Week 23 (2025)
singing, mirth & laughing matters, Augustine, digital malformation & the threat of men
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Enjoy this collection of digitally scrapbooked resonances… this attempt to weave unexpected connections… this Imaginary, Weekly Magazine I’d Like To (Or Need To) Read gleaned from other magazines, journals, writers, creators of good things. Perhaps it is many things. I can’t guarantee a niche (my life story, amiright) but I can guarantee the equivalent of a satisfying charcuterie board. Comments are imagined to be around a conversation table. Cheers.
to read: books
Confessions — St. Augustine — First and last time I read this was right around the end of undergrad, so maybe 12 years ago? Needed a refresher, and it’s still just as a beautiful.
"'Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet.' I was afraid you might hear my prayer quickly and that you might heal me too rapidly of the disease of lust..."
See also this excerpt. And this without the internet! Something to keep in mind when juxtaposing his very normal experience and thoughts with the counterfeit hyper-pleasures of ubiquitous digital sexuality available today. More on that below.
to read: essays, articles, newsletters
Seeking The Open Place With St. Augustine — Lesley Clinton, Dappled Things — “Augustine is introducing us to a God who knows the universe as we know our favorite song. The God who sings is a God with whom we can sing.”
It Ain't Funny: Or, Why We Don't Laugh Together — John Heaton, Front Porch Republic — “Then he was raised from the dead, an action that is totally incongruous with our experience. Now we can’t laugh hard enough or long enough. That’s a state we call perpetual joy.”
Laughing Matter — Ashlyn McKayla Ohm,
—“They say This world’s no laughing matter—but how else
Can we account for stars that sing for joy?
Or what about the daffodils that shake their skirts?
Electric tails of skinks, and striped bees,
Dogs who wriggle welcome; and all cats,
Themselves an inside joke. This world’s heart hums
With humor by the handfuls, euphoria”
On Merriment — Mark Brians, Theopolis — “A joyless vigilance cannot be long maintained. There is an illusion to believing that you see through the superficial happiness of the world, reading all joy as empty, into what you imagine is the real bitter heart of the world… we must be careful to cultivate and guard that deep and unquenchable merriment which lies at the heart of the world.”
(related to these: this note from on mirth and Puritanism)
for the [desecrated] body compilation:
(and related to these: Bachiochi’s book The Rights Of Women, Regenerus’ book Cheap Sex, and Carney’s book Family Unfriendly, which I gladly reviewed)
More Young Women Will Pursue Family Life If Good Men Step Up —
, Institute For Family Studies — “I do not think enough of us appreciate just how frightening porn itself is to young women, or how frightening to women the men are who have been malformed by it.”Pornography And The Threat Of Men —
, You Are Not Your Own Substack — “Because marriage and families require safety, security, and trust. They require men who are virtuous and women who are trusting.If men are tired of being viewed with suspicion, it is incumbent upon them to end the normalization of pornography in our country… Be the kind of man who can honestly say to a woman who asks, “No, I don’t look at porn.”
(chaser: this response on parental agency and responsibility from )
There Is No Christian Defense Of Pornography —
, Digital Liturgies — “I believe it’s time to take the Internet seriously as a formative medium. It’s not a computer hobbyist’s private world. It’s the spiritual and epistemological landscape of most of our country.”
Treating Infertility: The New Frontier Of Reproductive Medicine — Ethics & Public Policy Center — The perfect collaborative endeavor to encompass a good chunk of what I’ve been trying to get at here (with some familiar, overlapping contributors). Our approaches to the complexities of the fertile body come with both acute and widespread physiological, social, and moral ramifications. What a gift that this collective effort was accomplished to explain as much. I’m reading through sequentially. This ninth week: Introduction To The Fertility Industry: Assisted Reproductive Technology by Emma Waters — “Who is truly benefiting from these advancements, and who is paying the price?”
to watch, listen to
Continuing On:
#2: The Feminine Genius & Catholic History presented by Bronwen McShea, a recording from the conference True Genius: The Mission Of Women In Church & Culture.
Woven Well Podcast with
— Episodes 70-72 — Self Compassion / Advocating In The Dr's Office: Pelvic Exam / NaPro Technology with Dr. Pakiz — “One thing that patients across the board tell me is You’re the first person to take me seriously, or Wow I can’t believe you took all the time to ask me all those questions and really listen to my concerns… and I just think that’s really sad for my profession, because I feel like I’m just doing what a normal doctor should do: listening to their complaints and asking about their medical history, getting to the root cause of their condition and treating it.” “There is so much unnecessary suffering.”
(more resources on female embodiment in the Big Ol' Compilation — now unlocked)
to glean from
Something Beautiful
Peonies — They are poppin’ so I made bouquets with the 4 and 5 year old boys. A chance to hack away with a sharp object. But little boys love beauty, too.
Flying Kites — Brilliant idea to bust these out for a post-church Ascension Day picnic. Later that day, my husband also flew these ridiculous octopus kites in an open grassy field with the boys.
Something Helpful
The Postpartum Core Corrective Program found here — Purchased and we’ll see how it goes. Thanks to
for sharing in the footnotes of Practicing Prudence Without "Planning" My Family.My 5 Kids Will Be In Gym Daycare For 10 Hours A Week During The Summer from
— Will legitimately be looking into this genius tip. Outside of Sunday (see this incredible piece from I’ve shared previously and think about often) we currently have approximately zero people and places to hand any of the kids off to on a regular basis. And parenting—regardless of work/school/life setup—without some heavily imbedded, casual support of some kind is, as Meredith reminded me once, somewhat inhumane. There isn’t necessarily something wrong with you if it sometimes feels overwhelming.
“But here’s what I will say: you don’t have to beat yourself up with the I should be able to make this work rigamarole before you start considering “funny third things,” whether for schooling or childcare or healthcare or exercise or therapy or meal planning or housekeeping or whatever it may be. “Should” is a mean thing to say to someone who’s just asked for help, and that goes for the conversations taking place in your own head, too.”
Those pornography pieces are so real - as someone who has both dated men who turned out to be active porn users and seen friends' marriages fall apart because of it. It's extremely disheartening, to say the least.
On a lighter note - my mom regularly put us in the Y's childcare when we were growing up and my sister now uses it for her kids occasionally. Definitely a great resource!
I so appreciated the pieces on mirth (thank you for combining with the also-needed real-talk on pornography, whew). My tendency is to be WAY too serious. John Heaton's piece reminded me of a recent Sunday. During Holy Communion, my pastor accidentally tipped the chalice of Christ's blood too generously toward my lips -- I gulped in surprise but the wine dribbled over onto my chin, my shirt, even the baby's head. Since he's also my husband, I wasn't embarrassed, but more thinking, Whoa, guess he thinks his wife needs a hefty dose of grace this week. I started giggling as I tried to contain the little holy spill at the front of the sanctuary, and felt compelled to suppress it. But, why? Isn't this the foretaste of the wedding supper of the Lamb?
Also, I hope you find the Core Corrective helpful! I had a chiropractor lead me through most of those exercises after my third. My fourth pregnancy was far more comfortable! When a friend shared the online program, I was really happy to have a more accessible option.