Interesting History of the American Medical Association

What do a former abortionist and a future tobacco consultant have to do with the founding of the AMA? Read this Dana Ullman article to find out.

Alfie Kohn: Unconditional Parenting

I dare not count how many books I currently have in a state of mid-read. I seem to have at least one for each room, each mood, each time of day. And I just started another one!

This one, Unconditional Parenting by Alfie Kohn, I've actually read before. But heck, that was at least two years ago. My children (and I) have aged and matured in many ways. To be honest, I felt rather radical reading this book when first I did, because those who recommended it to me were... shhhh... not Catholic, and they embraced some counter-cultural ideas, like unschooling, and EC, and didn't find corporal punishment of children appropriate.

So after I read it, was impressed, and amended a few of my parenting ways, I wrote a little blurb about it for our local Catholic homeschool group. And do you know that not a single soul threw tomatoes at me?

Ok, I'm being silly, but I admit that parenting has definitely been one of those adventures where I have scurried like Chicken Little to find good, trustworthy advice. I suppose all new moms do (even those of us who start out in this venture with crow's feet and gray hair already). The realization has dawned on me that seeing well to the ways of my own life, an open heart, engaging the constant struggle for communication, and lots of prayer are the ingredients I need most to be a mom.

Back to this book. Of late I've been in on some virtual discussions on this book again, this time among Catholic women extolling this book as reflecting well a Catholic world view on parenting (although he does critique what he sees as American Christianity: the puritanical heritage). I decided I could probably benefit from a slightly more experienced and significantly more relaxed read of this text. (And next I plan to read Punished By Rewards, also by him.)

Here are a few quotes that have struck me just from the introduction:

I realized that [not being a pain to the adults] is what many people in our society seem to want most from children: not that they are caring or creative or curious, but simply that they are well behaved. A "good" child -- from infancy to adolescence -- is one who isn't too much trouble for grown-ups.

And then an important challenge :

What are your long-term objectives for your children? What word or phrase comes to mind to describe how you'd like them to turn out, what you want them to be like once they're grown?

The conclusion from these thoughts, of course, is whether our ways of living and interacting with our children are consistent with these larger desires. And if not, what should I be doing instead? Does my choice of action serve the child's need, or is it all about what is convenient for me as Mommy?

I like Alfie Kohn because I need to be challenged as a parent. I do not assume that all my desires vis a vis my children are good ones. I admit I would really like it, in the short term, if my son would render me mindless obedience, doing whatever I say when I say it, because I say it. But you see, I'm a little morbid, and I think of people like Adolph Hitler, and others who inspired obedience toward horrid, horrible things. And I think of the far subtler but equally horrible ways our culture begs for obedience. I realize my son needs to learn to reject with every fiber of his being some ideas. No, scratch that, he knows that perfectly. He needs to preserve that ability, aim it appropriately, hone it, mature it, learn its balance and make it his servant and a tool for the kingdom of God. So, like it or not, I need to learn to work with those energetic refusals of his constructively, not destructively.

Ok, Coffee Lovers

Want to indulge your passion for coffee and support Carmelite vocations in the process? Visit Mystic Monk Coffee and meet some monks who are also passionate about coffee.

I'm not even going to blood type you all to make sure you are type A or B and can successfully drink coffee without creating some havoc in your digestive system. Isn't that generous of me?

A Sigh Day

I'm having a "sigh" day. Ever had one of those?

I sell stuff on ebay sometimes, and had a bunch of auctions close last night. Yippee, I thought. Some things sold that I didn't even anticipate selling. Then I got an email from one of the purchasers today who asked me the kinds of questions you need to ask before you buy something, and then asked me to provide a USPS tracking number, oh except the mailing service he paid for doesn't offer that possibility. Sigh.

I respond to blog posts here and there with comments sometimes, and I posted a comment the other day. Someone made rather rude comments to the poster, and, even though I knew it is futile to try to make people "see the light" with my being conciliatory and reasonable, I gave it a shot. And I even went back to see if I got a reaction (that should be my first sigh for this story.) Of course the poster was rude to me, too, and missed my point by a mile. The poster's name is easy to guess: anonymous. Sigh.

