As the Sassenach Bard once philosophised: "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, etc" The Roman Catholic Church had the opportunity to set sail into unchartered waters after Vatican 2 - Protestant churches had already evolved to a certain degree through their centuries of change. What we see now is the result of missing the tide and being "bound in shallows and in miseries".

Like Ron Ferguson (August 20), I remember the heady days of Charismatic Renewal, but to quote a well-known cosmologist and mathematician of today, Brian Swimme, as a human race we have to reinvent ourselves. Scientifically, technologically, we have progressed too far ever to think of holding on to antiquated doctrines of what the church has to offer. Didn't another Teacher say it wasn't possible to put new wine into old wineskins? Christian or atheist, we must accept responsibility for the state of our world and justice for its peoples. We remain stewards of all living creatures. This fact is our common ground.

What should the west do with its ancient Christian tradition?

Look to the universe, look to the cosmos, look to what earth needs from us and let it teach us. We need fresh eyes and daring. Those who believe in Christ should see Him at the heart of matter and spirit and not separate from any particle, any atom, any cell.

Only then shall we be truly alive and enabled, prepared to face the enormous challenges of the future with our fellow men and women - of any persuasion or none. Whatever evolves out of all that is what some may refer to as "church" one day.

Janet E Cunningham, 1 Cedar Avenue, Stirling.