GK CHESTERTON (of Father Brown fame) was a great student of human nature.

Asked what was wrong with the world, he replied “I am”. He saw himself, like all human beings, as a microcosm (basic ingredient) of the world’s ills, sublimely aware of the faults of others but completely blind to our own.

His logic was that for a better world, we must start at base level – ourselves.

This last week has witnessed all the key elements of Greek drama – a terrible mistake/misjudgement followed by drastic consequences – only in some respects, the consequences provide worse evidence of human nature than the original act.

There’s another famous story (I’ll paraphrase) of an unhappy woman who had made a number of cultural misjudgements and was about to receive “justice” with a volley of bricks until it was suggested that only those who didn’t object to having their entire lives laid bare – deeds, thoughts, fantasies, desires etc etc should be allowed to participate. The result: the woman survived.

One suspects that in today’s political/social climate, she would be dead. Perhaps we should all read/watch more Fr. Brown.

Name supplied, Darlington.