I love my girlfriends, I really do. I've bonded much more tightly with them this year than I did last year, and I'm so excited for all the fun things that means for the next three years. However, we are dangerous together. In an extension of last night's post, as much as I love my girlfriends, we make emotional chastity so much harder for each other. One of them has asked me to say that we don't create problems for her because, as she puts it, "I don't have emotions". This is untrue. She has lots of emotions, it's just that most of them are expressed by fond insults or threats.
We were all gathered in the Newman Center today, pretending or attempting to do homework, and somehow, Taylor Swift ended up coming out of somebody's laptop. And then we started talking about who's been on dates in the last couple of days, and well, you can sort of guess how the conversation went from there. We started talking about how one of us looks like she's just been asked on a date, and who else can we get set up with whoever she's interested in, and as much fun as this is (it's pretty much an essential part of how girls bond with each other), it does wonders to impede any efforts we might be making to be emotionally chaste.
I know I shouldn't be talking, because I willingly participated in the conversation as well as routinely allow my emotions to run away with me, and I even pointed out what we were doing was unhelpful. But still, I feel like even if I'm a part of the problem, I should still be pointing out that there is one. And this one is big. Big enough, in fact, that the friend who is leading our Freshman Retreat with me has agreed that we should talk about it with the girls. I've also noticed, as the only friend who commented on the last post admitted, that I am prone to people-watching the Communion line to see if there are any hopeful prospects, so this isn't just an isolated, I-only-do-it-with-the-girls type of thing.
There really is no lesson here, as of yet. I wish there was, believe me, but I've got nothing. I guess the lesson is that I (and really a lot of women) need to be more mindful of my thoughts in addition to my words and my actions. It's one thing to have a crush, but it's another to see a future with someone where there really isn't one. Real hope is good, false hope is dangerous. And this is coming from the "grounded" one.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
In My Best Dress, Fearless
I've been hearing a lot of Taylor Swift lately, and I think it's mostly because I have so many friends who love her. I mean, I literally had to promise to drive my friend's CDs back to her the next morning to get her to let me put them on my computer. I find that I do like Taylor's music, mostly because she doesn't curse all the time, she is talented, and above all, she writes the stories of our lives. Her songs are relatable, and that speaks to our hearts (yes, I think I can count myself among her fans, however casual).
One of the things that I like best about Taylor Swift's music is that she writes such sweet love songs. Quite a few of my friends and I have had our hearts broken, and as we try to work through all our different situations together, those are the songs that help to make us feel like there is still hope for our love lives. Currently, we're all starting a book by Jason and Crystallina Evert, called How to Find Your Soulmate Without Losing Your Soul, and although Taylor is wonderful to listen to, I think the Everts are helping us realize a problem that T. Swift exacerbates in our feminine personalities: emotional chastity.
It's something you almost never hear when adults speak about chastity, but it is a particular problem for teenage girls and young women, and I guess for women in general. Emotional chastity is being able to keep your emotions in check, and not let yourself get more attached to someone mentally and emotionally than you actually are. It's really hard, and even more so when you're feeling hurt or when you have a crush. I guess it's a woman's desire for authentic love and communion with other people that drives us to want to see connections that aren't there, but it's harmful to our hearts and to the relationships we actually have.
I know that I am guilty of this, and I think it's played a part in how hurt I've gotten before. I'm working on it, and some days it's easier than others, but often I fail. One of the remedies that's worked best, though, is developing my own life and cultivating myself into the woman I want to be. Finding myself has been an immeasurable help in combating this feeling that I need to imagine stronger and deeper connections with other people, especially men. It helps me to respect myself as a woman worthy of the same true love that every other woman is worthy of, and through that, it helps me to respect my brothers more as men who are the same path, rather than objects to fulfill my emotional fantasies.
However, though I do definitely want to perfect the art of remaining detached enough to keep my emotions from running wild with me, I also want to be able to hold onto the kind of hope for love that Taylor sings about so often. I'm beginning to see that the older I get, and the more important relationships seem to become, that line between the two gets fairly thin. It's somewhat comforting to know that other women struggle with being emotionally chaste, and that my friends and I can encourage each other to be chaste, but also to have hope that one day we'll get the kind of warm fuzzies Taylor Swift goes on about so often.
