Week 30 (2024)
unconventional homes, nomadic hospitality & noticing each child, abundance, burdens & outsourcing, creative housing solutions & remedial sex education
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to read: books
What Money Can't Buy — Michael J. Sandel — Found in this essay shared recently. Lots to chew on.
Raising Tiny Disciples — Phylicia Masonheimer — I listened to the audiobook, which is short at just over a couple hours. Nothing new if you’ve followed her for a while, but I love how it’s all in one place here.
to read: essays, articles, newsletters
When We Outsource Every Hard Thing, What Do We Lose? —
, Public Discourse — “Popular culture tells us it is often more efficient to outsource routine household tasks than do them yourself. This leaves an important question unanswered, however: efficient at what?”(and an acute observation)
- , Hearth & Field — “No easy life has been promised to us. Thus, we can also look upon the relationship between the weather and the harvest (or lack thereof) as a reminder: the farmer and the gardener—and everyone else as well—must daily exercise both strenuous work and steadfast trust.”
Do I Really Notice Each Child? — John Cuddeback, LifeCraft — “But when the number of blessings grows, then especially is intentionality required… It will demand a re-examination of priorities in our life; how we think about career and profession; and how we think about friend time and free time… In the end, it’s not only about the child—though that would be more than enough reason. It’s also about us, and the person we are called to be in and through our being a parent (or grandparent, godparent, teacher…)”
It Takes A Swarm To Raise A Village — Patrick Tomassi, Public Discourse — “…almost every American is feeling the strain of unaffordable housing, and people across the political spectrum are looking for creative solutions.”
(related: Escaping The Housing Trap (book), Arbitrary Lines (book), The Death & Life Of Great American Cities (book), How Neighborhood Character Actually Condemns Land Use & Zoning Restrictions, Yes In My Backyard—And In My Frontyard, Why Catholics Should Resist NIMBYism, Markets & The Strangulation Of The American Family, shared previously)
- , Theology Of Home — “Being so unencumbered by "stuff" helped us to take more chances in carving out solutions to our circumstances… Don’t be afraid to do something unconventional if it works for your family.”
- , Comment — “We learned to accept audacious provision the way Jesus and the early church did, with joy and without apology. I came to see that when generosity flows in only one direction, it robs others of the joy that comes with sharing… When I feel like Steve and I are falling behind in our world’s game of Life, the truth that settles my spirit is this: Christians fundamentally play a different game.”
(related: Becoming The Stranger, The Culture Of Hospitality, I Never Thought I'd Feel At Home In My Neighborhood-Until We Got The Slide, Last Days On Speakeasy Street, Longing For Home, Risking Rootednesss, Hannah Coulter The Green Lady And Me, The Ache For Home, shared previously)
Matinée sur la Seine - Claude Monet - Public Domain Night Drive — Isabel Chenot, Ekstasis — “I heard the undertow
of all my fears distilled
on dripping trees.And even dark was tender,
even water.
I heard immensity whisper,
Come here, daughter.”My Experience Of Teaching A Catholic Sexuality Class To Young Adults —
, Searching For Shalom — “But, I truly and firmly believe that this area should not be “gate-kept” in any way. Every woman and man has the right to know the truth and beauty of their body and God’s plan for sexuality. It may be intricate, but it is not complicated.”(added to the big ol' compilation)
to watch, listen to
Why We Shouldn't Trust Markets With Our Civic Life — Michael Sandel, TED Talks — This gives a taste of his book I enjoyed this week, which is certainly worth reading.
Continuing On:
to glean from: tip, product, resource
I’ve ordered from Every Woman a Theologian before, but this time along with the (audio)book, I picked up some stickers and a magnet, the Teach Me To Pray Cards, and their children’s books Where Is Jesus? and Making All Things New.
to look back on
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Hannah Chartier's piece on teaching a Catholic sexuality class to young adults is resonant with my experience of having taught a sexual ethics/theology of the body class to high school freshman. I'm conflict-averse and was really reluctant to teach it (somehow it was dropped into my lap alongside the English that I actually applied to teach). And it was overwhelming to face students who were often indifferent or even hostile to the church's teaching (even though the curriculum approach was strictly philosophical/reason based).
I remember on one occasion feeling really discouraged after a lot of my students were pushing back hard on IVF. When I shared this with a colleague, she said "it's important because this may be the only time some of these students ever hear this perspective." And that completely changed my attitude from "this is something I have to do" to "this is a matter of justice and it's owed to these students to hear the truth".
These are all good (as usual) but I really loved the minimalism article. I appreciate that the couple doesn't use it as an aesthetic choice or let it consume their way of living, but rather as a baseline to determine what's most of value and works best in their family. (And love that they found each other, as two people so united in their way of thinking.)