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Regrets, I’ve had a few…
Almost as soon as Monday dawned and we started tuning into the Eclipse Coverage, I was hit with…WHY did we not do this? WHY did we not go to Totality???? We would have had to drive maybe three hours….
I had had reasons – mostly that I was convinced that if I attempted it, it would be rainy or something and the traffic would be terrible. They were bad reasons. I didn’t think it through. I should have just tossed us in the car and shot up and over somewhere in Tennessee. I am really regretting this pretty profound misjudgment of mine…
Oh well. 2024 isn’t that far off…
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So coming off that major homeschool/unschool/roadschool/parenting/LIFE fail…we did see a wolf spider carrying her egg sac at the Botanical Gardens, so there’s that.
(Photo is in the midst of others from that visit, so as to not trigger anyone’s phobias. I’m sensitive to that because I once worked with a school principal who had deep arachnophobia. Trouble was, she was also a science teacher, and she told us once that she found it necessary to clip together pages in a textbook that had photos of spiders so she wouldn’t accidentally turn to them – or else she’d freeze/pass out. I’ve always remembered that….)
This week: Sunday began with serving Mass at the convent & seeing reptiles. Skip to Tuesday: back at the convent for a Mass for Profession of Perpetual Vows. (See photos at the friars’ Instagram feed) at which the homeschooler served. Wednesday, we stuck around here then today (Thursday) was piano lesson and the botanical gardens. Moss Rock has been requested again for tomorrow, so we’ll see.
Sometimes something good – very good – can emerge from that cesspool of craven data-mining otherwise known as Facebook. Writer Emily Stimpson Chapman wrote a thoughtful, heartfelt Facebook update on a visit to an historic plantation outside of New Orleans – compared with others she’d visited. Several readers suggested she find a place for wider publication – and presto, here you go:
The plantations my husband and I visited are beautiful examples of architecture. They are part of our history. They should not be destroyed or left to decay. But at the same time, those plantations and others like them must stop glossing over their origins. They need to acknowledge the blood and sweat of the slaves that built them in a more visible way. History demands it. Our humanity demands it as well. Taking a page from Mansfield Plantation in Charleston, and reconstructing the slave villages for all to see, would be wise. At minimum, erecting a memorial to all the slaves who worked there, naming them if possible on that memorial, seems like a must.
As for the rest of us, it doesn’t matter what color we are or where our ancestors came from. We all have sinned, and we all have the power to atone for sin — our sins and those of others. One of the great teachings of the Catholic Church is that through our prayers and sufferings, we can help “make up” for the wrongs others have done.
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I received a surprise shipment today – copies of The Loyola Kids’ Book of Bible Stories. It doesn’t seem to be shipping from online booksellers yet – it will probably be a couple of weeks before it gets to their warehouses, but you can certainly still order from Loyola Press – which you would want to do if you are a parish or school anyway – or request it from your local Catholic bookstore, which you should do first, always.
The book is structured around the liturgical year. In planning it, I asked myself, “When do most Catholic children and families encounter Scripture?” The answer is – in a liturgical context. This context is, in addition, expressive of the more general context in which all Catholics – and most Christians since apostolic times – have encountered, learned about, understood and embraced Scripture – in the context of liturgy, which is, in the most general terms, the context of the Church.
So the stories in the book are organized according to the liturgical season in which they would generally be heard, and the stories are retold with that liturgical context in view, as well as any specific and age-appropriate theological and spiritual themes.
Once it becomes more generally available, I’ll write a bit more – but until then – have a look at some some exciting photos.
Go ahead and order it – for your school, parish or even local public library!
For more Quick Takes, visit This Ain’t the Lyceum!
Charlotte was Both 