I got tagged by Nutmeg.
1. Go into your archives.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Post the fifth sentence (or closest to it).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same thing.
So, here's what my sentence is:
"I'm especially enjoying the mix of truth and beauty in many "nuggets" of wisdom within the ballad."
From my post I'm Reading the Ballad of the White Horse by G.K. Chesterton
Good thing I double-checked. First time around, all I got was "Denmark." :)
I will tag my sisters Clairity and 1st Grade Mom, sister-in-law Molly, and friends Nancy Brown and Mary Eileen.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Update on Rembrandt Exhibit
I mentioned in a previous post that we were trying to find an inexpensive alternative to Rembrandt and His Times (the book for sale at the Milwaukee Art Museum relating to the exhibit we visited a few weeks ago). They did offer a smaller book on the exhibit, but that focused on the paintings and my daughter was interested in the landscape sketches. Anyway, we found a great alternative used online - and I've seen additional copies kicking around online in case anyone had the same issue we did. The book is called Drawings from the Albertina: Landscape in the Age of Rembrandt (published by Art Services International 1995, editor Marian Bisanz-Prakken). We found ours used on Amazon for $10. Hurray! We just received the book today. It's beautiful, large size and with very nice prints (retails for $30, but it may be out of print).
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Authenticity, cont.
Some immediate causes of error ("due to an extension of one's judgment beyond evidence"):
haste,
we wish to impress others (with rapid answer, keen insight)
vanity
because we like a position
pleasure
lifestyle
conformism
emotional pressure - fear, joy, anguish, elation, anger (interfere with cool reasoning/insight)
"We err because we lack love...Defective motivation induces intellectual darkness. The more one loves, the more he sees ultimate reality. Love puts one into contact with God and with men as nothing else does. The person who loves fully sees deeply... He sees deeply because he is free of the thousand emotional and willed obstructions to inner vision. His passions do not prompt him to embrace an illusory but lax morality. Just as there is no one so blind as he who wills not to see, so there is no one so seeing as he who wills to love. He is authentic." (pg. 38)
haste,
we wish to impress others (with rapid answer, keen insight)
vanity
because we like a position
pleasure
lifestyle
conformism
emotional pressure - fear, joy, anguish, elation, anger (interfere with cool reasoning/insight)
"We err because we lack love...Defective motivation induces intellectual darkness. The more one loves, the more he sees ultimate reality. Love puts one into contact with God and with men as nothing else does. The person who loves fully sees deeply... He sees deeply because he is free of the thousand emotional and willed obstructions to inner vision. His passions do not prompt him to embrace an illusory but lax morality. Just as there is no one so blind as he who wills not to see, so there is no one so seeing as he who wills to love. He is authentic." (pg. 38)
Finally Getting Back to Dubay's Authenticity
Authenticity: A Biblical Theology of Discernment by Thomas Dubay, S.M. (Ignatius Press, copyright 1997)
Dubay really packs a punch. His material is challenging. Not so much in the sense of difficult to understand, as forcing the reader to examine their own conscience and look at themselves in a more complete way.
Some notes and quotes:
We live very cluttered lives here in the 21st century.
Awesome
This last part reminds me of a Latin proverb that came up in Lunch Bag Notes by Al and Ann Marie Parisi (Loyola Press). The proverb is...
Age quod agis.
"Do what you are doing." I really like that (and need to be reminded often!).
This is so true. I think we homeschool moms especially need to be reminded. A lot is expected of us and we're doing a lot. Sometimes we think we're failures if we can't do "everything". Or we think it's wrong to burden someone else with our problems. But the Sacrament of Marriage doesn't guarantee that we'll be able to handle every single one of our children's needs without assistance. There's nothing that says we'll be good at teaching Algebra or handling every teaching challenge that comes our way. I always like the analogy (can't remember where I read it) that homeschool parents are like contractors on a construction project - an important part of the job is finding people/resources for tackling parts of the job. The contractor isn't inadequate if he can't do everything himself.
This is a really challenging concept and it can be tempting to blow it off as just politically correct, "open-mindedness" stuff. But it's not. One example that struck me was that we can be so passionate about a cause that we can throw the virtue of prudence out the window and end up hurting the very cause that we care so passionately about. (An example of this might be a pro-Lifer who decides to use violence to accomplish his goals.) This segment reminds me of a term I like better than "open-minded", and that is "broad-minded."
Good stuff.
Dubay really packs a punch. His material is challenging. Not so much in the sense of difficult to understand, as forcing the reader to examine their own conscience and look at themselves in a more complete way.
Some notes and quotes:
Scripture says a great deal about the conditions necessary before one is uncluttered enough to detect the gentle voice of God speaking in the depths of the person. (pg. 25)
We live very cluttered lives here in the 21st century.
Authenticity is reality without sham. (pg. 26)
Awesome
The human person must be whole to be completely authentic. ... There is only one enough for man, and that is the divine Enough. Anything less is incomplete, truncated... The Father made us in the image of his Son, so that anything less than conformity to this image is a falling away from the authentikos, the original. 'The disciple of Christ consents to live in the truth, that is, in the simplicity of a life in conformity with the Lord's example, abiding in his truth (CCC 2470).
The genuine man or woman measures up to the real, to the factual situation. He is humble because he knows and professes himself to be neither more nor less than he actually is. He is single-minded in his pursuits, for he operates with the pure motivation of eating and drinking and doing all else for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31).. He accepts the whole gospel, not simply the popular, pleasant parts of it. He welcomes correction because he knows himself to be ignorant of many things and a sinner besides (Prov 9:7-9)... Especially is he authentic because he is a total lover of God, and love brings all the other ingredients of authenticity (1 Cor 13:4-7). (pgs. 26-27)
This last part reminds me of a Latin proverb that came up in Lunch Bag Notes by Al and Ann Marie Parisi (Loyola Press). The proverb is...
Age quod agis.
"Do what you are doing." I really like that (and need to be reminded often!).
Part of living the truth is an acceptance of a reasonable dependence on others, an acknowledgement of a need for admonition and advice. (pg. 33)
This is so true. I think we homeschool moms especially need to be reminded. A lot is expected of us and we're doing a lot. Sometimes we think we're failures if we can't do "everything". Or we think it's wrong to burden someone else with our problems. But the Sacrament of Marriage doesn't guarantee that we'll be able to handle every single one of our children's needs without assistance. There's nothing that says we'll be good at teaching Algebra or handling every teaching challenge that comes our way. I always like the analogy (can't remember where I read it) that homeschool parents are like contractors on a construction project - an important part of the job is finding people/resources for tackling parts of the job. The contractor isn't inadequate if he can't do everything himself.
Most people tend to allow the truth they possess so to dominate their thinking that they see few other truths that place their one truth in perspective and balance it out. There is probably no heresy in the history of the Church that did not have its truth. The problem invariably is that the one truth so took over the heretic's mind that he was committed to cast out any number of other doctrines that clashed with his interpretation of it. (pg. 34)
This is a really challenging concept and it can be tempting to blow it off as just politically correct, "open-mindedness" stuff. But it's not. One example that struck me was that we can be so passionate about a cause that we can throw the virtue of prudence out the window and end up hurting the very cause that we care so passionately about. (An example of this might be a pro-Lifer who decides to use violence to accomplish his goals.) This segment reminds me of a term I like better than "open-minded", and that is "broad-minded."
Philosophers have long noted that error proximately is due to an extension of one's judgment beyond evidence. (pg. 37)I really liked that phrase "an extension of one's judgment beyond evidence." Very helpful to remember.
Good stuff.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Shakespeare, Shakespeare and Shakespeare
My 10 year old son is working on memorizing "Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow..." from MacBeth. So we've been hearing my three year old daughter wandering around the house chanting, "Today, today, today." :)
More on Narnia and other stuff
My children were relieved to hear about Barb Nicolosi's Narnia Review because they've had a long-time pet theory about Disney turning books into movies. According to 12 year old dear daughter, in these Disney movies, no one can die and they always put in a scene where someone is hanging on to a window ledge or cliff or some such thing... with one hand... for dear life.
I absolutely detested the old version of these movies - was it BBC? - especially The Silver Chair. Although I'm always at risk of being disappointed (what doesn't carry this risk), I usually welcome attempts at rendering favorite books into movies. It's enjoyable to see someone else's "vision" of the book (and we all take such different things with us when we read a book that a great book can be a truly unique experience for each reader), but, perhaps more importantly, in our day and age a movie tends to bring a book into the popular culture in a special way. Let me try to explain.
When I was a child, our family was very different from anyone else we knew. We read things like The Chronicles of Narnia and the Lord of the Rings. Our dad worked out of our home and my mom attended daily Mass. There were seven of us children (when we moved to our last family home, rumors went around the parish that we were a blended family from two different marriages). My mom was heavily involved in the proLife movement and ran a Crisis Pregnancy Center when I was too young to remember. Anyway, we were real oddities for the 70s (when I was a small child) and, in some ways, were a homeschooling family long before my parents formally took us out of the local schools.
A lot of good people today worry that things are getting worse: the pro-life movement hasn't made any progress, families are falling apart, more and more good books are going out of print, the priest-abuse scandal signals the greatest crisis in Church history, etc. My theory is that we've actually come past some of the very worst of it; it's just that more and more people are waking up to the problems (and that in itself is a very good thing).
