Letter

"Maureen" writes concerning two recent subjects:

"I will freely admit I don't always agree with you, but I find myself concurring with your assessment of what should be advocated by a group truly interested in reform for the Church. I especially agree with the points you make concerning personal reform, and a new relationship between laity and clergy in an effort to combat clericalism.  The biggest problem I have with VOTF is not so much the slant of the board, but the emphasis on lay power which apparently alienated even sympathetic priests. I don't believe there will ever be any real reform without including the rank and file priesthood.
 
"I do miss the VOTF message board, but I don't miss the self righteous condemnation demonstrated by some of the conservatives. I wish more of the conservatives would have taken the time to write the type of thoughtful, challenging posts which Chicago Catholic and yourself wrote. On the other hand, a lot of the liberal posts were also short on thought provoking input, and I don't miss them too much either. 
 
"I wish more people had understood the importance of your point concerning personal conversion. It strikes me that the reason people aren't getting it is because they mistake personal conversion with complete acceptance of a particular agenda. Maybe my clients have rubbed off on me and I truly am nuts, but my own acceptance of Catholicism is based on the Church's Sacramental Reality. I have seen what a profound effect Sacramental Grace can have in people's lives (my own included) and have decided to put up with a lot of things I don't particularly agree with in order to partake in that Sacramental Reality. I think this is a perfectly sensible attitude, but I can't say many of my liberal leaning friends understand it, and neither do my conservative friends who see me as liberal because I freely admit I have problems with some Catholic teaching. Oh well.
 
"A last thought. The Lord of the Rings started me on a wonderfully magical journey which has lasted over thirty years, and added immensely to my enjoyment of life. Gandalf wasn't just a hero of mine, in some respects I became Gandalf. Tolkien's treatment of Gandalf as an ethical and caring Wizard has been the model I have used for my own journey as a fairly gifted psychic. Gandalf spoke volumes to me at a time in my life when I wasn't listening to or for Christ, and the thought of actually practicing my Catholicism was a non issue. I frequently thank God for JRR Tolkien and his wonderful character of Gandalf. Since the movie came out last December it's been fun for me to talk with all kinds of people who have been inspired or effected by one or more of the characters in The Lord of the Rings. I suspect something magical was happening at Oxford during the thirties and forties, and for readers of Tolkien and CS Lewis the magic is still powerful. Enough of this. I miss reading your posts..."

On a related note, those who have met me know that I have a beard. I started growing it when I looked in the mirror on New Year's Day of 1992, and simply decided to stop shaving. I would shave it off for one reason, and one only: to play the part of C S Lewis in a theatre production of Shadowlands.

If only, if only...