[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] • SIR,—" The youth
of Great Britain and other civilised non- totalitarian countries is awaiting leadership." And yet the article penned by the young man aged 24 fills me with a kind of despair. Typical of his generation (he assures us) he is idly sitting back " wishing for leadership and spiritual guidance." True, he looks everywhere to discern signs of a possible leader. But, no ! Neither in orthodox churchgoing, nor in the " facile Utopian doctrines of the Left Wing," and certainly not in " the emotional hysteria and athletic heartiness of the Oxford Group " can he find what he wants. All such methods he dismisses with contempt. Meanwhile standing aside and being appalled by the brutalities manifested in the modern world, all that he seems capable of doing is simply—nothing !
Such being the mood of modern youth which has lost faith in the ideals of the old order, your correspondent neverthe- less appeals to the Churches to seize the present " God-sent opportunity for regaining the place in the world that they once held."
I am moved to ask what precisely he would have the Churches do ? Or, if he thinks that this is the task of the Churches to find out for themselves, would he tell us who or what he con- siders are the members of these Churches if they be not men and women of like passions as himself ? In other words, it is a vain hope to look elsewhere for a lead because leadership comes to the individual in his own sphere. The man in the street may become the man of the hour if he will discover the Spirit of reality and fundamental truth for and in himself.
Doubtless the Church exists to bear its witness to this reality in Christ. And such witness is to the revelation of God given to man. The alleged ineffectiveness of the Church —if it be a fact—is the failure of the individuals who make up its numbers and is not to be laid to the charge of the clergy as such, or to the lay worshippers as such.
The answer to the eager and ardent quest of youth today (as of all others) will never be found in somebody else. So long
as they are content to sit back and expend their creative energies in wasteful criticisms of and discontent with the present outlook, the young generation will make a bigger mess of their world than did their fathers.
And yet there is abundant hope. God has His potential leaders everywhere, and there awaits them the heavenly endow- ment of the Holy Spirit for their tasks. But they must fulfil the conditions. In this business there is no priestly caste, but everyone is capable of being used if only he will live his life in the Will of God. That for many of us who profess the Christian Faith necessitates regular and habitual prayer and worship in company with our fellow-Christians and constantly to ask ourselves : " What is there in me which is hindering the Divine power ? "
When we honestly face that, we shall have plenty of leaders both in Church and State.—Yours truly, Chiswick Vicarage, The Mall, W. 4. EDWARD C. RICH.
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