Sure, we still have a lot of problems to deal with. This has never NOT been the case since the fall of Adam and Eve.
Much of the priest-abuse scandal dates from decades ago. I strongly believe that, overall, it's a good thing that it's coming to light, because how else can it be corrected?
When my Mom was working in the pro-Life movement, there was much more resistance by Catholic schools and parishes to be involved than there seems to be today.
In the end, what I see is a lot more families attempting to follow the same model that our family did 20 and 30 and 40 years ago. A very small sampling of this is the way that Narnia and Lord of the Rings have become more popular.
Did that make any sense? :)
I absolutely detested the old version of these movies - was it BBC? - especially The Silver Chair. Although I'm always at risk of being disappointed (what doesn't carry this risk), I usually welcome attempts at rendering favorite books into movies. It's enjoyable to see someone else's "vision" of the book (and we all take such different things with us when we read a book that a great book can be a truly unique experience for each reader), but, perhaps more importantly, in our day and age a movie tends to bring a book into the popular culture in a special way. Let me try to explain.
When I was a child, our family was very different from anyone else we knew. We read things like The Chronicles of Narnia and the Lord of the Rings. Our dad worked out of our home and my mom attended daily Mass. There were seven of us children (when we moved to our last family home, rumors went around the parish that we were a blended family from two different marriages). My mom was heavily involved in the proLife movement and ran a Crisis Pregnancy Center when I was too young to remember. Anyway, we were real oddities for the 70s (when I was a small child) and, in some ways, were a homeschooling family long before my parents formally took us out of the local schools.
A lot of good people today worry that things are getting worse: the pro-life movement hasn't made any progress, families are falling apart, more and more good books are going out of print, the priest-abuse scandal signals the greatest crisis in Church history, etc. My theory is that we've actually come past some of the very worst of it; it's just that more and more people are waking up to the problems (and that in itself is a very good thing).
Sure, we still have a lot of problems to deal with. This has never NOT been the case since the fall of Adam and Eve.
Much of the priest-abuse scandal dates from decades ago. I strongly believe that, overall, it's a good thing that it's coming to light, because how else can it be corrected?
When my Mom was working in the pro-Life movement, there was much more resistance by Catholic schools and parishes to be involved than there seems to be today.
In the end, what I see is a lot more families attempting to follow the same model that our family did 20 and 30 and 40 years ago. A very small sampling of this is the way that Narnia and Lord of the Rings have become more popular.
Did that make any sense? :)
Chesterton
A question for all of you Chesterton enthusiasts (I love GKC, but am not terribly knowledgeable). My 12 year old daughter would describe herself as a G.K. Chesterton freak. She LOVES the Fr. Brown audio books (from Blackstone Audio Books - 1/2 price for homeschoolers!) and the Ballad of the White Horse (thanks in part to Regina Doman's Shadow of the Bear - she's actually working on MEMORIZING the Ballad of the White Horse). She's becoming a regular reader of Dr. Thursday's delightful blog. I'd love to feed this interest in Chesterton and great books. Any suggestions for other Chesterton writings that might be up her alley, or other books that would be appreciated by someone with these interests??? I was thinking of subscribing to Gilbert! magazine - I've never seen it - would that be interesting/worthwhile for young readers?
Thanks & God Bless!
Thanks & God Bless!
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Human Faculties
Some notes to myself (from yet another old notebook when I was preparing my Getting Started talk this spring - I doubt these will make much sense to anyone else):
Human Faculties:
Intellect
Will
Conscience
Memory
Imagination
Intellect - Knowledge, Understanding, Critical Thinking
Will - Perseverance, Diligence
Conscience - Natural Law, Basic Moral Order, Knowledge of Catholic Teaching
Memory - Strengthened with Use, Important Tool of Conscience and Intellect
Imagination - Underlies everything, Sensitive in Early Years
The Soul's Appetitive Power
a habit may be called a virtue in a limited way
(Part I of the 2nd part Q57A1)
the virtues of the speculative intellect are those which perfect the speculative intellect for the consideration of truth
Three Habits of the Speculative Intellect -
Wisdom, Science and Understanding
St. Thomas Aquinas would say that Wisdom and Understanding are habits/virtues of the intellect (as well as gifts of the Holy Spirit).
