THE IMPATIENCE OF A PARSON [To the Editor of the
SPECTATOR.] Sin,—The greater part of my letter about Mr. Sheppard was meant to be a lament that the bulk of the Press was luke- warm about his book. It was written in the spirit of Et tu, Brute, and my reference to your review was that it seemed to me almost as lukewarm as the others, while I expected more enthusiasm. The fact that Mr. Sheppard makes definite pro- posals does not imply that he is not a prophet. The Hebrew prophets were always making proposals such as political alliances, and Jeremiah went so far as to suggest• national surrender to his country's enemy. In the case of Mr. Sheppard it seems to me that his Lambeth proposals are not meant to be taken very seriously. There is obviously a great play -of the imagination in the -suggestion that the Lambeth Conference in three years is to go pacifist and Piotestant, but this is only poetical -visioning intended to help us to see beyond our noses. We should never say the Lord's Prayer if • we -took it -too literally as- an -ideal that could be realized at oncev A- merchant says " Thy kingdom come " on his way -to the Oity every morning, but he -does- not' feel utterly
-depressed on his return home at night when he is conscious that, however much he may have tried to keep his methods Christian, God does not yet completely rule.. Christians are always aspiring far beyond any present realization, and it is a prophet who helps them to go- on doing so without despair.
I am convinced that Mr. Sheppard is one of the few persons who are making headway among the youth of our parishes, even though they may only have heard him on the wireless. It is because they feel that here is one who really believes that Christ might be followed now as He was in the Galilean days. Intellectual difficulties play a much smaller part in the non-Church-going attitude of our people, especially the young, than is generally supposed. It is the unreality of the pro- fessing Christians which puts them off.—I am, Sir, &e.,
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