“A friend was particularly scathing about the ballerina, which came from a stock-shot library. ‘Even if they trawled the length and breadth of the islands, they probably wouldn’t find a single kid at ballet lessons whose parents vote Labour,’ she said. Ballet lessons are a sign of aspiration, and aspiration tends to move people away from Labour and towards something perceived as smarter. So who was the Labour Party addressing, exactly, with its ballerina? Not boys, that’s for sure.” (Daphne Caruana Galizia, TMID 21 Feb)

This hatred and viciousness comes from the great fear the writer has not of Labour winning the election but of the Nationalists losing them. And she has very good reason too. She reminds me of one of my peacocks which goes bananas when my other more intelligent parakeets and parrots overpower it and have a go at its feed.

A book I read, written by Robert Sardello, describes very well my peacock’s fears and I felt that a small quote may offer some food for thought to people that are living the unpleasant condition of my poor peacock – Lord Pride. This may come as a surprise to some who really believe that our beloved young ones although red in colour, do not have ballet in their DNA and yet we read books.

“Fear comes at us from politics, war, work, relationships, strangers, movies, and television. It keeps us from behaving intelligently, since the mind’s first reaction to fear is to ignore danger, hoping it will go away. When fear takes over, it drives us to extremes of manic happiness or fits of rage; it pushes us to destroy relationships instead of letting relationships help us defeat it.

When fear wins the battle, viciousness sets in, and we have miserable lives in a miserable world. Most important, fear keeps us from the one thing that could stop its taking over: becoming present”.

Robert Sardello argues that the soul’s greatest enemy is fear. This book is a call to arms to change our situation and thereby change the world. It is a rich combination of theory, anecdote, exercises for strengthening the soul, and the wisdom of a great student of the soul. Being a true Christian I recommend it.

In return I beg readers to say a little prayer to cure my peacock Lord Pride.

Charles J Buttigieg

Mellieha