Monday, July 21, 2008

oops...

a couple times recently, I have been in a conversation with someone, and of course it turns to music and liturgy, and I start to say something, and then I realize, oops, they don't exactly agree with me...
awkward...

I mean, sometimes it's unavoidable (like, I'm not being obnoxious about the topic in the conversation,) but a couple days ago I was chatting with someone at a party, and I was telling her about my plans for the rest of the summer, and I mentioned I will be going to a conference in August, so of course she asked me what kind of conference, so I had to tell her it was a music/liturgy conference, and then she asked what kind, so I had to tell her it was for the Extraordinary Form of the Mass...and then she went, "ugh," and made a face.
So I certainly couldn't leave it at that! (awkward...)
These situations are probably actually really good for me, just to remind me that not everyone even that I think of as a "good Christian/Catholic" agrees with me.
Of course, the moment I get a response like that, I tone it down.
But actually, most importantly, it provides me with an opportunity to politely explain to people more of the mindset, and reasons, and personal experiences (which can be the most powerful arguments) of someone like me, who certainly didn't grow up with any sort of Latin Mass. And why it has become so fascinating. (this lady in particular was very interesting. She has daughters my age, who are also somewhat interested in Latin and things, so she actually seemed like she wanted to know a bit more about what exactly it was that makes our generation like Latin and stuff.)

1 comment:

Gavin said...

Yeah, I've been there lots of times. The best thing to do is to pretend you have no idea people don't think like you. Like when I last subbed and dealt with a rather liberal priest:

Priest: Do you do any contemporary music?
Gavin: What? Contemporary? The offertory was by a 20th century composer, yes.
P: No, I mean like with a youth band.
G: Youth band?
P: Yeah, like with young people, music for them.
G: Oh yes! At my last job I did Gregorian chant with the children at the parish school, they loved it!
P: No I mean with drums and such.
G: Ahhh... No, I do the Church's music. You know, the treasury of chant and Latin polyphony.

It's really fun to "not know what they're talking about" :P