Week 26 (2024)
Bonhoeffer & what fathers give, farm lessons & roots unseen, rootedness & the success sequence, education's telos & a relational literacy
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to read: books
- — Part memoir, part history, holding plenty of relevant observations & timeless wisdom.
to read: essays, articles, newsletters
The Witness In The Weak Centres —
, Comment — “Dietrich’s ability to make and keep friends is not emphasized in the popular, heroic narrative of his life, but he had, as his fiancée Maria von Wedemeyer-Weller described in a reflection after his death, “the great gift of putting a person utterly at ease. . . with sincerity and commitment.” …For years, Dietrich had participated in ecumenical conferences, forming relationships with people from other countries and churches… his most significant contributions to the conspiracy were in this “soft” skill of friendship.”A Father's Final Gift — Klaus Bonhoeffer, Plough — “But my experiences as a father can no longer guide you. Therefore I would like to write down a few things of importance for the future, even if you are only able to understand them later.”
What City Kids Learn On My Farm — Larissa Phillips, The Free Press — “…a lot of city kids are missing out on so many important encounters with material reality: with death or danger or manual labor… Here’s one thing I’ve learned: children like being useful. They get a lot of freedom on the farm, but there’s one rule: everyone has to do chores. We use real tools and do real work.”
The Roots Upon Which We Are Founded —
, Over The Field — “Every time we cause an extinction or expatriation, we are thus taking this gigantic and irreversible gamble... Do not dismiss, therefore, the unseen; neither destroy what appears empty or insignificant.”- , Cultivating Oaks — “We can be shade and shelter, and we can leave beauty around to fill the pockets of future generations, as long as we are courageous enough to risk rootedness right in the middle of our unknown stories.”
(related: Your Community Is Like A Forest, Allegories Of Pruning, What Forests Teach Us About Community, Longing For Home, Hannah Coulter The Green Lady And Me, The Ache For Home, No You Cannot Have It All, Somewhere In Chessington, shared previously)
What The "Success Sequence" Misses — Patrick T. Brown, American Compass — “…in an era of falling birth rates, conversations around fertility across the life cycle, work-life balance, home economics, happiness, and human flourishing seem more appropriate than one that implicitly encourages students to delay marriage and parenthood… Covering the statistics that stable, married families provide better outcomes for both parents and children is essential. But that is because these conditions lead to a richer life across multiple dimensions, not just richer in purely monetary terms.”
(also from Patrick: The Cultural Roots Of Our Demographic Ennui and Yes In My Backyard—And In My Frontyard, shared previously)
Don't Major In English: And Other Bad Advice From The World —
, The Public Discourse — “If all that time is directed only toward the telos of career, why do we educate those who cannot work because of special needs? Why educate those who decide to be stay-at-home parents? Why educate those with family wealth or without any need to work? …What is the point of a well-rounded person—and what does it even mean? Education must have a grander and more transcendent telos than we currently assume.”What We Hope To Pass On — Michael O'Connell, Dappled Things — “These foundational stories form a set of shared experiences that existed before we knew each other, like plants growing in the same soil… And so, after much deliberation, I handed my son Wallace’s book, and I encouraged him to talk about it—with his roommates, classmates, with me. Who can say where it will lead?”
A People Without Culture: What The End Of Reading Truly Means —
, Providence — “How do you communicate with other flesh and blood people with neither the ability to read nor listen deeply? …the solution for the literacy crisis in our society can only be relational.”(related: In Praise Of Reading Aloud, shared previously)
to watch, listen to
- , The Trinity Forum — Always enjoy finding interviews with authors. It’s a small comment that comes up here, in addition to the book, but I loved hearing how much Bonhoeffer took after his mother in her lively and spirited way of approaching the good in life, and doing activities deliberately or at whim for the sheer pleasure of it. The fact that he would intentionally do such things with his fellows, even in dark times, is instructive for us all. Seizing life’s joys in the small moments peppered throughout humdrum days—or in the most desperate of times—is surely within reach for all of us, and is formative in its own way.
Continuing On:
The Commonplace with Autumn Kern — The Tools for 2024 and Starting Habits For Intellectual Study as a Mom
to glean from: tip, product, resource
Kentucky Mule — But for this, we shook in the mint leaves and citrus wedges with ice, to get more flavor from the oils. (The leftover ginger beer came in handy for when I was struck this weekend with the most awful and debilitating sickness, truly feeling my physical worst since… the last time I gave birth. Maybe thats my other tip: aways have ginger beer on hand. It’s just perfect for many circumstances and I wish you could buy it in bulk.)
to look back on
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I love that idea from Tresta on "risking rootedness." Saying no/staying put always risks "missing out" or advancing/climbing the ladder. But the risk is often worth it.
Love the snippet on At Home with Bonhoeffer. Heading to listen ASAP!