Yes, a few days of detoxing are in order (no, Hayeses, it has nothing to do with all the JUNK FOOD we ate this weekend!).
My favorite vitamin drink today: red grapes, cucumber, a knob of fresh ginger, spinach, ice, alkaline water, and a touch of stevia. Now THAT'S a tasty drink!
I also liked soup made out of new potatoes and carrots. Doesn't take many spices to make that a delicious meal.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
We love you, Hayeses!!!
The last time you were here, the picture had several fewer children! We sure are "productive" families!
Too bad the children turned out so weird!
Ah, lovely ladies--how blessed I am with holy friends!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
I LOVE MOM!
Happy Birthday, Mom! You are such a GIFT to me--a Mom that makes my heart sing!
We had a GREAT time at your party--such a joy!
An oh, how I love Dad!!!
I love our FAMILY!!!
Monday, February 13, 2012
So sweet!
Annie is SO SWEET--she has just flown over the most recent developmental hurdle with such grace!
--She can say at least 100 words
--She asks nicely for what she wants, like "Bottle ("bottu")!" or "Book!"
--She goes to sleep without being rocked (I can't believe it!)
--She does not gravitate to me so much; she walks right past me to go play with a sibling or a toy :)
--She can stay with a babysitter; Mary puts her down to sleep
--She can write her letters (scribble version) or color while the other kids are homeschooling
So this means that I can:
--go out on a date with Ron until morning
--homeschool in peace
--carry about my daily chores without much fuss
--put her down by just sitting and having some quiet time
--ask her what she wants, and get an answer
AMAZING!!!!!! An overnight transformation! One month ago, not ONE of these was true!
Annie, I LOVE you, and can't wait till we can talk about these precious days some day.
God be with you and bless you!
--She can say at least 100 words
--She asks nicely for what she wants, like "Bottle ("bottu")!" or "Book!"
--She goes to sleep without being rocked (I can't believe it!)
--She does not gravitate to me so much; she walks right past me to go play with a sibling or a toy :)
--She can stay with a babysitter; Mary puts her down to sleep
--She can write her letters (scribble version) or color while the other kids are homeschooling
So this means that I can:
--go out on a date with Ron until morning
--homeschool in peace
--carry about my daily chores without much fuss
--put her down by just sitting and having some quiet time
--ask her what she wants, and get an answer
AMAZING!!!!!! An overnight transformation! One month ago, not ONE of these was true!
Annie, I LOVE you, and can't wait till we can talk about these precious days some day.
God be with you and bless you!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Aunt Kimmy!
What a blessing Aunt Kimmy is to us all!
Thank you, Kimmy, for making time to see us; thank for being so reliable and generous with giving gifts to the kids; thank you for your sense of humor; thank you for your prayers. I love you!!!!!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Opposites Attract
So funny--I was telling a friend of mine that I play a little game with myself when I grocery shop--I work to get a compliment by the check out clerk: "You are so healthy!"
My friend looked shocked. She said, "I cannot even imagine that!" This mother of 7 continued, "The only remark I routinely get from the clerks is, 'Are you having a party?'"
Her regular family routine doubles for a party, every week!
Now, that's living!
My friend looked shocked. She said, "I cannot even imagine that!" This mother of 7 continued, "The only remark I routinely get from the clerks is, 'Are you having a party?'"
Her regular family routine doubles for a party, every week!
Now, that's living!
Plato's Cave
Harville (Dad) and I had such an interesting discussion about Plato's Cave! I was saying that my faith tradition helps me to stay in the positive place that he had been describing in Imago terms. I said, "Maybe my faith is just a hermeneutical holding place, pragmatically helping me to do what is right for human happiness." He smiled.
I followed up with: "But we are all in Plato's cave: none of us knows anything but shadow expressions of God or God's ways. That is also a tenet of the Catholic faith: ours is an intellectually humble faith, knowing that we all 'see through the glass dimly.' What I really can't stand," I said, "Are people like Joseph Campbell, and Bultmann before him--and Jung did it too--who think they can 'demythologize' other people's belief systems. What hubris! How ridiculous! They think they got out of the cave? Can ANY human being get out of the cave, with regard to mental concepts or words? No, the human mind simply cannot know the fullness of God in this life. We all, in my opinion, see dimly. Some people's beliefs are better than others; some access the Spirit of God while others can go against God's nature and truth. But no one can say, 'I have broken through the darkness of the human intellect; I know how it really is.'"
Now of course, the whole point of Plato's Allegory is that one person did get out of the cave. But when he did, Plato said that it was beyond words, beyond expression. In fact, it was "beyond being." That is my point: some may go past the shadows, and into the fullness of the light. But it is not by demythologizing or looking down on other people's concepts or words. The truth is beyond words. But words help us find the truth.
That is why I love the mystics--they are humble in their intellect, while rich in their intimacy with God.
