A Call to Arms

Thus saith Jeffrey Smith at The Roving Medievalist:

Stop worrying. Keep praying. Gently, without rancor stand your ground, knowing you're not alone. Deal with the old guard as you would with children. After all, most of them haven't grown up, have they? Yes, dear, I know you want a jacuzzi in the baptismal font, and a felt banner of Che Guevarra instead of that nasty old statue of St. Augustine, and married priests, and womyn priests, and gay marriage, and bongos in the sanctuary, but you can't always get what you want. Didn't a song written around the time your opinions ossified say that? ( I know, blast it! I said without rancor and gently, but I'm talking to you, not to them. Now, kindly let me finish. ) Don't take them all that seriously. They're at the end of their run and they're having a hard time accepting it. Some will whine. Some will fold up. Some will go on the attack. there's the rub, rear-guard actions by the defeated can be nasty, but they fade away in the end.

Now, what can you do besides being patient with the old guard? Simple, and it's my main point that I was going to make before you started distracting me with your dratted objections. ENCOURAGE!!!!! Encourage all the wonderful new artists, and composers, and musicians, and architects. Make sure they know their work is appreciated and that the attacks of the old-fashioned proponents of "less is more, get that crucifix out of my worship space" crowd are the fleeting tantrums of a vanishing breed. PRAY!!! Both for the artists and for the old guard. Pray for faithful young priests and faithful middle-aged bishops and a continuance of the surge in vocations. Above all, pray for God's continued protection of His Church from the forces, or should I say the force (you know who I mean) who would attack it. Be patient, be joyful, be faithful. The Church will prevail. No one's going to damage it beyond repair. The tide has turned.