My children are tired, my children are cranky, my children are recovering from a little bug where the best medicine is sleep. They are into having this fight that I just can't bring myself to get mad over -- each one grabs on to me and says "She's my mommy!" "No, she's my mommy!" What can I do but... Sigh.

Sigh days make me second-guess all my best intentions and suspect that I have created all the misunderstandings currently in existence in the world.

But, there's always tomorrow.

Do You Tutor?

Or are you looking for one?

If so, you might appreciate this new website: National Directory of Tutors.

My Happy 100

Donna at Mice and Moonbeams has me contemplating 100 things that make me happy, listed in no particular order. It is a minor blog trend, doesn't that seem nice?

So, I'm thinking. I fear I could probably make a list of 100 pet peeves with less thought, but I know I would feel pretty low only part way through creating such a list.

Here 'goes: 100 things that make me happy, listed in no particular order.

1. going to Mass
2. my husband's smile
3. my children's laughter
4. my daughter's kisses
5. listening to my husband sing
6. sunny spring days
7. the smell of lilacs
8. blue skies
9. a chorus of birds
10. quiet
11. bagpipe music
12. Pachabel's canon in D
13. genealogical discoveries
14. legible census sheets
15. emails from friends
16. medium rare steaks
17. mashed potatoes (at least before they hit my digestive tract)
18. a plate of garden fresh tomatoes sliced horizontally
19. Michael Nesmith music
20. watching people play stringed instruments
21. my genealogy database
22. memories of God's interventions in my life
23. living in Steubenville
24. Suzanne's house
25. discussions at School of Community
26. visiting museums with my children
27. good oriental food
28. watching fish swim
29. comments on my blog
30. watching my son read
31. reading things I wrote long ago
32. listening to my daughter sing
33. thinking about my daughter's birth
34. the smell of church incense
35. hearing a priest talk about his passion for God
36. our Bishop
37. realizing that other people struggle with the same things I do
38. talking about science with Jeff
39. when any friend smiles at me
40. when people make a point to say hi to me, by name
41. melted butter
42. seeing older people with well-aligned spines and good posture
43. middle-eastern music
44. polka dancing
45. Annie's Song by John Denver
46. singing with my CL friends
47. putting other's needs before worries about myself
48. spending 'quality time' with my son
49. my husband's steady personality
50. having someone contact me whom I haven't talked with in a long time
51. watching ethnic dancing
52. men with ponytails
53. British comedies (many, at least)
54. participating in a quick-witted conversation
55. laughing until my belly hurts
56. watching The Monkees
57. dancing with my whole family in the kitchen
58. hanging laundry outside to dry
59. "old" houses
60. looking at my house when clean
61. using our push mower
62. washing dishes after serving a meal to company
63. watching someone else get excited about something I've told them
64. remembering an argument with my college philosophy professor
65. having my children home with me
66. walking down the block when it is warm
67. living down the block from Alan and Nancy Schreck
68. feeling free to be me
69. eating Namaste brand blondies with chocolate chunks
70. roast beef
71. green beans
72. singing the Mass of Creation at the top of my lungs
73. being with people who are in love with Jesus
74. salt
75. learning
76. the hills of the Ohio Valley
77. Steubenville's downtown library
78. knowing my way around
79. Christmas Eve Midnight Mass
80. hearing a skilled lector read at Mass
81. watching my daughter play
82. my daughter's smile
83. emails from distant relatives doing genealogy
84. educational documentaries
85. Scotland the Brave
86. the Wiggles singing Christmas hymns
87. a Catholic parish where most everyone sings
88. post offices
89. health food stores
90. buying clothes at thrift stores
91. discovering spring wildflowers
92. heat
93. my hair being curly
94. white Christmases
95. waterfalls
96. nature trails
97. curly-haired toddlers
98. being able to fix things for my children
99. listening to my son talk with other adults
100. having lots of people read my blog :)

Wow! That wasn't too hard after all. Now, aren't you inspired to share your happy 100?

