First Sunday of a No-Panic Advent

Yet, O Lord, you are our father;
we are the clay and You the potter:
we are all the work of Your hands. ~~ Isaiah, 64:7





Watch, therefore;
you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming,
whether in the evening, or at midnight,
or at cockcrow, or in the morning.
May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.
What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’” ~~ Mark, 13:35-37

We interrupt this No-Panic Advent Preparation for a brief moment of panic

... which has now passed, because I did, after all, find Advent calendars with little chocolates behind each door.

Whew.

Note to self: buy them earlier next year. Putting this in the file.

Poetry Friday: Thankful

On this Poetry Friday, a quick list of poets for whom I'm thankful (order is entirely random and does not indicate preference):





Emily Dickinson
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Billy Collins
Basho
Robert Frost
Richard Wilbur
Francis Thompson
e.e. cummings
William Wordsworth
Shakespeare
Issa
Ted Kooser
Ramona
Betsy
Yeats
Keats
W.H. Auden
John Paul the Great
Paul Simon


And I'm thankful, on this Friday after Thanksgiving, for Poetry Friday.

The round-up today is at Lisa Chellman's place.

Win a subscription: mater et magistra

I hope I'm not too late to point you to the giveaway of a year's subscription to mater et magistra.

Barry Michaels' Festival of Hope continues, and the Thanksgiving giveway was this subscription, however, I don't see any comments yet on that post, so hurry over and you might be the lucky winner!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We'll be hustling and bustling over the next couple of days, so Advent preparations and ideas will be on hold until I'm all finished eating and being grateful.

Oh, wait ... how could I ever be finished being grateful when I have an endless list of blessings to be grateful for? I should, however, finish up the eating at some point late Thursday night.

Have a happy, holy, blessed, fun, interesting, safe, filling, grateful, sedate, relaxing, tasty Thanksgiving!

Things You Hear While Preparing for Thanksgiving Visiting

Anne-with-an-e: "Mom, remember a couple of years ago when Betsy and Joel were playing football with a ham?"

Betsy: "Yeah, and Joel said, 'Go long, Betsy!' only I couldn't go that long, because it was in the kitchen."

A No-Panic Advent, Part VII: Simple but Cherished Traditions

Here are a few more easy ways in which we observe the beginning of the new liturgical year, and count down the days until the real Christmas season! These are simple, but oh-such-cherished traditions.

The Advent Wreath

Pretty self-explanatory. We love ours. It's an old hand-me-down from the friend who introduced me to Catholicism. It's not about how the wreath looks -- it's imperfect and crooked, like I am. It's about what it reminds me of, what (and Who) it points to.

For nightly prayers, we like to use selections from Prayers and Customs of Advent and Christmas.

This page has prayers for the beginning of Advent, along with short daily prayers for each week. This page has some nice prayers for very young children. Some short Advent meditations are here. All of the prayers on this site are short and easy for families to use.

When we light the candles on the wreath each night, we divide up the "duties" (which are seen by the kids as fun and privilege, thus the fighting over them which resulted in the division of duty.)

One child lights the candle, one reads the prayer, and one gets to snuff out the candle at the end of the meal (the antique candle snuffer we use makes this especially attractive.) This way, everyone is involved, duties rotate and everyone is happy. Some nights, though, everyone reeeeeally wants to light a candle, or everyone reeeeeally wants to snuff a candle out. So, sometimes, I must admit, we relight candles just for the fun of it, and snuff them out again and again.

Because we're easily amused, I guess.

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Daily Prayers
The girls and I pray together before breakfast every morning. (Let me amend that: unless something interrupts our routine, we pray together. If we have somehow missed morning prayer, it becomes obvious. In all of us. A hovering crankiness and irritability are sure signs that we forgot morning prayers.)

I vary our prayers with each liturgical season. Mounting a list of prayers on construction paper is a simple way to teach about liturgical colors. They know that if the prayers are on a green background, we're in ordinary time. During Advent, the prayers are in purple, on a purple background.

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Advent Calendars


We read from our Muppet calendar every night. We also have another booklet-a-day calendar based on A Christmas Carol.

More and more and more Advent Calendars ....

Hmmmm ... maybe our Advent calendars are getting out of hand?

