Liquid Theology, Part 2

Another aspect of the theology of liquid that I thought worth exploring was liquid's role in the natural order of world. We looked at the concept of vessels and how the can be filled and poured. We also looked at grace being liquid-like.

And hope confoundeth not: because the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts,
by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us. For why did Christ, when as yet we were weak,
according to the time, die for the ungodly? For scarce for a just man will one die;
yet perhaps for a good man some one would dare to die. But God commendeth his charity towards us;
because when as yet we were sinners, according to the time, Christ died for us;
much more therefore, being now justified by his blood,
shall we be saved from wrath through him. -Romans 5:5-9

In the natural world, this still holds true. Grace is poured over the earth as is rain, and it affects different areas differently.

That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust. -Matthew 5:45

The diverse beauty of nature speaks to this spiritual reality. Just as God blesses some more than others, so other have the ability to use these blessings differently.

Theology of Liquid

This is something I've been pondering for a while, and I admit up front that it is something that is NOT fully developed. But I wanted to at least begin getting my thoughts about it "out there."

So, with that disclaimer out of the way,  here goes.

It's no secret that liquid is absolutely essential to life on Earth. Water, blood, milk, and even sweat and saliva are all forms of liquids required for daily living. Without even one of these, life as we know it would be radically different.

Liquids even take on more extreme and wondrous forms, in different sweeteners (honey, maple syrup), poisons (rattlesnake venom, harvest mite saliva), oils (olive, coconut), acids (hydrochloric, vinegar), body fluids (rennet, cerebralspino fluid), and so on, each one taking on a more incredible and specific form than the last.

We also know that "The heavens shew forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of his hands." -Psalm 19:1

So what do fluids reveal about God?

First NFP Class in the Books

First CCL class: taught!

Wife and I taught our very first NFP class yesterday! It went really, really well. We met the couple in their homes since the husband travels for work. Their schedule did not exactly line up with our planned course offering, so went ahead and met at a more convenient time for everyone.

It worked out very well. It was nice to sit a more relaxed environment as we get used to being teachers. I think it helped us calm our anxiousness and first-time jitters. Plus, all of the kids all played together, so we didn't even have to worry about babysitting.

All in all, it was a great class, and a great experience for us as first-time NFP teachers.

Discipline is the Key to Homeschool Success

Persevere under discipline. God dealeth with you as with his sons; for what son is there, whom the father doth not correct? -Hebrews 12:7

He that spareth the rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him correcteth him betimes.  -Proverbs 13:24

The parental control on the TV is not for the kids. The parental control is for the parents! -Caribbean Priest (2005)

The best laid schemes of mice and men / Often go awry. -Robert Burns (1785)

Thing #2 working on memorizing Psalm 11. It has bows and arrows in it.

Wife and I were discussing our new homeschool curriculum earlier this afternoon. We had planned to do so much - map work, journaling on different virtues, big history projects, art lessons, music lessons, Latin, poetry, scientific exploration, and so on, on top of the 4 R's - reading, writing, 'rithmetic, and religion.

Well, despite the curriculum's early success (which in retrospect may have due to the initial excitement), things are not going as swimmingly as we would like. We have great success getting through the morning - we have lists, we have a routine, we have the most important and foundational subjects up first, and we have the energy of a new day. It goes great. There is discipline. There are clear expectations. There are consequences for failure to execute. Incorrect work is corrected. Correct work is praised for the good effort.

They finish up by lunch, and much gets accomplished.

Then we take a break, and it all goes downhill.

Waiting is the Hardest Part

Tonight might be the end of Phase 2.

Is it Phase 3 yet?

Or, it could be tomorrow. Or maybe in another two weeks. I don't really know.

It's very difficult to wait for marital intimacy without wanting to throw a great big tantrum sometimes. But the waiting itself is one often misunderstood aspect about NFP in that it helps impart grace and virtue of its own accord.

You see, the joining of spouses is a very good thing, if not the best human thing, in and of itself. It is a glorious part of God's creation, a mystery of the relationship between God and His Church, a perfect unity of masculinity with femininity, a glimpse into the inner life of the Trinity, and all that other cool stuff. (Really. Go read where I cite the Catechism and the Bible and some saints and popes. read Parts Two and Three also.) Plus, married love is just plain amazing.

Yet, as an NFP couple, we delay this awesome love, and frequently at that. Yeah - it's tough. Even though we've been practicing it for years, it's still very difficult waiting for the embrace.  But I'm beginning to notice the good in waiting, too.

First NFP Class Scheduled!

Exciting times! Wife and I just got our first NFP class scheduled in the CCL system and at our parish.

We are certified NFP instructors
through the CCL as of the beginning of January.

Our first class is February 28th. The room is reserved at our parish. The class is loaded at ccli.org. An ad is running in next week's bulletin. I notified my men's group.

It's official.

I guess we'd better brush up and practice our materials now.

The Endless Summer

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. For all you are the children of light, and children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do; but let us watch, and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that are drunk, are drunk in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, having on the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. -1 Thessalonians 5: 4-8

Nights and days, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
Light and darkness, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever. -Daniel 3:71-72

Early to bed, early to rise, makes one health, wealthy, and wise. -Benjamin Franklin

God works in cycles - light, dark, cold, heat, summer, winter.
All of the bless the Lord in their own way (Daniel 3).

I always feel more tired in the winter. I think most people do, actually, and I've always thought this. To explain this seasonal increase in sleepiness,  I have tended to say things like, "Well, it's hibernation season" and "It's cold out, and that makes me tired" and "The Christmas season just runs us ragged."

Turns out it's actually the fault of our electric lights.