Recipe for success - grace, example, teaching, develop habits
Intellect -
corrupted by muddled or agenda-driven teaching,
gets lazy from little use
limited by natural abilities and lack of challenge
Will - hard hit by fallen nature
virtues - perseverance, diligence
should look to well-informed conscience for direction
Habits, Virtues, Sacrifices play big here
Conscience - starts with natural law
is part of the intellect
developed by example and teaching
application of conscience is in the will
corrupted by external influences
Memory - important tool for everything
needs exercise
closely related to imagination
Imagination - hard hit by fallen nature
undelries everything
particularly sensitive in early years
corrupted by external influences - even against one's will
The soul understands through the intellect
Intellect
Goals -
LONG TERM - Know Christ
SHORT TERMER - (habits) think clearly, read carefully, make important distinctions
SHORTER TERM - (knowledge) base of important knowledge, especially conscience
VIRTUES:
virtues in a restricted sense:
wisdom
science
understanding
art
prudence - both moral and intellectual
Supernatural Virtues
Faith - infused virtue by which the will assents firmly to the truths of Revelation
can be sparked and strengthened by reason (check this)
Hope - allows the will to work toward its supernatural end as a good that is possible to attain
Charity - the theological virtue by which we love God because of his goodness and love; and love our neighbor because of God
The faculty of choice...
The will is affected by:
fallen nature
conscience/knowledge
discipline
habit-good or bad
natural consequences
experience - direct or indirect
The will determines actions and decisions
Virtues that come into play: Faith, Hope and Charity (as mentioned above)
patience, temperence, diligence, perserverance, neatness/order, justice, fortitude
Strengthening the Will -
punishments or rewards (best rewards are intangible)
sacrifice
grace
Conscience - Practical Intellect
Application of Principles -
affected by temperment, natural abilites, habits, environment
Different people have natural aptitudes for different virtues.
Sources
Summa Theologica
Catechism of the Catholic Church
1911 Catholic Encyclopedia
Human Faculties:
Intellect
Will
Conscience
Memory
Imagination
Intellect - Knowledge, Understanding, Critical Thinking
Will - Perseverance, Diligence
Conscience - Natural Law, Basic Moral Order, Knowledge of Catholic Teaching
Memory - Strengthened with Use, Important Tool of Conscience and Intellect
Imagination - Underlies everything, Sensitive in Early Years
The Soul's Appetitive Power
a habit may be called a virtue in a limited way
(Part I of the 2nd part Q57A1)
the virtues of the speculative intellect are those which perfect the speculative intellect for the consideration of truth
Three Habits of the Speculative Intellect -
Wisdom, Science and Understanding
St. Thomas Aquinas would say that Wisdom and Understanding are habits/virtues of the intellect (as well as gifts of the Holy Spirit).
Recipe for success - grace, example, teaching, develop habits
Intellect -
corrupted by muddled or agenda-driven teaching,
gets lazy from little use
limited by natural abilities and lack of challenge
Will - hard hit by fallen nature
virtues - perseverance, diligence
should look to well-informed conscience for direction
Habits, Virtues, Sacrifices play big here
Conscience - starts with natural law
is part of the intellect
developed by example and teaching
application of conscience is in the will
corrupted by external influences
Memory - important tool for everything
needs exercise
closely related to imagination
Imagination - hard hit by fallen nature
undelries everything
particularly sensitive in early years
corrupted by external influences - even against one's will
The soul understands through the intellect
Intellect
Goals -
LONG TERM - Know Christ
SHORT TERMER - (habits) think clearly, read carefully, make important distinctions
SHORTER TERM - (knowledge) base of important knowledge, especially conscience
VIRTUES:
virtues in a restricted sense:
wisdom
science
understanding
art
prudence - both moral and intellectual
Supernatural Virtues
Faith - infused virtue by which the will assents firmly to the truths of Revelation
can be sparked and strengthened by reason (check this)
Hope - allows the will to work toward its supernatural end as a good that is possible to attain
Charity - the theological virtue by which we love God because of his goodness and love; and love our neighbor because of God
The faculty of choice...
The will is affected by:
fallen nature
conscience/knowledge
discipline
habit-good or bad
natural consequences
experience - direct or indirect
The will determines actions and decisions
Virtues that come into play: Faith, Hope and Charity (as mentioned above)
patience, temperence, diligence, perserverance, neatness/order, justice, fortitude
Strengthening the Will -
punishments or rewards (best rewards are intangible)
sacrifice
grace
Conscience - Practical Intellect
Application of Principles -
affected by temperment, natural abilites, habits, environment
Different people have natural aptitudes for different virtues.
Sources
Summa Theologica
Catechism of the Catholic Church
1911 Catholic Encyclopedia
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
The Catholic Homeschool Companion
The Catholic Homeschool Companion, a collection of essays on Catholic Homeschooling with an extensive and up-to-date resource section (I helped edit this), is due to be released by Sophia Institute Press this December. (So general editor Maureen Wittmann informs me.) It will include an essay by yours truly entitled "Apologetics: Sacraments, Service and Study."
Congratulations Maureen on all your hard work!!!
Congratulations Maureen on all your hard work!!!
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