From time to time, the dispassionate observer of the Anglo Catholic blogsphere would be able to detect common themes and then sometimes a tangible difference in opinions. This is to be expected, as I have remarked before, we are operating in different parts of the country and are apt to be individual in practice anyway. As AW favourite psychosynthesist Piero Ferrucci said, 'what we could be if we were of one mind is unimaginable', what we could be if we enjoyed centralised command and direction and good avenues of communication is what we hope to be, a well organised, dynamic force in the Church, of one public mind and voice, unstoppable and carrying far more 'clout' than we do as individuals, provinces and chapters. Sometimes a letter arrives in my in tray like today's from Fr Simon Killwick, stating plainly the lie of the land, with some good hope for the future. Much of what he is saying echoes the above, that it depends to a great extent on us, and how we can mobilise ourselves into a coherent force over the next few months and years.
One of the strands which the dispassionate observer may pick up on in the Anglo Catholic blogsphere is that of peaks and troughs of depression and elation. At the moment some are sliding down the slippery slope of depression, wondering what might become of us, losing sight of the fact that whatever becomes of us, it becomes of a group of people doing God's will and it becomes us to act like that group of people, guided by the word of God, who have forged the Church upon souls of iron since Saul fell off his horse and Andrew heard the call of God down in the dockyard.
A comment on my last post hit the proverbial nail on the head. I was trying to ask, in the post, what we were to do to begin the New Oxford Movement, what our modus operandi should be, how we are to appeal to people and win the day as the last one did. In short, what the gloss over the substance of faith was to be. The correspondent pointed out that the main thing was to MOVE, in the movement and that the rest would, presumably, come naturally. I think we need something rather more concrete than that and I ask again, in the midst of all the confusion and the vague hope that someone else will start this new movement that seems to be fluttering around, what are we to do?
I suggest that good, honest correspondence, untainted by preconceptions and dominant personalities, with the promise of action when we are of one mind, is the way forward. I fear that there will be no advance in this movement, though, because time is running short and worry is creeping in. Once again, as Ferrucci said, 'what can we be?'.
One of the strands which the dispassionate observer may pick up on in the Anglo Catholic blogsphere is that of peaks and troughs of depression and elation. At the moment some are sliding down the slippery slope of depression, wondering what might become of us, losing sight of the fact that whatever becomes of us, it becomes of a group of people doing God's will and it becomes us to act like that group of people, guided by the word of God, who have forged the Church upon souls of iron since Saul fell off his horse and Andrew heard the call of God down in the dockyard.
A comment on my last post hit the proverbial nail on the head. I was trying to ask, in the post, what we were to do to begin the New Oxford Movement, what our modus operandi should be, how we are to appeal to people and win the day as the last one did. In short, what the gloss over the substance of faith was to be. The correspondent pointed out that the main thing was to MOVE, in the movement and that the rest would, presumably, come naturally. I think we need something rather more concrete than that and I ask again, in the midst of all the confusion and the vague hope that someone else will start this new movement that seems to be fluttering around, what are we to do?
I suggest that good, honest correspondence, untainted by preconceptions and dominant personalities, with the promise of action when we are of one mind, is the way forward. I fear that there will be no advance in this movement, though, because time is running short and worry is creeping in. Once again, as Ferrucci said, 'what can we be?'.
_Black_s_s_s_s_s.jpg)