Music For Pentecost

My husband recent purchased a copy of the CD Shekinah Hosanna by Neven Pesa, a young man of Croatian descent who hopes to become a priest for the Basilian Salvatorian Fathers. You can read all about his quest here.

I have been playing the title track of this CD over and over the last few days. It is a gorgeous blend of Middle-Eastern music with just a tiny rock flavor to it, which has got to be one of my absolute favorite musical sounds. And the words are so evocative! They are a passionate pleading for the presence of God the Holy Spirit in and through the sacraments. Two lines in the chorus blow me away both musically and with the prayer they offer:

"Like to Mary make your presence known/ in all-consuming ... wonder!"

This song is a wonderful Pentecost novena prayer! (And sales of his CD will help him fund his seminary education.)

Rejoice in Christ's Love, Bring it to the World!

On the first of every month, Our Lord gives Anne a new message about His call to service.

May 1, 2008

Jesus

Dear apostles, My heart is bursting with love for each one of you. Indeed, I cannot contain the love that I possess for all of mankind. Many reject My love. They are not open to accepting love directly from My heart. You, My beloved apostles serving in this time, do accept the love of the Saviour. You rejoice in My love. You allow My love to transform you into carriers of heaven’s healing plan for humanity. Because so many reject Me, I give in a ridiculously lavish way to those willing to accept Me. Many of God’s children, living in the sadness of sin, will not admit that God could offer them anything of value. They are closed to My love for them and they are closed to My plan for them. But these people will, nevertheless, accept kindness from you, God’s apostles. They will accept good example from you, God’s apostles. Ultimately, if My plan is successful, they will accept love from you. The love they find in your heart will belong to Me because I placed it there. When the people around you are loved by you, they experience Me. This works because you are connected to Me each day through your apostolic pledge and through your apostolic service. I have told you in the past that you bring light to a dark world. I want you to know, dear loyal apostles, that the light you bring is changing the world. We, those of us in heaven, see the light growing. Some of you begin unsteadily. You are not certain that you are called. My beloved one, I am speaking to you now. Listen to Me. You are called. You belong in this family. I need your help. I do not ever want to be apart from you again. It hurts Me to be apart from you and it hurts you to be apart from Me. Only I love you perfectly. If you remain close to Me, I can continue to love you in such in a way that you will value yourself as heaven values you. You are not perfect. It is true. I accept this about you. If you believed you were perfect, My beloved friend, you would be no good to Me. Far better for every one of My goals that you believe you are flawed. Believe in My perfection and be willing, and together we will bring an unstoppable flow of love into the world. I rejoice in your love for Me, dear apostle. I want you to rejoice in My love for you. If you do this, you will show others an accurate example of the peace that comes from resting in the Saviour. Rejoice in your heart. I am there and I love you.

When is a Christian Successful?

Today's epistle reading (Acts 17:22-34) reminded me of a teaching I once heard. I don't remember who gave it, or whether the person was Catholic or Protestant. But today this teaching struck me as being completely off-base. The gist of it was that Paul had made a grave error in appealing to the Athenians through their philosophy, pagan religion and culture in his attempt to present the gospel to them. This error was supposedly obvious from the fact that his preaching was a complete failure. People scoffed and blew him off, and all of three converts (out of how many hundreds of hearers?) followed him.

Perhaps whoever gave this teaching had an ax to grind against inculturation. But of course it makes every bit of sense for Paul to draw on what people already knew in order to present new information to them. With Jews or those familiar with the synagogue, speaking about the Hebrew Scriptures makes sense. But what sense would it make when speaking to pagans?

And what is great preaching success, anyway? Fr. Michael Scanlon, in his homily today, pointed out that humbling is often exactly what a preacher needs to receive as the fruits of his efforts. One can have all truth and still fail completely to reach others with it, he said. Whether others are reached or not just is not our concern.

It can be so hard for me sometimes to accept a completely indifferent response to something over which I have intense enthusiasm. And then again, sometimes I have an experience like yesterday's.

I happened to read a pregnancy announcement on the Catholic Fertility list. Towards the end of it, the woman mentioned that she'd read my pregnancy success story in the group archives, and since our health outlooks were so similar, she decided to incorporate everything I had discovered in my journey into "alternative" medicine. And a couple of months later, here she is, 7 weeks pregnant. It surprised me, especially because I only happened to read that particular message (I don't regularly read all the posts there any longer). Once I had become detached from whether I could persuade anyone that my ideas had merit, I find someone crediting me as her inspiration towards this mighty joy in her life.

So, the lesson learned is that if I really want to do people good, an across the board stepping out of the path of self-aggrandizement is in order. We offer what we can, how we can, with our eyes firmly fixed on, transfixed by, the Lord, pouring out all we can to the person, the need in front of us. And forget about how it all turns out.

Truth Must Be Lived

In reading The Risk of Education I've come across this idea of Giussani's that truth is ultimately something lived, not a body of knowledge to be mastered, committed to memory, or expounded in handy formulae. To pass on the Christian faith, one must live it. And one cannot live the Christian faith apart from an encounter with Christ, apart from conversion to Christ in a daily, on-going, life-exchange kind of way. I must live Christ.

I remember when this truth first sparked into awareness in me. I can see myself, a 20 year old college student, sitting in my pastor's study in the Lutheran church in which I was brought up. I was telling him, essentially, that I was leaving Lutheranism and joining a charismatic fellowship, because I'd had a dramatic encounter with the Holy Spirit, and I wanted to live this experience that had gripped me. My Lutheran Synod did not accept that what had happened to me happened in this modern age (and had apparently lost all sight of the fact that it had ever happened in any point of history).

Like any good Lutheran pastor, mine counseled me from the Bible to follow sound doctrine (it might have been Titus 1:9 to which he referred; Lutherans are somewhat prone to yanking verses out of context). It then dawned on me with crystal clarity that "following sound doctrine" was far more about the way one lived, and in whose company, than mental assent to a list of beliefs. Rather than focusing on the "doctrine" part, or the "sound doctrine" part as was my pastor's concern, the word "follow" lit up in my heart. I wanted fiercely to be on my way with others who were drawn through a similar encounter. That dwarfed every other desire of mine.

Was I living the fullness of truth then? No, I wasn't. Some of my pastor's concerns were well founded. But I was following, and was open to God's guidance. Five years later I made another transition into full communion with the Catholic Church. And even after that, I followed through some very rocky terrain in my heart. Living the faith became a very solitary, painful, confusing experience for many of the years after this memory at age 20.

But here, the words of a friend of mine a few years back ring in my ears. He and his wife had just lost a son at nearly six months gestation. "This is an awful cross," he said, "but the only thing that makes it possible to endure is that it is Jesus' cross." The only thing that makes it possible to live the Christian life is that it is Jesus' life, and it is with Him we walk, and after Him we follow.

Employment, Freedom and Real Education

I saw something very clearly during Mass today that almost seemed to come out of the clear blue sky. All about jobs, education, human dignity and money.

Here's the insight: a "good job" is one where we are well-positioned to expand our humanity, to grapple with the things that enable us to give glory to God. And as St. Irenaeus said and Pope John Paul II liked to repeat, the glory of God is man fully alive. A "good education" toward a "good job" is one where we are in training to fully possess our humanity, to become fully alive, aware of ourselves, our capacities for good, our limitations, and to enter the true freedom of possessing ourselves in order to give ourselves in utter commitment to Christ and His Church.

When I faced college graduation, I struggled with my prospects for employment. The tacit assumption that a good job meant one that would pay me a lot of money made me very uncomfortable. I had nothing else though, except a vague sense of altruism and idealism as I launched out. Certainly I had no conscious conversations with others about discovering any personal goals. It was all so vague and murky.