Naah ... We also do this one, which, like the Muppet calendar, was a gift from my mother years ago. We love this calendar. I have no idea where she got it, but every child loves to do this kind of simple activity. We hang one tiny wooden ornament per day on this wooden tree.


And, who can resist the chocolate-a-day-calendar? I have to confess that my kids do not get the highest quality chocolate in this kind of calendar, as I buy mine at the dollar store. But, they love them anyway, and it's a yummy way to count down the days.



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We will also:

* fill an empty manger to make a soft bed for the long-awaited Baby Jesus (I simply use a small basket, set up in a central location, and pieces of yarn)

* decorate a Christ candle (I use an inexpensive white candle, and the kids decorate it with sequins and jewels; it sits in the middle of the Advent wreath but will not be lit until Christmas day)

* ready Mary and Joseph for their long journey (their figures are placed as far from the Nativity set as possible, and the kids move them a little closer to the stable each day.)

(These three activities and others are mentioned in this wonderful article by Michaelann Martin, which you can see for more details.)

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And, we will:

*Read all our favorite Advent books

Warning, warning: this will require a separate post!

A No-Panic Advent, Part VI: Don't Sweat a Little Secularity

Or, "What Does Miss Piggy Have to Do with Advent?"

Unexpectedly, Miss Piggy became a part of our Advent traditions about thirteen years ago.

When Anne-with-an-e was very little, my mother gave us an Advent calendar that included twenty-four mini books to be read each day of the Advent season. It was a secular calendar that had Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog bringing the O. Henry story, The Gift of the Magi, to humorous life. My daughter delighted in the story and looked forward each year to the daily books, which we read, then hung by their decorative little ribbons on the tree.

One year, before Atticus came into the Catholic Church, I worried that I shouldn't include anything secular in our Advent traditions. I was considering leaving the Muppets in their box, as I was trying to impress upon the kids what the season was really all about. I was trying hard -- without my husband's help, and that made it seem a heavier burden -- to be sure that my children were focused on Jesus. Though well-intentioned, I think I was wrong.

That year, at the beginning of Advent, Anne immediately requested the Muppet Calendar. My heart was softened. I saw, finally and clearly, that this was a beautiful way to include my mother (who is not a Christian) in our Advent preparations. She lives far away and we see little enough of her as it is ... wasn't this a lovely way to make her a part of our focus on Jesus?

I let go of any worries about the little secular traditions that we did, and still do, include in Advent. The secularities we cling to, that are part of our shared family history, connect us to those in our family who are not connected to Jesus.

And, who am I to say that God can't work through a Muppet?

My Favorite Age

I suppose some moms have a favorite age: babyhood, toddler days, second-graders, ten-year-olds, teens. I suppose some wish they could freeze-frame the moment and live indefinitely at that favorite age, recycling all the best times.

But I imagine most moms are a lot more like me, and find that their "favorite age" is whatever age they're currently living through.

Take fifteen, for example. Anne-with-an-e is fifteen, recently turned so. This is my favorite age, because fifteen is fascinating. Anne reads about all kinds of things. She reads novels and biographies, books about medical conditions and, if it's in front of her, she'll read the back of a cereal box. She has an almost photographic memory about so many things. She tells me about her reading in great detail, and with great wit. She recommends books to me. She writes stories. She has braces and hates them, but chooses fun, coordinating colors for her rubber bands, because at least that helps, a little. She wants to be a writer, or a vet. She comes to me with the most heart-tugging, endearing, troubled look on her face when she has something to talk about, and then she talks to me. We work through it and she then has the most heart-tugging, endearing, peaceful look on her beautiful face. And she reminds me that this is the essence of my job ... to help three beautiful young people navigate their way through a very messy and stormy sea called Life on This Earth.

And let's look at twelve, as another example. Betsy is twelve. This is my favorite age, because twelve is fascinating, with its fantabulous way of being all over the map. Half-child, half-grown-Betsy is a reader, a writer, a mathematician, a clothing designer, and our Electronics Whisperer. When she grows up, she wants to sing on Broadway or join the Geek Squad. When she was eight, I described her as the kind of girly-tomboy who loves soccer but wants to fix her hair and put something sparkly in it before she plays. She has braces and loves them, and chooses fun, coordinating colors for her rubber bands because that's the fun thing about braces. She couldn't wait to get glasses and they only add to her smarts and beauty. She is dramatic and funny. She comes to me when she's troubled, but less often than Anne, because Betsy is a middle child, and (being one myself) I worry about her for that reason. I want her to know that she stands out in that middle position in spectacular ways, because she is a spectacular person.

