It’s amazing how kids learn. It’s so totally effortless. There are always the examples of four-year-olds casually using curse words in polite company, much to their parents’ embarrassment, or course. Yesterday, on the other hand, Lucy was walking around the house with her Fish do the Strangest Things book, standing on top of things, holding the book in front of her, and proclaiming, “A reading from Saint Paul. Babies and sisters…” I stopped in my tracks. She is clearly paying much closer attention while she wiggles away through Mass than we have been giving her credit for. (I asked about the “babies”, and she seemed to think that made more sense than “brothers”, which is understandable I guess since she has a severe lack of brothers at the moment.) Anyway, we are redoubling efforts to have such good influences and Saint Paul and his letters around, so that her osmosis can do its thing.
Tag Archives: Domestic Church
We are one Body
We went to a “young adult” gathering in the Baton Rouge diocese last night, and it got me thinking. So I’m really just thinking out loud (as it were) here, most of this isn’t clearly formed yet, but it has been bothering me for a while. The meeting itself was fine, they had a change of plan since the speaker had to cancel, so we had dinner, discussed what we would like to see from the young adult ministry (they’re really just getting started) and then had a brief prayer service. But it was the assumptions underlying the conversation that interested me most.
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.
I can relate…
…to this story. If there seems to be a lot of Elizabeth Foss on this blog all of a sudden, it is because I think she’s really cool. And this story is hilarious. Two-year-olds most definitely bring adventures, wherever they are!
Beginning and End
I had the privilege over the course of the last two weeks to be present at two of the great moments of life conducted as they ought to be.
Less than two weeks ago, on November 5, our second daughter was born. Samantha Rose weighed 8lbs 4oz and was 20 inches long. She has a tuft of dark black hair, which shocked me after fair, bald baby we had met with in our first daughter. In any circumstances, she was our small miracle.
