rather than striving to climb she resolved to stay little and let God lift her. She saw herself as a humble wildflower, a daisy among grander blooms, and was content to be exactly what God made her. Holiness, she said, lives in the smallest things done with love. A hidden sacrifice, a patient silence, a smile offered when it costs something to give.

But under Thérése’s gentleness was a fierceness few talk about. In her final eighteen months she endured not only the pain of her illness but a dark night of faith, a trial in which even the thought of heaven became a wall. She struggled deeply, and wrote that she was singing what she wanted to believe. She died on September 30, 1897, with the words “My God, I love you” on her lips.

Now I didn't realise that it's a very old Chinese story. I recently found an audiobook of it, read by the late British comedian Kenneth Williams. And I highly recommend it.

Bless his heart, he was an inspired comic performer but he wanted to do a lot more serious theatre.

My first thought was The Three Billy Goats Gruff, because of the troll under the bridge.

Don‘t get me wrong, I‘m definitely for less hate around the world, more talking to each other and trying to understand one another - but unfortunately, that‘s not the world we live in and we have to recognized the systems we live under. When an oppressed group harbors strong feelings, I don’t hold that group to the same standards as the oppressor. And above all, I do not take it personally. We all belong to some privileged group, and although I‘m not personally responsible for their suffering, I am still to be hold accountable by virtue of being part of the oppressing group. And I will always understand hatred. Those people have been suffering for ages (and still are) and not enough people are standing up against it. This is a systematic problem, not individual hatred. The consequences of men’s hatred of women are real, widespread and severe - in every area of life.

Women being sexist has very real consequences.

I'm not going to deny that people can and do treat each other appallingly and unjustly. And even though this is sadly a facet of human nature, it doesn't mean that we have to be OK with it, and not fight it.

What I will never be on board with is this 'Critical Theory' world view that puts people into boxes of 'Oppressed' or 'Oppressor' based on some characteristic shared with people who have either faced injustice or been the perpetrators of it.

Now, this is not to say that it's all an outright lie.

There are men who hate and do terrible harm to women. There are parts of the world where women's rights are next to non existent.

There are parts of the world where homophobia still means prison, beating or death.

Racism has meant places where black people were not allowed to be, black people have been slaves owned by white masters and white European nations have had empires that did terrible as well as good things.

What is also truth is that this is a very narrow focus that denies the bigger picture.

Women can be the victims of injustice and crime. But we can also be the perpetrators of them.

Women can be abusers, rapists and killers (not always in self defence), women leaders can be bullying bosses and can declare war and enact unjust laws.

Being same sex attracted doesn't change human nature. Killers and abusers can be homosexual as well as heterosexual. And even the most LGBT accepting of people can get to the end of their rope with those who make being LGBT their entire personality.

Racism is a human problem.

We help no one with the tired old 'Power + Privilege' model.

Hate anyone because of his/her race and you're being racist. That treats people as having common humanity, as we should.

Slavery is almost as old as Humanity ourselves. Cultures and Races across the world have been slaves, traders and owners for tens of thousands of years.

But hating someone because you believe that they belong in a 'bad person' box, just for how they were born?

What the heck does being impressed by someone's home have to do with wanting a mummy?