So, ladies, would you be willing to share whether or not you struggle with this, too? Don't feel obligated to share anything specific, but I'm curious to hear the experiences of other women.
One of the things that I like best about Taylor Swift's music is that she writes such sweet love songs. Quite a few of my friends and I have had our hearts broken, and as we try to work through all our different situations together, those are the songs that help to make us feel like there is still hope for our love lives. Currently, we're all starting a book by Jason and Crystallina Evert, called How to Find Your Soulmate Without Losing Your Soul, and although Taylor is wonderful to listen to, I think the Everts are helping us realize a problem that T. Swift exacerbates in our feminine personalities: emotional chastity.
It's something you almost never hear when adults speak about chastity, but it is a particular problem for teenage girls and young women, and I guess for women in general. Emotional chastity is being able to keep your emotions in check, and not let yourself get more attached to someone mentally and emotionally than you actually are. It's really hard, and even more so when you're feeling hurt or when you have a crush. I guess it's a woman's desire for authentic love and communion with other people that drives us to want to see connections that aren't there, but it's harmful to our hearts and to the relationships we actually have.
I know that I am guilty of this, and I think it's played a part in how hurt I've gotten before. I'm working on it, and some days it's easier than others, but often I fail. One of the remedies that's worked best, though, is developing my own life and cultivating myself into the woman I want to be. Finding myself has been an immeasurable help in combating this feeling that I need to imagine stronger and deeper connections with other people, especially men. It helps me to respect myself as a woman worthy of the same true love that every other woman is worthy of, and through that, it helps me to respect my brothers more as men who are the same path, rather than objects to fulfill my emotional fantasies.
However, though I do definitely want to perfect the art of remaining detached enough to keep my emotions from running wild with me, I also want to be able to hold onto the kind of hope for love that Taylor sings about so often. I'm beginning to see that the older I get, and the more important relationships seem to become, that line between the two gets fairly thin. It's somewhat comforting to know that other women struggle with being emotionally chaste, and that my friends and I can encourage each other to be chaste, but also to have hope that one day we'll get the kind of warm fuzzies Taylor Swift goes on about so often.
So, ladies, would you be willing to share whether or not you struggle with this, too? Don't feel obligated to share anything specific, but I'm curious to hear the experiences of other women.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Triumph of the Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows
Ah, September is just loaded with wonderful feasts and memorials, and I love it! In particular, we've had three Marian feasts (Nativity, Most Holy Name, and Our Lady of Sorrows) in the past week, and it has been glorious. Some of you know that I'm a particular devotee of Mary, and so having all these feasts to reflect on her life, and ultimately how I can conform mine to hers, is wonderful. In the middle there, we had the Triumph of the Cross yesterday, and it struck me how beautifully intertwined that memorial is with Our Lady of Sorrows, which is today.
Yesterday, our chaplain preached on how the cross is honorable because it is both a sign of God's suffering, and a weapon of His triumph. God willingly went to the cross to suffer and die that we might live forever with Him. He suffered pain, injustice, humiliation and death for love of us, as we were told in John 3:16, so that we might not perish, but have eternal life. The cross is a weapon of God's triumph over death because, by it, He accomplished what was necessary for death to be conquered once and for all. That is the triumph of the cross, that a symbol of a humiliating death became the sign that nobody had to die ever again. It's really quite beautiful.
Today we commemorate Our Lady of Sorrows, and the seven sorrows she suffered throughout her life. I find that we often don't think about the sorrows of Mary, save for the Triduum, when we think of her seeing Jesus on the cross. Other than that, though, we don't tend to think of her suffering. This could possibly change in our lifetimes, if the Church declares, as she is now considering, that Mary holds the title co-redemptrix. This is sticky, because it leads a lot of people to believe that somehow Jesus on the cross was not enough for salvation, or that He couldn't have saved us without Mary. This is untrue. What it means is that because Mary was so united to Jesus in all things, His sufferings were hers, and, as I heard it beautifully expressed, Mary's cross was not being crucified.