The Endless Summer (ES) is a modern phenomenon characterized by long waking hours, high electricity consumption, sleep problems, increased stress, and a general inattention to the natural flow of the seasons. ES is essentially a chemically-induced constant state of wakefulness triggered by high-intensity, artificial, blue-wave lights that stay on after sundown, tricking our bodies into a constant state of daylight.

And no, it's most definitely not a good thing.

New Year's Homestead Update

What a crazy year it has been.

This weekend, I took inventory of where things are. First things first, a chicken update. We are now getting 8+ eggs a day consistently. I got 19 in just the last two days. Here was yesterday's next boxes:

Count'em - that there's 10 eggs!

Aside from the few random eggs on the coop floor, the girls have managed to lay in the boxes very consistently. It's SO nice to literally see our reliance on a factory-produced grocery store item disappear. At a current WINTER pace of 50 eggs a week for an 8-month-old flock, we're doing amazingly well.

The repaired coop is also holding up quite well.

2013, We Hardly Knew Ye

"...from such films as Andre the Giant,
We Hardly Knew Ye...."

Or, we knew Thee all too well for our own Stinking Goode.

Either way, it was a crazy-town, whirlwind year here at the homestead.

This time last year, I knew there was so,so much to get done, so I dubbed 2013 "The Year of Getting Things Done."

Boy howdy, was it ever.

I have a yet-unfinished list, sure, but I did complete some very major accomplishments this year. We will continue our self-sufficient journey in 2014 with some exciting new additions and expansions.

For now, though, let's look back at 2013: The Year of Getting Things Done.

NFP+RP & The "Maybe-Rejection" Philosophy

"Eek! A bad apple! Therefore, apples are evil!"

"One bad apple spoils the bunch."

We've all heard this old proverb. And there is some truth to it, at least in the sense of apples. As an apple rots, the gasses and fungus contained therein spread more quickly to other apples in close proximity, thereby ruining a bunch.

This also applies to perception. We, as fallen humans, tend to focus one or two individuals who "ruin it for everyone." The one kid who can't be trusted to stay of the cookie jar, prompting a total snack lock-down from mommy. The one person who drives too fast and prompts a global speed limit reduction.
So rather than deal with, and isolate, the problem, we succumb to the far-reaching, and unnecessary, effects of lumping everything into bunches. It's a grouping (or group-think) philosophy erred on the side of oversimplification in the name of eradication.

The problem with this philosophy it that it makes a few big assumptions.
And we all know what happens when you assume....

Form Thee Thine Conscience

This chord might be abused.
Sooo....let's just ban guitars!
Image @ strum.usegrid.net

Thinking a bit more about my musings on NFP recently, it struck me that, perhaps, the main chord that resonates among (what I perceive to be ) the "anit-NFP crowd" is that NFP is being abused. Therefore, in light of the fact that people may not be not forming their consciences correctly and abusing the just reasons (not "grave" or even "serious" - see the Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], No. 2368), we just need to rethink the Church's whole support of the NFP mindset and lifestyle.

Ummmm......no.

Theology of the Body (For Beginners)

Worth a few good reads!
Image @ http://www.oocities.org

I just finished reading Christopher West's excellent Theology of the Body for Beginners for the second time.
The first reading was a revelation for me, in that it helped me to think of marriage and the body in terms much more elegant and spiritual than I had previously.
This second reading (naturally) provided some additional insights for me.
The first major insight was the concept of "freedom from the law." Of course, I had read that before, but it didn't click until this time around.
But wow.
Plenty to ponder....

NFP: "Trojan Horse," or Saving Grace? Part 3

Laying to rest the anti-NFP+RP ideologies.
Image @ moistimidtran.blogspot.com

This is part 3 in a series. Turns out I had more to say than one post would naturally allow. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here.

We're nearly done showing how both Scripture and Tradition do not support this. Now, we'll put the final nails in the coffin of Ms. Boyd's non-Catholic theology, and lay it rest.

Ready?

Here we go....

NFP: "Trojan Horse," or Saving Grace? Part 2

There's a lot to hack through here.
Image @ http://www.motivationalmemo.com

This is part 2 in a series. Turns out I had more to say than one post would naturally allow. Part 1 is here.

Previously, we looked at the first sections of this. Now, we'll hack through some more.

We'll start by looking as Ms. Boyd's fundamental misunderstanding of what NFP really is.

NFP: "Trojan Horse," or Saving Grace? Part 1

Image @ http://theforexchampionship.com/

This is Part 1 of a series. I started writing, and there's just so much to say, I had to break it up.

Wife came across an article that is not only flat wrong in its theological assessments, but also quite damaging. The article (and the author) present NFP on the same lines as using artificial birth control - that it is the mindset of attempting to space births that is the problem. The article goes on to assert that this violates the fundamental order of marriage as proclaimed through the Tradition of the Church...yet fails to back that up. In fact, the only citation in this piece is from a lay blogger.

Here is the article written by one Jay Boyd. You can skip the link, as it will quoting 95% of it as I rip it apart, with the help of Scripture and Tradition.

Now, let's dismantle this bit by bit, shall we?

3 Reasons Catholics Say "No!"

Got it? Now let me tell you why.
Image @ stjohnsprolife.blogspot.com

As an NFP teacher in training, I thought I’d try to tackle a tricky subject. Why does the Catholic Church teach that sex outside of marriage is wrong?
Let me preface this by saying that I think it’s the wrong question to ask. Rather, we should ask, why is the Catholic view of sexuality so right?
It is right because it allows sex to be used for what it was meant to be used for, and doesn’t settle for anything besides that.
The world settles for less.
The world says “less is best.”
The world says, “I give up – I give in. My emotions win.”
But the Church says “Um, no, the best is the best, and never settle for less.’
The two questions posed above are intertwined, but I think a little diving in would do some good. Here goes: three reasons why sex outside of marriage is sinful precisely because it is so lacking: