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Margaret the Ordinary Part 3
A Short Series
Peter, a 45 year-old man, works as a counsellor at the Catholic Counselling Centre (i.e. CCC). Most of his clients are paying clients but a small percentage (around 10%) are pro-bono clients referred to him by the church.
Though he already has 10 years of experience as a therapist and does not need to see pro-bono cases to hone his craft, he continues to do so as a tithe to God.
A part of Peter believes that God will reward him with treasure in heaven for his generous giving to the poor. Hence, he gladly gives up the luxuries of life to attend to the needs of the suffering poor.
His wife, Catherine, unfortunately, does not share this belief. Though she is also a baptised Catholic, she has fallen away from the faith and developed a small but intense liking for the goods of the world.
She often chides Peter for his ‘misplaced generosity’. She laments the disappearance of the European holidays, branded bags and exquisite Japanese dinners, that could have been hers if her husband had not clung on so tightly to his low paying job at a non-profit organisation.
Catherine is vocal in her dismay and often lashes out at Peter, both verbally and through the withholding of sexual intimacy. Many a night Peter spent sleeping in the study musing about how…