And a wonderful five years it has been. Here's to holy matrimony! Here's to a holy death! Here's to life!
If I did love you more
my heart would break
or else my body
on a cross.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Happy birthday, Miriam!
Beautiful one, our first and beloved daughter. May God's grace fill your heart in abundance all the days of your life.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Proud to be (1/4) German!
This is one of the most pro-child TV spots I've ever seen. And it's German!
Things on my mind
Beloved Richard John Neuhaus at First Things has a sobering review of some new scholarship on the Third Reich. This paragraph, on the culpability of the German people during the Shoah, particularly hit home. Chilling, indeed.
"During the Third Reich, ordinary Germans “had many more things on their minds.” That’s a chilling phrase. We might easily say, and many do all too easily say, that during the era of slavery or during current horrors such as the genocide in Sudan or the daily killing of thousands of unborn children in the abortuaries around the country, most ordinary Americans “had many more things on their minds.” That’s a moralistic cheap shot. The truth is that we all have many more things on our minds, and necessarily so. Such as families, jobs, dealing with sickness, and warding off despair. Not to mention, for many, the distinctly unnecessary hours every day spent surfing and chatting on the blogosphere."
"During the Third Reich, ordinary Germans “had many more things on their minds.” That’s a chilling phrase. We might easily say, and many do all too easily say, that during the era of slavery or during current horrors such as the genocide in Sudan or the daily killing of thousands of unborn children in the abortuaries around the country, most ordinary Americans “had many more things on their minds.” That’s a moralistic cheap shot. The truth is that we all have many more things on our minds, and necessarily so. Such as families, jobs, dealing with sickness, and warding off despair. Not to mention, for many, the distinctly unnecessary hours every day spent surfing and chatting on the blogosphere."
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Mommy Wars
A singleton friend of mine from DC just asked for my thoughts on the disunity ("bad blood") between stay-at-home moms (SHM) and working moms (WM). Since my writing time is strictly limited by the fact that, at the moment, I am SHM (will that change at all when I become a part-time WM?), I'll just share my response with y'all.
First, it's hard to quantify such a thing as "bad blood." I would say there's certainly tension, and where it shows up for me is... The Park. I'm usually at the park on weekday mornings with my girls, other little humanoids, and nannies. Endless streams of nannies. Life in the affluent suburbs is very 19th-century in that way.
But once in a while we go on a Saturday, when the park is filled with parents spending Quality Time with the same children I have seen all week with Nanny Jane. Then the tensions flare: "So, what do you do?" "I stay at home with the kids." "Oh." I can interpret the "Oh" either charitably or irritably, but in the end it always says, "Not much to talk about. "
There are circumstances when the mom must work, and here I see only sympathy from stay-at-home moms (SHM). The mother who must work is living our worst fear: that we won't be able to afford daily life with our own family.
Of course, when I hear a working mom (WM) regretfully informing me that she can't afford to stay home, when I just saw her park her BMW SUV... well, then my sympathy is strained. We make huge financial sacrifices in order to keep me at home--sometimes this is frustrating, sometimes is is a source of sinful pride, but in the end the sacrifice is made joyfully and with gratitude that God has given us fleshly hearts in place of stony hearts. There are a lot of stony hearts at The Park. (Lord, give me a heart of flesh!)
I think women in particular tend to live a sort of bi-polar existence, feeling intense superiority and intense inferiority at the same time. The SHM feels intensely superior that she has made the sacrifice to stay home; she feels inferior that she isn't "contributing" or can't show any awards, good grades, or financial pluses. And she often doesn't get to shower or get a haircut in a timely manner. Devastating at The Park.
The WM feels superior that she does contribute to society and her family's wealth; she feels inferior that she's not the one raising her kids on a day-to-day basis. My very presencea t the park passes a judgment on her: I believe it is worth living on financial pins and needles and giving up my career to be with my children. What does my lifestyle say about hers? And Americans hate even implicit judgment. (As my friend pointed out, add homeschooling to the mix and the tensions and polarity increase astronomically.)
Those are some observations. Clarity of thought is very difficult in these matters: our deepest convictions, prejudices, and all our burdens and gifts from our own childhoods come to the fore. Bad blood and polarization in the "mommy wars" arise, of course, only because of our dear old friend: original sin. We place ourselves on the defensive instead of listening to criticisms or the wounds of the "other side." All the mommies at The Park must find a way to desire true self-knowledge: why am I making the choices I make? From where do my resentments come? How can I be a better mother and--dare I say it--die more to myself so my children may truly live?
