Sermon from Barchester

The Warden

A Tudor foundation established a charitable hospital for 12 poor men with £12000 pa long ago.  £850 now has been assigned to the warden after years of 'creep' have tipped the balance in favour of the rich and powerful. (I imagine the place as Leycester Hospital in Warwick.)

An honest reforming lawyer brings an action to challenge the situation.

The Warden is a goodly priest and it dawns on him that he has been defrauding the poor for year without really thinking  He steps down, much to the annoyance of his archdeacon who would prefer no threat to the status quo.  The warden is caught by a no-win situation, as both sides feel that it is vital to succeed.  The lawyer however, on the behest of the warden's beautiful daughter, drops his case.  The warden steps down on grounds of conscience.  The Hospital falls into decline.  Everyone has lost.  Even the old men of the hospital start dying due to the strain.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.  A systemic perspective on 'change' foresees knock-on effect.  The conservative forces of inertia resist change, and even positive change can reap negative consequences also.  I think of the pain involved in almost 100 years of suffering following the French revolution.

Another example: if the monarchy in the united kingdom were to be abolished, what would the knock-on effects be?  The monarchic system may be anachronistic in this day and age.  A system that is the 'king pin' holding together most of the discrimination we observe in our society, from racism, sexism, classism, etc.  A system to fit the idolatry that we see in our 'celebratory obsessed' culture.  But then I would not put much in the 'republican hat' if it were to be passed round.  The upset change to this status quo would affect would inflict too much trauma at present I fear. An then Harry FitzWindsor goes and proposes to Meghan Markle breaking most the rules in the royal rule book.  Not bad.