So, I wanted only a good-enough job, and that's what I found. I earned enough money to keep my body and soul together, and I was very content to live in a dumpy, inner-city apartment building. Within a couple years of graduation, I was making what I considered a decent amount of money. As I recall, it was about 15k a year.

And there I was: a good enough job, using skills derived from my college degree. But I was so far from being fully alive, or even from having a clue about what that meant.

I had a college degree, and I had some important intellectual skills, but I had a great poverty when it came to possessing myself, let alone freedom to give myself. I could do what was required of me, but did not know how to require something of myself except for within very narrow confines of academic exercise.

I believe my truest education has come in the last nine years of marriage, and has increased exponentially with the entry of each of my children into our family. The job meant for me is to be a wife and mother, which is exactly what I longed to be since childhood. Only I didn't realize how ill prepared I was for that fresh out of college, and God in His mercy had many years of remedial Humanity 101 through which to walk me.

So, that's me. But I think these thoughts today in conjunction with my children and their intellectual, personal, and spiritual formation. If I am to train them at all, I want to train them to be free, in the Christian sense of the word: able to possess and give oneself. I frankly don't care whether either of them enter a career where they become wealthy. But because a human being fully alive tends to be extremely interesting, I'll bet that the ways they discover to live in this world will be well worth someone's investment.

Veni Sancte Spiritus

Have you heard about the 2008 worldwide Pentecost Novena?


“As we give thanks for past blessings, and look to the challenges of the future, let us implore from God the grace of a new Pentecost for the Church in America. May tongues of fire, combining burning love of God and neighbor with zeal for the spread of Christ’s Kingdom, descend on all present.”
Pope Benedict XVI, Papal Visit to the United States, April 19, 2008

Our Tasty Dinner

I made the following recipe for dinner tonight, and I'm happy to report it was rather tasty! It also is a rather inexpensive and simple dish to make. And it is relatively blood-type compliant for both O and A. This winning combination merits it a blog post!

Linguine with tuna, white beans and dill

12 oz linguine (I substituted spelt spaghetti)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp crushed garlic
1 can (19 oz) white kidney beans, drained (I used 1 cup dried great northern beans)
4 tbsp lemon juice
1 3/4 c. cold chicken stock
4 tsp flour
1 can (6.5 oz) tuna in water, drained
1/2 c. chopped fresh dill or 1tbsp. dried
1/3 c. sliced black olives
1/4 c. chopped green onions

Directions:

1. Cook pasta in boiling water according to package instructions or until firm to the bite. Drain and place in serving bowl.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil; add garlic, beans and lemon juice. Cook for 2 minutes or until hot.

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine stock and flour until smooth. Add to bean mixture; simmer for 3 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly. Pour over pasta. Add tuna, dill, olives and green onions. Toss to combine.

The Recipe is from The Beans, Lentils & Tofu Gourmet

Reality of Miracles

Today as I prayed the Angelus, I was struck by the oddity of the opening line: The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, and she conceived by the Holy Spirit.

It can be so easy for these Biblical images to go through our minds, spill off our tongues, without shocking. It struck me that the day the angel came to Mary was a real day, a day perhaps like the utterly beautiful spring day I enjoy today. This miracle of miracles, the Incarnation, happened. Really. In the life of a human person, Mary.

I was struck by the amazing fact of the miraculous being the foundation of the day-in, day-out living of the Christian life. It all requires a miracle, and it all is a miracle.

And then I heard today's gospel: "...And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it" (see Mk. 16:15-20).

More miracles, recorded as the normal modus operandi of the Church.

And at the Eucharist, again I was struck! Here is one of Christ's perpetual miracles given to the Church, which (pardon the clunky term) builds from the first miracle that caught my heart today, that of the Incarnation. What a web of grace God constructs! It is His way. God's grace comes to me, and when I respond with my heart and His purposes are fulfilled and his glory shines forth, that affects who-knows-what. And that who-knows-what is taken up into the life of someone else, and the cycle continues. I cannot wait to see the other side of this tapestry in heaven. However, I also want to live faithfully to what I am given now, knowing and trusting that every stitch, meaningless as it may momentarily seem, is filled with purpose by God's grace. I want to be as faithful to every stitch as I can.

