Love calls us to the things of this world

1. Watch this first: Wilbur reading "Love calls us to the things of this world"

2. I copied the following from a university site with several authors commenting on the poem... I included it just to give the connection to Augustine-- for the title and for the tension the world of other-wordly things is tempting but especially in the life of motherhood, I try to let love call me back to this world! 

St. Augustine

Insofar as "things of this world" derives from Augustine’s Confessions, it is a phrase that aims precisely at complicating the relation between the objective and the conceptual world, as in this passage: "I have learnt to love you late, Beauty at once so ancient and new! I have learnt to love you late! You were within me, and I was in the world outside myself. I searched for you outside myself and, disfigured as I was, I fell upon the lovely things of your creation. You were with me, but I was not with you. The beautiful things of this world kept me far from you and yet, if they had not been in you, they would have no being at all." (Book X, paragraph 27), trans. R. S. Pine-Coffin.

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Donald L. Hill

The title "Love Calls Us to the Things of This World' is taken from St. Augustine. "Plato, St. Teresa, and the rest of us in our degree," says Wilbur, "have known that it is painful to return to the cave, to the earth, to the quotidian; Augustine says it is love that brings us back."

Daniel and mom doing errands, with a treat to motivate us!

Kids doing spa day; of course, Daniel goes first

We have a new kitty, a pleasure to watch him bounding around the yard chasing invisible things

The kids dressed up the dogs in sweatshirts

Luckily the table we got last year for dining is officially the art table now

No wonder girls love pink, it is rare and gorgeous--a certain pink light of day comes for about 10 minutes each dusk

Dressed up the puppy--we were trying to take care of this guy but sadly he died (from a wound inflicted by our other dog when the puppy sauntered into their cage). Sad and sobering. 

A favorite friend of the kids was taking videos of their dance moves on the porch

Baby Noll in a Batman suit, on a plasma car,  making his "serious" face

Friends helping us tie-dye shirts

Finished products

Oh, silliness!

Daily examen

The following is taken from this website (have no idea what authority this website has but it seemed clear and basic).  Italics is the summary of the "prayer of examen".  My thoughts come after the italicized section. 

http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen/how-can-i-pray/

How Can I Pray?

A great way to pray is to look for God’s presence in your life. More than 400 years ago St. Ignatius Loyola encouraged prayer-filled mindfulness by proposing what has been called the Daily Examen. The Examen is a technique of prayerful reflection on the events of the day in order to detect God’s presence and to discern his direction for us. Try this version of St. Ignatius’s prayer.

1. Become aware of God’s presence. Look back on the events of the day in the company of the Holy Spirit. The day may seem confusing to you—a blur, a jumble, a muddle. Ask God to bring clarity and understanding.

2. Review the day with gratitude. Gratitude is the foundation of our relationship with God. Walk through your day in the presence of God and note its joys and delights. Focus on the day’s gifts. Look at the work you did, the people you interacted with. What did you receive from these people? What did you give them? Pay attention to small things—the food you ate, the sights you saw, and other seemingly small pleasures. God is in the details.

3. Pay attention to your emotions. One of St. Ignatius’s great insights was that we detect the presence of the Spirit of God in the movements of our emotions. Reflect on the feelings you experienced during the day. Boredom? Elation? Resentment? Compassion? Anger? Confidence? What is God saying through these feelings?

God will most likely show you some ways that you fell short. Make note of these sins and faults. But look deeply for other implications. Does a feeling of frustration perhaps mean that God wants you consider a new direction in some area of your work? Are you concerned about a friend? Perhaps you should reach out to her in some way.

4. Choose one feature of the day and pray from it. Ask the Holy Spirit to direct you to something during the day that God thinks is particularly important. It may involve a feeling—positive or negative. It may be a significant encounter with another person or a vivid moment of pleasure or peace. Or it may be something that seems rather insignificant. Look at it. Pray about it. Allow the prayer to arise spontaneously from your heart—whetherintercession, praise, repentance, or gratitude.

5. Look toward tomorrow. Ask God to give you light for tomorrow’s challenges. Pay attention to the feelings that surface as you survey what’s coming up. Are you doubtful? Cheerful? Apprehensive? Full of delighted anticipation? Allow these feelings to turn into prayer. Seek God’s guidance. Ask him for help and understanding. Pray for hope.

St. Ignatius encouraged people to talk to Jesus like a friend. End the Daily Examen with a conversation with Jesus. Ask forgiveness for your sins. Ask for his protection and help. Ask for his wisdom about the questions you have and the problems you face. Do all this in the spirit of gratitude. Your life is a gift, and it is adorned with gifts from God. End the Daily Examen with the Our Father.

1. So, first off... I was put on to this subject by a book that I'm reading titled, Transformed Into Fire by Judith Haugen.  It is very thoughtful and integrates lots of good sources (from Ignatious to Buechner) towards the end of guiding the reader into a fuller life in Christ.

In today's chapter about living intentionally, she encourages the reader, presumably a Christian, to learn to appreciate the present and know God in all the present moments.  She goes on to say that the prayer of Examen has been helpful to her and recommends Sleeping with Bread if you want to try this same prayer/approach to the end of the day with your children (reflecting on our greatest moment of consolation and our greatest moment of desolation.)  A friend of mine said her psychology-based family does "high-lows" with their 6 year old.  I've been hearing lots of people talking about gratitude this year and I think the premise of the practice includes gratitude and joy, but I like that it also acknowledges failures, fears, desolations.  I think the gist is that you take time to notice when you've been fully alive and attentive to God's goodness and presence in your life and the world, but also take time to notice when you really didn't see/feel/know God's presence in your life.

2. So, I'll try to report back sometime if I have tried this with the kids (and myself) .  It does resonate as a practical way that I can grow in self-awareness/fullness of spirit, but also as a way that I can help the kids process their moments of consolation and desolation.

A post that my gluten free friends should just pass over!

Making donuts and bagels... the donuts were from a website who said they were close to krispy creme... I would agree that the very day they were sort of krispy creme caliber.  The day after they were sort of Kroger caliber--my friend said, these are like ones you get at the grocery store.  But I'm sure the oil you have affects the taste, etc.  Anyway, was wanting to try donuts in case a birthday party merited such a treat.  They were definitely a win. 

Bagels: I have always wanted to try bagels.  I'll confess that I forgot to add the yeast the first go round and then tried to cheat and mix it in... I think that means this was sort of a non-premiere round of bagels.  That said, they were still pretty good.  Not pictured is the hot water bath the bagels take; has to be healthier than the oil bath the donuts take!

P.S. I had my camera on a funny setting that made all my pictures look like we were already in heaven, glowing from all angels! :) The other day Rachel said, "what does this button mean" and when I slid it over, I noticed that the pictures returned to their normal brightness which I'm glad about.

P.P.S.  While my current body shape will undermine what I'm about to say, I can't say that I think the "gluten-free" discovery is going to remain a universal dietary rule of thumb in generations to come.  It just doesn't intuitively make sense to me with thousands of years of history of bread, with the majority of cultures having some form of bread as a staple in their diet.  Now, I do think we have a crazy amount of processed flour in our American diet.  And I'm sure that my friends who are going gluten-free for behavioral things in their kids are not purposefully making their lives immensely harder without really seeing the difference in their kids.  But, I'm dying to see what the verdict will be 50 years from now regarding what the connection is between modern day allergies and an age-old staple food of many cultures.  "I am the bread of life"-- how will we understand this in years to come?