As Oscar Wilde Said...

"The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about." A perfect expression of the blogger's mentality!

So, I don't mind being talked about on the Catholica discussion board, but, as anyone knows me or who has engaged in conversation with me on this blogsite, "Cliffy" has really got the wrong end of the stick and started hitting himself over the head with it!

He's tracked down my Year of Grace blog, which, as regular readers know, is the diary I kept during the year in which I converted from the Lutheran Church to the Catholic Church. He writes:

Having offended his Lutheran president and blogged private correspondence & the details of his marital circumstances, and told his Lutheran congregation just how wrong they are about the Reformation, David takes flight as a born again Catholic devotee commissioned by Archbishop Hart to work on interfaith communications with his own blogspot? I'm sure he's a charismatic fellow, but is this wise?

Well, every word of my Year of Grace blog is exactly as I wrote it as it happened, Cliffy. [Having just re-read Cliffy's comments, is he under the impression that I blogged this back in 2000? They didn't even have blogs then, did they? "Cliffy", it is a RETRO-blog, OK?] It is the account of how a particlar individual experienced a particular change in life situation - warts and all. Peter Costello's book couldn't be more revealing and honest. The only difference is that I have only ever used the names of the people involved with their permission - only initials or the name of the office (eg. "the president") appear otherwise. I think the inclusion of actual letters in the account is quite revealing - it shows what was actually going on. If you write something, you must always be prepared that one day it will end up on the net...!

I have correspondents who have been in similar conversion and marriage situations to me. They find it very helpful to find that they are not alone, and that others have faced these situations and these hurdles. That is the main reason why I decided to blog my conversion diary from 2000-2001.

As for the wisdom and prudence of doing so? Well, at least I can say I have nothing to hide! When you get David Schütz you know what you are getting. I will say that it has now been eight years since these events, and the officials in office have long moved on. And I have a friendly relationship with the current president of the LCA-Victorian District. In fact, I dropped in for coffee with him in his office just the other morning. They know me, and I know them. You, "Cliffy", don't know either.

So, to take the whole conversion thing as an indication that I am "anti-Lutheran" or "un-ecumenical" is a load of rubbish. I have a picture of Blessed Dr Martin (aka the Arch-heritic) on the wall above me as I write (probably the only office in the Archdiocese which does), and still refer to myself as "a Lutheran in Communion with Rome" and to the church of my wife and family as "my Church-in-Law". I think I have a better understanding of the Lutheran Church than "Cliffy" any way.

My hopes for ecumenical rapprochement are not based on the "lets all just be nice to each other" theory or methodology, but on the idea that we really have to get to know each other and to understand what each one is saying - AND seek the truth of the matter together. I became a Catholic because I thought that it mattered. If I didn't, I wouldn't have. That is in no way a put down of those who remain Lutheran, or Anglican or Maptocostal Angloholic because they think THAT matters. In fact, it is pointless having dialogue with someone who does not think that truth matters at all. And it might surprise you to find that Lutherans in this country appreciate that sort of attitude in a dialogue partner.

Anyway, dear Reader, take a look at "Cliffy's" comments yourself, and tell me what you think of his criticisms. Does the mud stick?