And what about six? Six is my favorite age, because six is fascinating. Six is Ramona reading everything she sees. Six is writing in huge, messy letters with enormous pride and beaming at mastering addition. Six is Ramona with chocolate smeared around her six-year-old mouth, earnestly telling me a story about the lady she saw in the grocery store. Six is me licking my finger to use as a cleaning tool, and tidying up her mouth while she continues with her story, caring not a bit that I'm using spit on her face. Six is the look of utter and complete anguish when Mommy has to be gone nearly all day on a Saturday, and Ramona isn't sure she will survive the separation. It's a growing awareness of the injustice of a world in which one lives with older sisters who get to do a lot more stuff. Six is knowing, without a doubt, that Jesus is the King, and Kings never let us down. And six is still fodder for great blog posts, the poor child.

And what of adding fifteen, twelve and six together? I recently had two experiences that showed me something about the sum of these parts.

A couple of weeks ago, we thought we noticed a strange smell in the house. I called the gas company, and -- hey, have you ever had them give you instructions to leave your house? Not reassuring words. In a deliberately calm tone that made me feel terrified, the well-trained woman on the phone told me, "Do not open a window. Do not unplug anything. Do not do anything that could cause a spark. Do not hang up the phone. Leave the house now .... " In the meantime, I glanced over at 15, 12 and 6, and they were donning coats, gathering up animals (yes, Mr. Putter and Ralph left the house with us) and calmly getting ready to leave. They were amazing. I could count on them in a weird emergency to do exactly what I needed them to do.

A couple days later, I ended up in the ER in the middle of the night (due to what they decided -- more definitively than last summer -- was costochondritis, which is not a heart problem, but sorta, kinda feels like one at midnight, when it wakes you up with chest pain. Next time I'll know.) Again I was shown that I can count on 15 and 12 in a weird emergency, and I can count on them to take excellent, thoughtful care of 6 even when they're scared out of their wits.

A huge sigh of relief. This parenting gig I've accepted seems to be unfolding fairly well. We're not at the end of it yet, and I know that before we're done, there will be new challenges and more stormy seas. And, I know I'll add new favorite ages to my mothering resume.

But for now, I'm finding it all fascinating, and for now, 15+12+6 = My Favorite Age.

A No-Panic Advent, Part V: The Jesse Tree

Reader Keri asked about our Jesse Tree -- the "family scrapbook" as I call it -- and I want to expand a little bit on what we do.

Our Jesse Tree will soon reside on the hearth, awaiting its salt dough ornaments. This is probably one of the most "educational" Advent activities that we do. (Remember, though -- life is school, and school is life, so it's all educational .... ) I post a small sign next to the tree (just in case my children forget what I'm educating them about -- not that my kids ever forget such things ....) The sign reads, "The Jesse Tree ... Finding Jesus in the Old Testament" and that's exactly what a Jesse Tree helps us to do. It introduces us to the truth that Christianity is not a new idea, nor a religion dreamed up and perpetuated by a motley crew of fishermen and tax collectors. It is the fulfillment of God's story -- our story -- from the beginning of time.

Reading the Scriptures that lay the foundation for, and point us to, Jesus brings all those seemingly disconnected Bible stories together into a meaningful fabric, a tapestry of history that makes sense to even the youngest of children. When we compare it to a family's scrapbook, it becomes a metaphor children can easily understand. The symbols we hang on our tree are "snapshots" of the history of Jesus, which is our history, too.

The kids made our Jesse Tree ornaments a few years ago, out of salt dough. (My salt dough tends to break, so we have the fun of replacing ornaments every now and then.) I keep the ornaments right under the tree, within easy reach (though you may not want to do that if you have crawling babies or toddlers) for the daily reading and ceremonial hanging (does it count as a ceremonial hanging if children fight over who gets to do it? I recommend scheduling the ceremonial hangings in a basic, "No fighting - your turn will come tomorrow," rotation.)

I began using our small, artificial Christmas tree as our Jesse tree just a few years ago. Before that, I dithered about, trying to find the best way to approach this activity. One year we did poster board and a hodgepodge of construction paper and 3-d ornaments; another year I searched in vain for the perfect tree branch to place in a pot, a la a friend's example. I was trying so hard to make it all perfect that year that I ended up abandoning the entire activity. Another year our tree was hastily thrown together on construction paper. I was pregnant with Ramona then, at a very tired age 41, and was extraordinarily pleased with myself for simply breaking out the glitter.

I was finally inspired to use our artificial tree by my friend, Johnna, who always has great craft and liturgical ideas. She began using their regular Christmas tree as a Jesse Tree, hanging Jesse ornaments throughout Advent, then taking those down an and putting up Christmas ornaments on Christmas Eve. I adapted the idea, and pulled out the old 4' tree that I'd been considering giving away. Our Jesse Tree tradition was finally settled. And, my kids were 11, 8 and 2. So. Huh. It took awhile.

And, what readings do we use? This took some time for me to figure out, too. I have to confess that for awhile, I reeeally disliked the Jesse Tree activity, because I couldn't find an easy, workable, all-in-one version of it anywhere. If one source had ornaments or other ideas I liked, it did not offer neatly corresponding readings. If I found a set of readings I liked, suddenly my ornaments no longer matched.

Harumph. Then, my English pal, The Bookworm came to the rescue, and we've settled in with a book she recommended.

The Jesse Tree by Geraldine McCaughrean combines a picture/storybook with the Scripture readings we want to cover. I use both this book and a Bible to completely cover it all.

An important point to remember about the Jesse Tree -- and one that will keep you from falling into dislike of this activity -- is that it doesn't have to be done perfectly on schedule or legalistically. So what if you miss a day of readings here or there -- it's okay! You can catch up when you have time.

What you're aiming for -- the truly important thing -- is increased familiarity with Scripture, and a growing understanding that Jesus is present in the Old Testament.

In the same way that our little math students do a lot of the same addition and multiplication problems year in and year out, students of the Jesse Tree study "the same old thing" each year,with the result being steady and continued growth and knowledge. Don't look for it to be (though it might be -- I'm not ruling it out) immediately transforming. It's an activity that grows on you, that grows on your kids, and most of all, that increases everyone's fluency with the word of God. And with the Word of God.

My final assessment: it doesn't really matter what kind of tree and ornaments you use, or which readings you choose. What matters is that you're digging into Scripture. Your ornaments might be hastily assembled, glitter-glopped and slapped on poster board, or they may be carefully fashioned in the weeks before or during Advent. Your readings might come from one source while your ornaments are nabbed from another. You might make up your own set of readings and symbols, or you might find a ready-made kit that's perfect.

But, the bottom line is that you should do what works for you and your family, for your possibly-tired-or-pregnant-or-incapacitated body, your crafty or craft-challenged self, your one child or your many.

What matters most is focusing on Jesus as the celebration of His birth approaches.

Don't do what I did, and let the quest for "the perfect Jesse Tree" put a damper on what can be a great way to spend time with God's word. Relax and have fun with it, and keep that big picture -- the growth and knowledge that will come over several years of doing it -- in mind.

Poetry Friday: Care to renga?

Do you know what a renga is?

It sounds like something we should dance, doesn't it?

And, on second thought, it is a sort of a dance. It's the two-step of two poets, collaborating on a work -- alternating verses, making connections, moving toward and away from and around one another, weaving their steps into a story.

Birds on a Wire: A Renga 'round Town, by J. Patrick Lewis and Paul B. Janeczko is a lovely picture book that tells its story in renga, an ancient Japanese poetry form.

It's a lovely book -- peaceful and clever, and full of allusions (my favorite one involving a red wheelbarrow. Very nice.)

I'll be reading this one to all of my girls. We might even try to dance our own renga.



Poetry is being rounded up today by Holly Cupala.

A No-Panic Advent, Part IV: Files

This one is simple.

Keep an Advent file. Bookmark good stuff on the computer, and keep a paper file.

Toss good ideas into your files as you stumble upon them. When you're halfway through Advent, or seven days into the Twelve Days of Christmas, and you discover a great new idea, don't kill yourself trying to implement it right now.

The idea will still be there next year. Most likely, you and your kids will still be here next year, too.

