This is a time of transition, the centralisers always tell us. They tell us that they are increasing our chance of democratic decision-making, but to do so, some changes have to be made. They have already made those changes for you, without your consent or participation, but they want to reveal that. Power will soon be returned to you, they claim. This transition, this state of emergency, is just temporary, they imply. It isn’t. It is as permanent as they can make it. The changes are unilaterally foisted on us because we do not speak up and protest, and each failure to speak up makes them stronger and us weaker. Those who like to manipulate want to make us easily manipulated. The centralisers don’t want feisty, independent people. They want malleable, easily-directed people. They want plastic people, so they tell us how important it is to keep up and value whatever they introduce to us as new, and how it is to be rigid and to value what we already have. What they call new, they call good. What they call old, they call bad. We however have a different view. We do not think it is a good idea to ‘see what our leaders decide for us’. Those in positions of authority who tell us this, are telling us that we have no authority of our own. We do. We have authority. They have no authority to tell us that we have no authority. This authority was given to us in our baptism, when we were made Christians, and as Christians, we first come to share in the priestly, prophetic and kingly office of Christ.