It's been a week of just dizzying blows, in my community work, professional world and national life: most painfully from politicians, managers and individuals who should be working alongside us, not against. From Badenoch's attack on anti-racism, to classist prejudice in unis. 1/

And what comes up, over and over again in every sphere, is the idea that some 'deserve' to be helped, that there is genuine and not-genuine need. 2/

What strikes me here is that nothing is more scary to us than the idea of being made a fool of. Nothing. We'd rather people go hungry than endure the mortification of knowing that even one person has diddled us.

I have no religion - I am an ex-Muslim - but my inside is still fundamentally shaped by my childhood's faith. One of the ideas which resonates with me, even as an atheist, is that of being a 'fool for God'.

What I take this to mean personally is that you lean into the possibility that someone will make a fool of you. That you are already foolish and mortified and embarrassed. And if you are not, then you are not doing the right sorts of work.

It is embarrassing and vulnerable to give without conditions. To bear the idea that you might be seen as a fool, by those asking for help from you; to those watching from outside. But how did this little egotistical glitch become the driver of our public and private lives?

Give. Be foolish. Be cheated, maybe. Be mortified. Give without conditions. Be a fool, for your God.

And this doesn't mean give more than you can; it doesn't mean having no boundaries. Establish your boundaries. Decide what you can spare. Give it away.

(And now I am very embarrassed at having posted this thread, which I suppose means something is going right)