The Vicar of Wokefield

I want to say to you, my children, and as your pastor, that you have served a master and look where it got you, You served the master of woke and look where you are. You've lost and suffered harm and it isn't over. That isn't to say the master meant you harm. 

 

The master was weak, deceptive, and might have been looking out for his interests or been deluded. The master was a Puritan. A utopian and blind to his own failings and weaknesses. None of us are without sin. And self-righteousness doesn't win many friends. 

Nor accusations. I know you don't think of yourselves in this way. It sounds more like the opposition, doesn't it? And maybe you were only fighting back, using the tools that had been used against you, for years and successfully. But theirs is not your audience. 

Which is our strength. It's unwise to betray it, even in the frustration of our powerlessness. We must be better but also realistic. There are dark days ahead and we are imprisoned. We must reform. Look to ourselves. Others can look out for their own reformation.

It's not our responsibility. 

Our first responsibility is to us. Ourselves. To witness to the truth. To do so we mustn't lose sight of it, in the bustle of politics and the chaos of battle. Our souls are at stake. In our investment or interest in the salvation of others our own lives are our witness.