I followed up with: "But we are all in Plato's cave: none of us knows anything but shadow expressions of God or God's ways. That is also a tenet of the Catholic faith: ours is an intellectually humble faith, knowing that we all 'see through the glass dimly.' What I really can't stand," I said, "Are people like Joseph Campbell, and Bultmann before him--and Jung did it too--who think they can 'demythologize' other people's belief systems. What hubris! How ridiculous! They think they got out of the cave? Can ANY human being get out of the cave, with regard to mental concepts or words? No, the human mind simply cannot know the fullness of God in this life. We all, in my opinion, see dimly. Some people's beliefs are better than others; some access the Spirit of God while others can go against God's nature and truth. But no one can say, 'I have broken through the darkness of the human intellect; I know how it really is.'"
Now of course, the whole point of Plato's Allegory is that one person did get out of the cave. But when he did, Plato said that it was beyond words, beyond expression. In fact, it was "beyond being." That is my point: some may go past the shadows, and into the fullness of the light. But it is not by demythologizing or looking down on other people's concepts or words. The truth is beyond words. But words help us find the truth.
That is why I love the mystics--they are humble in their intellect, while rich in their intimacy with God.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Being Progressive
When Leah spent many months at a time in the Middle East, one of the profound lessons she reported learning was that there are many ways to think of the word "progressive." Being "progressive New Yorker" by upbringing, she thought she knew what "progress" for a culture was. But, she said in those days, she heard many women in the Middle East say that they have a different notion of progress: it is NOT progress, in their view, for women to lose a sense of modesty; it is NOT progress for divorce to become customary; it is NOT progress to lose faith in God or to abandon one's practice of that faith.
Just as Leah was impressed by the message of these women, so too I am impressed by a similar notion. I think it is one of the great things she and I have in common: the desire to look beyond current trends and not assume that the newest ideologies sweeping across the nation or the globe are the most true. Just because they are interesting, avant guard or revolutionary does NOT mean that they are better. Sometimes, in fact, what has no surface allure at all is actually the most rich, profound, or real.
This is the case, in my opinion, with regard to sexuality. Mom mother surprised me (yet again) by announcing that she is already half through Christopher West's new book on the Theology of the Body (how on earth does she know about Christopher West?!). The Theology of the Body has to do with the theology of the human body, and how love is expressed (and violated) with regard to marriage. One of the main tenets of this theology is that, while it is licit for married people to restrict the number of children that they have, they should do this restriction through natural, not artificial means. The Theology of the Body unpacks why this is the case, what human sexuality is meant to be, and why artificial contraception undermines its purpose.
It is my personal opinion that true "progress" is advancing toward an uncompromised respect of a woman's body--never, ever objectifying it, either from within a marriage or from outside of a marriage. I believe that it is true progress to respect fully a man's body, similarly. I believe that it is true progress to have an uncompromised respect of children's bodies, and never to in any way objectify them, and to teach children from the earliest age how to never objectify, or let others objectify, their bodies. To objectify a person's body is to use them, and we all know how it feels to be used--it feels horrible; it is how we know we are not loved.
I believe that people need to learn of their unconditional worth, beyond being attractive, beyond being externally beautiful. I believe that when our culture has advanced, or "progressed," as far as it can go, all people will have a sense that human sexuality is subordinate to a generous, safe and thoughtful love. I believe that when we have really "advanced," artificial contraception will have become outdated. I believe in humanity, in its beauty and goodness, and I look forward to a day when God's creation will be respected for what it is meant to be: sacred.
Just as Leah was impressed by the message of these women, so too I am impressed by a similar notion. I think it is one of the great things she and I have in common: the desire to look beyond current trends and not assume that the newest ideologies sweeping across the nation or the globe are the most true. Just because they are interesting, avant guard or revolutionary does NOT mean that they are better. Sometimes, in fact, what has no surface allure at all is actually the most rich, profound, or real.
This is the case, in my opinion, with regard to sexuality. Mom mother surprised me (yet again) by announcing that she is already half through Christopher West's new book on the Theology of the Body (how on earth does she know about Christopher West?!). The Theology of the Body has to do with the theology of the human body, and how love is expressed (and violated) with regard to marriage. One of the main tenets of this theology is that, while it is licit for married people to restrict the number of children that they have, they should do this restriction through natural, not artificial means. The Theology of the Body unpacks why this is the case, what human sexuality is meant to be, and why artificial contraception undermines its purpose.
It is my personal opinion that true "progress" is advancing toward an uncompromised respect of a woman's body--never, ever objectifying it, either from within a marriage or from outside of a marriage. I believe that it is true progress to respect fully a man's body, similarly. I believe that it is true progress to have an uncompromised respect of children's bodies, and never to in any way objectify them, and to teach children from the earliest age how to never objectify, or let others objectify, their bodies. To objectify a person's body is to use them, and we all know how it feels to be used--it feels horrible; it is how we know we are not loved.
I believe that people need to learn of their unconditional worth, beyond being attractive, beyond being externally beautiful. I believe that when our culture has advanced, or "progressed," as far as it can go, all people will have a sense that human sexuality is subordinate to a generous, safe and thoughtful love. I believe that when we have really "advanced," artificial contraception will have become outdated. I believe in humanity, in its beauty and goodness, and I look forward to a day when God's creation will be respected for what it is meant to be: sacred.
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