One of the newsletters to which I subscribe is the Forum Letter, published monthy by the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau. Each issue begins with its trademark practice of printing an excerpt from a great Christian thinker in the first paragraph of the monthly letter. Frequently I copy out the quotations in my journal. Perhaps because this month's opening quotation has to do with things Celtic, I thought I'd like to share with you the following quotation:

It is not, I think, being unduly pessimistic to suggest that we are entering another Dark Age. The threat now comes, not from savage tribes like the Vandals, Goths, and Huns, but from the brutalizing pressures of advertising and the mass media, the crudeness and violence of much popular music and entertainment, and the inexorable rise of the consumer society, with its rampant acquisitiveness and selfishness. If the churches are to make any kind of effective stand for the Christian values which are increasingly under attack, it is surely by following the example of the Celtic monasteries and becoming little pools of gentleness and enlightenment, oases of compassion and charity in the ever extending desert of secular materialism. This will not be an easy calling. It will mean modern Christians becoming like the Celtic monks and pilgrims, never feeling quite at home or at rest in this world, ever seeking their place of resurrection and constantly invoking God’s presence and protection against evil forces. But we will also have much to help us on our way: the inspiration of music, art, and poetry, the refreshment of nature, and the companionship not just of fellow pilgrims among the living, but also the whole host of heaven, that great company who have already traveled that way before us. The Celtic Way by Ian Bradley (Darton Longman & Todd Ltd., 2004)