So, don't try to do it all.

That's what files are for: to hold all the great stuff you're not doing at the moment, but will, one day, do.

A No-Panic Advent, Part III: O Night Divine!

Mary Ellen Barrett's Christmas blog, O Night Divine is the treasure chest from which you can pluck a few jewels for your Advent preparations and Christmas celebrations.

The archives are nicely organized in the left hand column so that you can easily find things such as crafts, teas, saint activities, and ideas that focus on the Blessed Mother. Scroll down a bit and find the feast days of the season. You'll also discover plenty of book suggestions, links to related sites, and categories for quick searching.

And, as Jennifer reminded me in the comments on this post, Mary Ellen also has a great unit study on the saints for Advent. It can be found in the latest issue of mater et magistra.

(Unrelated to Advent, but ... also in the latest issue of mater et magistra is a beautiful cover article on "counting it all joy" by Melissa Wiley. And, I have a review of Alice Gunther's Haystack Full of Needles, A Catholic Home Educator's Guide to Socialization.)

A Festival of Hope

Visit Barry Michaels and his Festival of Hope for a dose of that always-needed theological virtue.

Today's guest blogger is Mike Aquilina and if you go here you'll have a chance to win Mike's newest book, Signs and Mysteries, which I reviewed here. To enter, just leave a comment on that post (on Barry's blog) and you might be the lucky recipient of a signed copy!

Buy a book, help a family

The "Helping Those in Need" project is in full swing.

Stop by to see what's for sale on the donation page here!

Or, you may click on the "Donate" page, and simply donate a dollar amount.

A No-Panic Advent, Part II: Note some dates

November 30: First Sunday of Advent

December 5: St. Nicholas Eve (very important that St. Nicholas not go to bed without remembering to do a few things first)

December 6: St. Nicholas Day

December 8: Immaculate Conception (Holy Day!)

December 12: Our Lady of Guadalupe

December 13: St. Lucia

December 17: O Antiphons begin

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If you haven't observed all of these things in the past, do not -- I repeat, do not -- feel pressure to do it all. No one does it all.

You might want to pick one or two new things on which to focus -- and then, have fun with them. These observances are meant to deepen our faith and draw us closer to God. Getting stressed out about how well we do this stuff, or about whether we do it at all, doesn't deepen our faith; it just irritates us.

God doesn't want us to get irritated in preparation for His Son. That would sort of defeat the purpose of the Prince of Peace, wouldn't it? Peaceful and meaningful preparation is key. No panic necessary ... just keep your eyes fixed on the Prince of Peace.

Overheard

Betsy: Anne, we should do that homework for Chant class

Anne-with-an-e: Yeah. What is it?

Betsy: Where is it?

Anne-with-an-e: This doesn't bode well for our college educations ....

Progress?

Ramona, on Mr. Putter, the cat:

"He doesn't really spit hairballs anymore. He mostly just throws up now."

A No-Panic Advent, Part I: The Jesus Stocking

The Jesus stocking is something I started when Anne-with-an-e was very young, and I was looking for ways to keep our Christmas focused on Jesus rather than all the (delightful and fun though they are) other trappings of the holiday.

It's a simple stocking (I keep thinking I should upgrade it to something worthy of our King, but on the other hand, I think perhaps He's pleased with the simplicity) and I used fabric paint to add His name.

What goes in the Jesus stocking? It can be whatever you like, but we've done it a couple of different ways.

Like the Thanksgiving Tree, each night at dinner, we all name something for which we're thankful. It's written on a small piece of paper, and added to the stocking. On Christmas day, it's fun to read all the blessings that were counted during Advent, from the littlest things (such as a tea party with Tigger), to grown-up concerns (such as being thankful that the car broke down in our driveway instead of twenty miles from home on a sub-zero day), to every-day-but-enormous joys (such as friendship, family and faith.) Here are some samples from years past:



Another idea for the Jesus stocking is to use it for corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Many of us are familiar with the idea of setting up a manger for baby Jesus and filling it with soft hay (we use yarn) in preparation for Christmas day.

The idea for the Jesus stocking is similar. Corporal and spiritual works of mercy, small sacrifices, kindnesses and prayers are recorded and dropped in the stocking as gifts for Jesus. The children are encouraged to fill Jesus's stocking with gifts throughout Advent.

