About The Lesson

I doubted my parents would be as understanding as Mr Walsh appeared to be. In fact something I had learnt, speaking of basic skills, I knew they ‘wouldn’t’ be as understanding. I knew I was going to be in for a terrible punishment. I could not imagine how severe the punishment from my parents would be (well, I suppose I could imagine. Based on previous experiences it wasn’t going to be pretty). Nor could I consider what form the punishment would be. Physical yes, I expected nothing less, but as mentioned earlier (see blog 9^th October 2012), there could be other options. Psychological or Financial. I understood I had someone in front of me, who had generously paid the stolen money back, from his own pocket. I new I had to make sure I paid it back to him. But perhaps I would not ever be employed. Don’t criminals have to carry a piece of paper saying they are criminals? And people don’t want to employ them. I had done something that my parents would be ashamed of. I had taken money that did not belong to me. Sure, I had bought ice blocks for everyone, but it was not my money in the first place. I now sat before Mr Walsh ashamed of what I had done. What he had said was important. How important I had not fully realised at the time. But how he had said it to me, was. I had not been smacked, beaten, left cowering. I had been spoken to. By a gentle speaker, softly spoken, who wanted me to hear what he had to say, clearly. I had heard. That was another great skill of Mr Walsh’s. He spoke to you, not at you.

He then prepared to say what I should expect would happen next. I prepared myself for the worse. I knew it was going to be bad. I had no real difficulty with the concept. Then Mr Walsh surprised me. He looked at me and said that what was going to happen next was….. Nothing. He explained that he would not tell the principal. I was amazed. He also told me he would not tell my parents. I really was amazed. I had done the wrong thing, but I was not to be punished further? There had to be a catch. Why wouldn’t he? Why would he not make an example of me? Other people always had if I did something wrong. Other people always seemed to make a point of showing me up when I made a mistake or such. That usually added to feelings of a lack of confidence in me. But that was irrelevant to them. They wanted to make sure I felt bad about it.

Right now I was feeling bad about what I had done. Some of that I was sure was due to the built in ‘Catholic guilt’ Those who do not have this effect (or ‘defect’) need to understand the way it works. It’s like a ‘retro fitted device’. An incredibly complex and deeply ingrained system of personal accountability, which is ‘attached’ to the unsuspecting psyche when merely a child, and forced into the practices and opinions of the Catholic church. It is then worked on over the years as you grow.

(Continued tomorrow)