The web of grace, the web of miracles is real. I suppose you could say it is another name for the Church. It's as real as this day is real, and true as Mary's and Jesus' days were real.

Papa Ben and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

I have a tendency towards depression. I know of several things that can set it off for me, including hormone crashes and ingesting large quantities of wheat. But I also know there is the insidious kind of depression that is simply due to good old unresolved issues.

And that's basically why I've had a really awful day today.

Let's just say there is a situation I've faced recently that is by no means new to me, but somehow the person I am while facing this situation is not quite the person I was the last time around. "Why should this be so difficult now?" I thought to myself. Like a chicken on a roasting spit, I have turned this thing over and over and over again today. All I knew was that some very old pain, pain just a few years younger than myself, was getting rolled into this situation.

And then my children got into a fight. The ninja had temporarily left his helmet on the kitchen floor, and Cinderella thought it was her crown, only to discover that the ninja felt a strong attachment to this helmet. Crying ensued. I had just gone to see if I couldn't sit down for a few minutes of quiet reading, when I heard Cinderella scouring the opposite end of the house looking for me. Papa Bear tried various means of consoling and reprimanding, increasing the overall domestic volume. I came to scoop Cinderella up to her chamber, to calm her and quiet at least 45% of the volume, when I realized I had been trailed by a ninja. In all the clamor and hollering and distress of others, the ninja earnestly and urgently wanted his new karate jacket frogs done up.

Who cares about what a jacket looks like when the whole house is engulfed with chaos? With great consternation I beheld the ninja's audacity and I blurted out (and I paraphrase): "I wish I could consider what I want so danged important to ignore everything going on around me and demand that someone jump into action for my need!!"

And suddenly I realized what I'd said.

With those words, I kicked free the dammed up area in my heart that was causing me such a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

So, what does all this have to do with Pope Benedict? Nothing, yet.

But I did mention in a recent post that I was struck by something the Holy Father said in his comments at the White House (the only address I have been able to listen to in its entirety yet, papal slacker that I am!). And it was this idea of bringing one's convictions and values to public debate.

I have convictions that I hold be to absolute truths, and I have other convictions and values that I hold to be my best take on certain issues. And while some people may discuss absolute truth in a relative sort of way, I have been more of the type to discuss "spectrum values" (I'll call them) in an absolute sort of way. At least among those who share the same values. Let's take unschooling, holistic medicine, and home birthing as three such examples. I'm not going to unpack all those things just now, but what I see is that when one is either not capable or not open to frank discussion or reasoned debate about values such as these, there's a big loss. There's a loss of good information that could be shared, but there is also a loss of something of the humanity of the one holding these values, because of espousing something as more of an ideology than a reasonable, human, holy approach. Boy, that was as clear as mud. Let's just put it this way: if I can't give you a short list of benefits of unschooling as lived in my family, as compared and contrasted with other options, then I am probably not living our unschooling consciously enough to be doing it well, or to be living it to the full.

The goal of debate is not to conquer others or even to change minds or hearts; we debate in order to live life to the full. That's the call I hear.

Ok, so what does this have to do with my terrible day? Without wading deep into my psyche (for once), let me just say that speaking out, with audacity, what is in the heart, is an ability that I think is innate to the human being, especially very young human beings. Most people spend their lives tempering that ability, I suppose. I think I have spent my life thus far trying to tap it. I get lots of fissures that leak into subterranean caverns and cause a bunch of mess. But there is something that has been calling all my life for a straight tap, heart-to-world, via my mouth. And woe unto me until I get all these parts of the call to line up in peace.

I need both the raw passion of my heart to be free, and the reasoned intellectual approach to know that it is not the intensity of my passion that makes truth true. So, my need is simple: basic strong doses of ora et labora.

*My apologies to Judith Viorst for stealing her title.