I had been wondering where the burst of cleaning and ordering energy that I’ve had for the last couple of weeks had come from, and I now have a couple of theories. (For two pregnancies I looked forward to the “nesting” phase when I would actually want to clean – it never came. Maybe this is what it feels like!) Freedom from the requirements of a job has certainly helped, since I have hours back in my days with no commute, no papers to grade or lessons to plan, not to mention the time I actually spent teaching.
Monthly Archives: June 2009
Simplicity and Sincerity
Some friends and I were discussing the heated discussions that tend to happen on the Catholic blogosphere (how do you spell that??), and today I came across this reading, which I thought worth noting.
“False sencerity has much to say, because it is afraid. True candor can afford to be silent. It does not need to face an anticipated attack. Anything it may have to defend can be defended with perfect simplicity.
Silence
“Those who love God should attempt to preserve or create an atmosphere in which He can be found. Christians should have quiet homes. Throw out television, if necessary — not everybody, but those who take this sort of thing seriously. Radios useless. Stay away from the movies — I was going to say ‘as a penance’ but it would seem to me to be rather a pleasure than a penance, to stay away from the movies. Maybe even form small agrarian communities in the country where there would be no radios, etc.
Month of Merton
I have officially declared June the “Month of Merton” for the sake of my spiritual reading. I was looking for something new to start on when Craig showed up with a pile of free spirituality books, including Pray to Live, which is Henri Nouwen explaining the life and thought of Thomas Merton. I’ve tried a couple of Merton’s works unsuccessfully, so this struck me as a perfect starting place. If this goes well, the Month of Merton may become the Summer of Merton. : ) Quotes and reflections should be forth coming soon, provided I am able to make my way to the computer for any extended period of time. Anyone more experienced with his work, feel free to suggest which book I should pick up next!
Ahh, kids
Lucy woke up last night (after she had come to our bed) saying, “I need my coffee!” I told her to go back to sleep, but she got up, went to the living room (where Craig was still on the computer) and got her sippy-cup of chocolate milk with a splash of coffee and brought it back to the bedroom. The she got up again and announced that she wanted water. Before Craig could get it, she was saying very loudly, “No, I going to sleep!” but she had closed the bedroom door on her way out and couldn’t open it again. All this woke up Samantha, and thus ended my half-hour or so of comfortable sleeping.