First, it's hard to quantify such a thing as "bad blood." I would say there's certainly tension, and where it shows up for me is... The Park. I'm usually at the park on weekday mornings with my girls, other little humanoids, and nannies. Endless streams of nannies. Life in the affluent suburbs is very 19th-century in that way.
But once in a while we go on a Saturday, when the park is filled with parents spending Quality Time with the same children I have seen all week with Nanny Jane. Then the tensions flare: "So, what do you do?" "I stay at home with the kids." "Oh." I can interpret the "Oh" either charitably or irritably, but in the end it always says, "Not much to talk about. "
There are circumstances when the mom must work, and here I see only sympathy from stay-at-home moms (SHM). The mother who must work is living our worst fear: that we won't be able to afford daily life with our own family.
Of course, when I hear a working mom (WM) regretfully informing me that she can't afford to stay home, when I just saw her park her BMW SUV... well, then my sympathy is strained. We make huge financial sacrifices in order to keep me at home--sometimes this is frustrating, sometimes is is a source of sinful pride, but in the end the sacrifice is made joyfully and with gratitude that God has given us fleshly hearts in place of stony hearts. There are a lot of stony hearts at The Park. (Lord, give me a heart of flesh!)
I think women in particular tend to live a sort of bi-polar existence, feeling intense superiority and intense inferiority at the same time. The SHM feels intensely superior that she has made the sacrifice to stay home; she feels inferior that she isn't "contributing" or can't show any awards, good grades, or financial pluses. And she often doesn't get to shower or get a haircut in a timely manner. Devastating at The Park.
The WM feels superior that she does contribute to society and her family's wealth; she feels inferior that she's not the one raising her kids on a day-to-day basis. My very presencea t the park passes a judgment on her: I believe it is worth living on financial pins and needles and giving up my career to be with my children. What does my lifestyle say about hers? And Americans hate even implicit judgment. (As my friend pointed out, add homeschooling to the mix and the tensions and polarity increase astronomically.)
Those are some observations. Clarity of thought is very difficult in these matters: our deepest convictions, prejudices, and all our burdens and gifts from our own childhoods come to the fore. Bad blood and polarization in the "mommy wars" arise, of course, only because of our dear old friend: original sin. We place ourselves on the defensive instead of listening to criticisms or the wounds of the "other side." All the mommies at The Park must find a way to desire true self-knowledge: why am I making the choices I make? From where do my resentments come? How can I be a better mother and--dare I say it--die more to myself so my children may truly live?
Monday, June 23, 2008
Home!
The Scientist Dad has returned from the isles of the Virgin (St.Thomas, USVI) after six long days of pirating, looting, and listening to such presentations as "The Effects of Spousal Deprivation on the Dorsal Rafia in Voles and Meadow Mice." Wow.
It is wonderful to have him home. And wonderful that the baby chose last night to sleep for seven hours. And wonderful that coffee is cheap and plentiful in the USA.
It is wonderful to have him home. And wonderful that the baby chose last night to sleep for seven hours. And wonderful that coffee is cheap and plentiful in the USA.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Three things
Richard John Neuhaus has a lovely tribute to Tim Russert up on the First Things page. It includes a hilariously scathing analysis of the NY Times's recent front-page article on the lessons of same-sex marriage. But I particularly liked the concluding touch to the Russert memorial:
"John Meacham writes that Russert believed that there are three really big things: God, human folly, and laughter. The first two surpass human understanding, so in our humbled state we should make the most of the third."
Perhaps there are bigger things to be inserted between God and human folly? I'm trying to think... Creation? No, for it was subject to human folly. Angelic powers? No, for they envy us our imago Dei. And is laughter greater still than any of these? Perhaps so.
"John Meacham writes that Russert believed that there are three really big things: God, human folly, and laughter. The first two surpass human understanding, so in our humbled state we should make the most of the third."
Perhaps there are bigger things to be inserted between God and human folly? I'm trying to think... Creation? No, for it was subject to human folly. Angelic powers? No, for they envy us our imago Dei. And is laughter greater still than any of these? Perhaps so.
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