For much of Advent, the Jesus stocking will be the only one hanging on the mantle (the small tree to the right is our Jesse Tree):



to remind us that He is at the center of the celebration to which we look forward with such joy. Surrounded by our favorite Advent books and calendars, this place of honor for the King is a constant reminder that what we anticipate in this season of hope is not a gift, but the Gift: our Lord and Savior.

And one more

Thanks to Alicia for alerting me to this situation, too. The Curtis family could use some help due to some very difficult medical problems. Mom, Dad and the twelve kids will thank you.

One Home, Many Hopes

Thanks to Melissa Wiley for the alert, and I've lifted her post, which she lifted from her husband.

Meet the girls you'll be helping directly (all money raised goes straight to them) here.

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Lifted in toto from Scott’s blog (Scott’s pal DT’s brother is one of the people behind this project):

This is a campaign called “One Home Many Hopes,” organized to ask people to consider donating $10 in an effort to raise $20,000 in 30 days.

”One Home Many Hopes” is a charity Jon Tapper, who owns a public relations firm in Boston called Melwood Global, helped put together last year after a good friend of his was moved to action by the poverty he saw in Mtwapa, Kenya.

In short, there is an orphanage, Mudzini Kwetu, which takes care of 35 girls, all of whom were rescued from the Mtwapa streets, where they searched through trash piles for food. Mudzini Kwetu not only gives these girls a home they didn’t previously have, it has also given them a childhood.

So the gist is that we’re trying to raise a lot of money—$20,000—in tiny donations by November 23. People can become a part of it by visiting Raceto20K.org to make a donation, as well as telling friends, families and colleagues about the effort.

They can also visit One Home, Many Hopes to learn more about this amazing organization.

There is absolutely no overhead for this charity—every last penny you give you will go directly to the girls.

Thanks to everyone who considers participating.

Helping Those in Need

Christmas is coming (we knew that from my previous, panicked post, didn't we?)

Books are always a great gift and now you can purchase a Christmas gift and help a family in need at the same time. Margot Davidson, of Hillside Education, has begun a new "help corner" -- an online "bake" (read: "book"!) sale designed to raise funds to help those in need:

This month, (from now until Christmas) the proceeds go to help the Quigley family in Lancaster, PA who have 2 children recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes (see picture above). Because of a mistake in processing their claim and bureaucratic red tape to correct the problem, the insurance company will not be covering the insulin needed by the children for at least a month. The family is unable to cover the cost of the insulin, yet it is essential to keeping the children alive.

Please consider purchasing an item from this page, perhaps as a Christmas gift, and help this family in need. Items will be added daily, so keep checking back. You may also simply make a donation. If you'd like to donate something to the sale, we'd welcome your contributions. Please contact us at sales@hillsideeducation.com.

Read more here at Hillside.

And, if you'd like to buy something directly from the Quigley family's home business, go here to purchase one of Michele's terrific planners for 2009.

Prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola

Lord Jesus Christ,
Take all my freedom,
my memory,
my understanding
and my will.
All that I have and cherish
You have given me.
I surrender it all
to be guided by Your will.
Your grace and Your love
are wealth enough for me.
Give me these, Lord Jesus,
and I ask for nothing more.

Amen.

Brief Moments of Liturgical Year Panic

Advent! It is two weeks away!

Christmas! Less than six weeks!

Lent! (Okay, wait ... I can settle down about that one. I have more than three months.)

Formulating posts, ideas, links, etc.

An Emily Dickinson a Day

A quick post today ....

I've mentioned this before, but if you love Emily, you'll not mind another mention.

Daily Dickinson.

Pairs a poem with an original photograph by the site owner.

Offers a gadget for your Google page or blog.

A shop for the true Emilyphile.

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Today's roundup is being hosted by Yat-Yee Chong.

Karen, Meet Matt

I'm always late to the party, but once I'm there, I can dance as badly as Matt does.

Could anyone possibly not love this guy?

(H/T: Alicia and Jennifer)



(To watch this in high quality video, click through to YouTube here and click on "Watch in high quality" just under the video.)

It's been a long week, and I needed those deliriously happy feet. Thanks, Matt.

