Week 13 (2022)
disability & spiritual sight, appreciating our neighbors & our cities, seasons of barrenness & living with abundance, medical humanities & sexual ethics
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reading: books
Lost In Thought, Zena Hitz — audio — Here is an excerpt from Princeton University Press, which initially introduced me to the book.
White Picket Fences, Amy Julia Becker — audio — She has related articles discussion genetic testing and her daughter at the New York Times (here), and a beautiful essay on merit culture vs. grace, through the eyes of disability, at Plough (here).
reading: essays, articles, newsletters
We Are Not Monarchs — Erin Loechner, Design For Mankind — Gotta print this one out and stick it somewhere to remind myself of ideas for enjoying, afresh, the generous abundance of life.
Pregnant With Meaning — Abbey von Gohren, Ekstasis — “Finally, I realized that I was not simply an empty womb, with empty days ahead of me. A strange apparition of that most famous mother—in my basement and in my book—made me feel chosen, too. I too could be a bearer of life, not death. Even as I felt bereft, my arms were filled with love, as if with abundant roses. Even in a season of barrenness, “the season in which the frost was very harsh,” here was a harvest of blooms “open, flowers of every kind, lovely and beautiful, when it still was not their season.”
Eyes To See: On Disability, Spiritual Sight, And The Holy Spirit — Rachel Roth Aldhizer, Mere Orthodoxy — “God is using a small, disabled baby to piece my puzzle picture of himself together, better than it was before.”
How To Build A Fence — Jonathan Kirk Brooks, Plough — “Randy, like the other men that day, was volunteering his time. For free. For kindness. For neighborliness. He was participating in the dying art of neighborhood work. He was a loving participant in the communal art of building fences.”
The Rest Of The Country — Addison Del Mastro, The Deleted Scenes — “Or to put it a different way, what we call the housing crisis is not a purely economic issue, but in part a cultural one: a result of the idea that most of America is not good enough…
People pay huge sums to visit expensive, desirable destinations, when there are so many more ordinary but really interesting places out there. It’s almost like passively outsourcing the work of having a good time to your surroundings, instead of engaging with those surroundings. We treat great places like they’re things you sit back and consume, rather than things you work with and help build.”
Searching For Mr. Stavros — Karla Theilen, Strong Towns — “This was the way it went. We never talked about ourselves or our families. We didn’t discuss politics, the state of the world, or what happened in the times in between our meetings. There was never talk about what came before, or what would come after. It was a rare and wonderful opportunity to not talk, to not explain.”
Medical Humanities And The Specialist — Ronald W. Dworkin, The Hedgehog Review — “Reading literature also reminds doctors to keep their scientific systems of thought at bay. Many medical specialists are tempted to dwell in the world of pure thought, accompanied by their formulas and abstract classification systems.”
Consent Is Not Enough. We Need A New Sexual Ethic. — Christine Emba, The Washington Post — For those who practice a form of the Judeo-Christian faith, this “new ethic” is not new. It’s an important basis for countless safe, strong, and satisfied marriages. (She knows this, as a Catholic.) Nevertheless, her assessment of the broader, modern sexual landscape is perceptive and accurate—with an awareness of where a huge swath of the population is coming from.
Her new book was released March 22. Leah Libresco talks with Christine about themes in the book here. (I would also say that it pairs well with sociologist Mark Regnerus’ book Cheap Sex.)
watching/listening
Rethinking Sex — Leah Libresco of Other Feminisms talks with Christine Emba about some of the themes in her new book. Incredible observations are made. (Always learning from Catholic ladies.)
using: product, tip, resource
How To Read Stuff Posted Online — Alan Jacobs
Free Library Access To Paywalled Publications — I recently found out while perusing our library’s resources, that we can get subscription access to things like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and even Consumer Reports. Find out what resources your own library offers access to!
remembering
A Year Ago:
One month-old Lukas, bathroom shenanigans, and a birthday party with friends.
This Week:
Lukas’ walking powers continue to increase. Pho. The local library. Ezra’s first masks. Making another berry pecan crumble, lemon cake, and cheesy cornbread. Discovering Aldi’s apply thyme dressing and jazzing up jars of Indian curry. Braving the latest winter-spring weather. Facetiming family. Another house showing with the realtor. An invitation into the home of new friends for an afternoon of chaotic, fun hospitality. And brisket.