Week 31 (2023)
the Auschwitz midwife & pre-industrial masculinity, play deprivation & garden cultivation, filling minds, prayer & the peace of inefficiency, money & gen z on parenthood
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reading: books
Prayer, Richard J. Foster — audio — A wonderful resource.
reading: essays, articles, newsletters
The Midwife Of Auschwitz Who Delivered Thousands Of Babies And Saved Thousands Of Lives — Meg Hunter-Kilmer, Church Life Journal — “For nearly forty years she served the women and children in her community and when, in her old age, someone expressed his grief that she had to spend time in Auschwitz, Stanisława was clear: she did not regret it.”
A Future After The War — Lancia E. Smith, Ekstasis — “In this light, growing gardeners of the future is of paramount importance. The future will be a wasteland without them. If we do not grow gardeners, and cultivate cultivators today, there will be no gardens and no civilized culture tomorrow.”
Filling Time Filling Minds — Nadya Williams, Front Porch Republic — “Decades ago, I read a striking book… a cautionary tale of a society much like the one in which we live today. In it, people ignore friendships and beauty in the world around and only care about maximizing profit, squeezing each minute for all it is worth. Mysterious grey-suited men begin stealing time from such people, preying on the natural human desire for profit. An apocalypse of sorts appears at hand.”
Not Without Prayer — Kevin Raedy, Plough — “Retaining our cognitive grip on the very believability of miracles, C. S. Lewis tells us, won’t be easy. In fact, it is hard work.”
The Beauty Of The Inefficient — Mary Catherine Adams, Theology Of Home — “Would an attitude of less efficiency (though not laziness--living well is hard work) bring us some peace? In fact, low efficiency doesn’t mean less productivity but rather slower and quieter; there's a lot happening as the sourdough rises. Let’s trust the hidden fruitfulness of a longer time and rejoice in the good that comes of it.”
Play Deprivation Is A Major Cause Of The Teen Mental Health Crisis — Jon Haidt & Peter Gray, After Babel — “Too many people are focusing on drugs and therapy, as if something is wrong with the kids that needs correction, and not enough of us are thinking about prevention… bringing normal childhood back to children. Children are designed to play and explore and thereby becoming increasingly independent as they grow older.”
Common Good Men — Nancy Pearcey, Touchstone — “For men, being a father was not a separate activity that you came home to after clocking out at work. With a few exceptions (like soldiers and sailors), fathers were a visible presence in the home, day in and day out. They introduced their children to the world of work, training them to work alongside them.”
Why Doesn't Gen Z Want Children? — Freyda India, Unherd — “Yet with record levels of mental health problems, and a deepening sense of nihilism and disillusionment, perhaps what young people need is a culture that encourages responsibility, personal sacrifice, and commitments that stretch beyond self-indulgence and endless “me time”. Notably, numerous studies show that meeting the needs of others can better fulfill our psychological wellbeing than focusing solely on ourselves.”
Where Your Treasure Is — Nikolai Berdyaev, Basil of Caesarea, Maria Skobtsova, C. S. Lewis and Dorothy Day, Plough — “But you lament at relinquishing gold and silver and property – that is, stones and dust – in order to obtain the blessed life.”
watching/listening
Continuing On:
Verity with Phylicia Masonheimer — Episodes 102-103 — End Time Hope Vs. End Times Fear and Does The Bible Condemn Tattoos?
The Commonplace with Autumn Kern — Timetable & Weekly Plans For The CMEC and Charlotte Mason & Unit Studies
etc: product, tip, resource
Immersion Blenders — Rediscovering the joys of our immersion blender recently: Blended Iced Coffee! Smoothies! Homemade Tomato Soup! Celebratory Piña Coladas! The options are endless and everyone should have one! (Yeah, sometimes I feel the need to use wine glasses for other fun drinks.)
remembering
One Year Ago:
Two Years Ago:
This Week:
Richard Foster’s book on prayer is truly a treasure. I can never explain it to others - I always just say: “you have to read it!”
This is the kind of "news" I appreciate. Thank you!