Book Review: Take It to the Queen

Josephine Nobisso's newest book, Take It to the Queen: A Tale of Hope is every bit as lovely and inspiring as you hoped it would be.

I know you were hoping it would be lovely and inspiring because you loved The Weight of a Mass, didn't you? So did I.

And Take It to the Queen will not disappoint. Now, I know I'm a book geek, but when I get a glimpse of a creation like this -- so lovingly crafted, so gorgeously illustrated -- I get an almost electrical thrill running through me. I can't wait to savor it.

Sometimes, I purposely wait until I can savor such a thing. I settled in with this one when I was sure no one would bother find need me for a little while, and I began to read. Oh, it's lovely! Inspiring! Hopeful! It is, after all, a tale of hope, and that is what one will take away.

This allegory reminds us that we are a messy, rude, ungrateful, violent, fallen lot, but that we need not despair. Because the King, in His great wisdom, did send the Prince we so desperately need, and He gave us the most gracious Queen Mother, who will never stop interceding for us, no matter how little we deserve such loving intercession and care. The overall effect is that something enormous and magical is at work. And, as any recipient of Grace will affirm, it is.

Don't be a bit worried that you'll overlook any of the symbolism; the author has generously provided rich notes on the dustcover so that you can dig in and share the depth of this story with those people you sent away in order to first read this book your children.

If you want to find out more about Josephine Nobisso and her work, spend some time wandering around Gingerbread Books. You can also read an interview with her at Absolute Write. The first story she tells in that interview conjures that electrical thrill I mentioned, the magic of the creative spark and books. I dare anyone with a literary soul to read it and not be moved. Worth a look, both for readers and writers.

Things You're Glad You Heard Before You Used the Spatula

Ramona: Mommy, the cat gnawed on this spatula, but it's okay, because I washed it off in the bathroom.

Book Review: Signs and Mysteries

Mike Aquilina's newest book, Signs and Mysteries: Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols, from Our Sunday Visitor, is a great read and a great reference book in one.

It's also an exquisite piece of art, thanks to the illustrations by Lea Marie Ravotti. (Do yourself a favor and click through to her site. Her work is gorgeous.)

It's so easy to take illustrators for granted, isn't it? But one cannot do so with this book. The illustrations are integral; the book is, after all, about looking more closely at symbols, visual representations of the life of faith. It won't do merely to talk about them. We need to see them. And see them we do, beautifully rendered by a gifted artist.

But the other thing we can't take for granted is the explication of these powerful, enduring symbols, and the importance of a knowledgable guide. We need a guide who can gently but firmly impress upon us the power that is present in the visual language we're touring:

These symbols are, in one sense, quite ordinary; they are commonplace items from everyday life in the ancient world. And so we might take them for granted, overlook them. But they're there for a reason ...

When we see these signs, how can we help sensing we have received an urgent message, telegraphic, cryptic, from a distant family member?

If it would be an injustice to merely talk about the symbols without illustrating them, it would be an equal injustice to focus only on the visuals. Signs and Mysteries takes us on a pilgrimage of sorts, delivering those urgent messages from our ancient brothers and sisters in Christ, because, as the author tells us of these symbols:

The first Christians traced those lines because they wanted them to stand forever as a perpetual prayer, for remembrance of the dead, for the perseverance of the living, and for deliverance in times of trial.

Exploring these ancient (but still relevant) symbols is far more than an archaeological exercise. Signs and Mysteries may be a fascinating read and a valuable reference, as well as a visual feast, but it is also about connections to our Christian family. It is a personal book in the best sense of the word -- a book that connects us, through a shared and vital language, to the person of Jesus Christ.

Our Thanksgiving Tree

It's that time of year. Time to be thankful, time to be crafty.

Time to be craftily thankful. Thankfully crafty.

Thankful that this craft is so easy.

Because, ahem, you know that as much as I love crafts with my kids, it's been a taste I've had to acquire.

Now, on to the Thanksgiving Tree. I first told you about ours here (click through for the easy instructions.) A few other people got excited about the idea, and wanted to make them as well. Cool! Unbelievable! Un-crafty Karen inspires a craft wave! We may be living in an alternate universe!

Okey-doke. so, in this post, I admitted that, amongst crafty mommy bloggers, I felt like "the Kindergartener, proudly showing off her smudgy picture to the kindest of audiences," while "I see all of you as the professionals with graduate degrees in glue guns." But, I swallowed my pride, and I rounded up the other Thanksgiving Tree projects and posted them together here, in this post.

And, recently, Yvonne, from Heart of the Matter Online joined in with her ideas: Encouraging Thankful Hearts. We connected when Yvonne went searching for some pictures of the Thanksgiving Trees of others.

And now, it's time to get Thanksgiving Tree 2008 up on the wall, and start counting our blessings, which are so immense and plentiful that I am often overwhelmed by them.

"Thank you, God, for this good life, and forgive us if we do not love it enough." ~~ Garrison Keillor

Spoon Saints Strike Again

We never get tired of doing these.

Did some just the other day with friends.

Thanks again, Alice. You are always brimming with the most delightful ideas.

Poetry Friday: Rebus

I've been thinking about choices we make, about how hard it can be to see how they fit into a bigger picture. About how our choices and actions affect others ... ourselves ... people we love and people we hate. I love the way this poem sees life as a rebus, a visual puzzle that, sometimes, we seem unable to piece together or decipher. We look, we squint, we reach for our glasses. We ask friends if they see the same thing we do. We shake our heads and hope that the sum of the choices we are making will add up to a life well lived. Jane Hirschfield asks not to "understand it, only to see." But I want more. I want to understand it, too. I'm stubborn that way. I'm relieved, to say that the least, that there is One who does understand, even when I cannot see the rebus of life for what it is. I pray that in those times I cannot focus on the picture, that He will step in, clean my glasses, and help me not only to see, but to understand. And perhaps, even to understand why I cannot see what others do, or why they do not see with my eyes. Unlike the poet, I don't wish to reach the dispassionate place in which I see the rebus uncolored by hope. I'll hang on to the hope, but I will strive to let go of my own desire, and let it be replaced by His. Rebus by Jane Hirshfield ...Each thought is a life you have lived or failed to live, each word is a dish you have eaten or left on the table ... This rebus—slip and stubbornness, bottom of river, my own consumed life— when will I learn to read it plainly, slowly, uncolored by hope or desire? Not to understand it, only to see. (read the entire poem here at the Poetry Foundation) The Poetry Friday roundup this week is at Check It Out.

Reaching for Perfection

I'm surrounded by the stuff. Chocolate is everywhere I look:

In a bowl on the table
In the kids' Halloween bags
In the pantry
In my mind

Therefore, it makes sense that abstaining from chocolate is a frequent Friday penance of choice.

Penance keeps me "mindful of my personal sins and the sins of mankind," mindful of my failings and weaknesses. It reminds me that I must call on Christ for strength and it inspires me to offer my weak and tiny sacrifices as prayers for others. Fasting and abstinence train my will, and sharpen self-discipline. Friday penance beckons me to perfection, and to the Perfect Source, even while making it glaringly apparent to me that I am woefully far from perfection.

And yet, my Lord calls me to perfection. Can I attain it in this life?

I'm no math expert, but I know that my virtue would have to grow exponentially for me to make it in my lifetime.

But, when I sit in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, when I spend time in prayer, when I feel the presence of Christ, as palpable as the chocolate I crave, I know that I want, at the very least, to reach for the Perfection that He is.

And so, on Fridays, instead of reaching for chocolate?

I reach for Him.

Catch up

Belated Happy All Saints and All Souls!

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The New Catholic Homeschool Resources and News always has something I haven't seen elsewhere. This month, it mentions Pius Media -- Cathflix, if you will?

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Curious George. These books have always struck me as, er, curious. They can be summed up this way: George was bad. Wildly bad. He ruined everyone's lives. He destroyed a great deal of personal property. But he made someone laugh. He's a hero! Huzzahs to George! The end. Yes, I know he's a wild animal. Still.

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Ramona is learning sign language because she and Betsy are playing "Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan." They enjoy the smackdowns far too much.

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I attend (and occasionally host when a deer has been messing with my transportation) a Moms' Group. We're discussing Kimberly Hahn's Graced and Gifted: Biblical Wisdom for the Homemaker's Heart. The discussion questions are great; I'm really enjoying them. The other moms think that when we cover the section on food we should swap recipes. Uh-oh.

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Ramona loves the autumn Brambly Hedge bunch. I do, too.

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Good night.