The beauty of these feasts being so close together is that we commemorate the seven sorrows of Mary, the chief of which, I assume, was seeing Christ crucified, and as His mother, being powerless to stop her son's suffering, especially because that suffering was necessary to salvation. We also commemorate that fact that though this was the height of sorrow and evil, not just in Our Lady's life, but in all of history, it was ultimately one of the greatest joys and goods that ever occurred, as well.
The triumph of the cross was not just the triumph of Christ, but through Him and in Him, the triumph of Mary, the angels, and all creation. It is important to remember the sorrow, but always in light of the joy. Good Friday is only good in light of the resurrection, and Mary's seven sorrows are only significant because they were suffered on the path to a much greater joy. I have to hand it to Holy Mother Church, I think she knew exactly what she was doing when she decided to commemorate the Triumph of the Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows back to back, because all the sorrows of life should be weathered and remembered in light of the joy of Christ's resurrection.
Yesterday, our chaplain preached on how the cross is honorable because it is both a sign of God's suffering, and a weapon of His triumph. God willingly went to the cross to suffer and die that we might live forever with Him. He suffered pain, injustice, humiliation and death for love of us, as we were told in John 3:16, so that we might not perish, but have eternal life. The cross is a weapon of God's triumph over death because, by it, He accomplished what was necessary for death to be conquered once and for all. That is the triumph of the cross, that a symbol of a humiliating death became the sign that nobody had to die ever again. It's really quite beautiful.
Today we commemorate Our Lady of Sorrows, and the seven sorrows she suffered throughout her life. I find that we often don't think about the sorrows of Mary, save for the Triduum, when we think of her seeing Jesus on the cross. Other than that, though, we don't tend to think of her suffering. This could possibly change in our lifetimes, if the Church declares, as she is now considering, that Mary holds the title co-redemptrix. This is sticky, because it leads a lot of people to believe that somehow Jesus on the cross was not enough for salvation, or that He couldn't have saved us without Mary. This is untrue. What it means is that because Mary was so united to Jesus in all things, His sufferings were hers, and, as I heard it beautifully expressed, Mary's cross was not being crucified.
The beauty of these feasts being so close together is that we commemorate the seven sorrows of Mary, the chief of which, I assume, was seeing Christ crucified, and as His mother, being powerless to stop her son's suffering, especially because that suffering was necessary to salvation. We also commemorate that fact that though this was the height of sorrow and evil, not just in Our Lady's life, but in all of history, it was ultimately one of the greatest joys and goods that ever occurred, as well.
The triumph of the cross was not just the triumph of Christ, but through Him and in Him, the triumph of Mary, the angels, and all creation. It is important to remember the sorrow, but always in light of the joy. Good Friday is only good in light of the resurrection, and Mary's seven sorrows are only significant because they were suffered on the path to a much greater joy. I have to hand it to Holy Mother Church, I think she knew exactly what she was doing when she decided to commemorate the Triumph of the Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows back to back, because all the sorrows of life should be weathered and remembered in light of the joy of Christ's resurrection.
Friday, September 9, 2011
On September 11th: the Past Ten Years
As a parent of a nine-year-old, I suppose it wouldn't ordinarily occur to you to teach your child that there is such a thing as evil. As a nine-year-old, it certainly never occurs to you to ask. Ordinarily, I guess, it happens later by necessity; a child so young is not equipped to deal with something as dark or serious as evil or hatred on anything more than an abstract level, no matter how intelligent he or she is. When the most odious thing in one's world is broccoli or fractions, true evil is near impossible to comprehend. Nine-year-olds are full of faith and trust in the world, and there is no reason it should not be so, because for most of them, mom and dad can protect them from harm, and the most danger anything poses is running with scissors or the playground bully. Ten years ago, I was one such nine-year-old, and like every other day, the morning of September 11th dawned beautiful and bright, like the late summer does in New England. Ten years later, it is still the most beautiful day I will never forget.
Much like having no real concept of evil or hate, my peers and I had no real concept of tragedy, either. It was a word we knew, and it described something abstract, something sad, something that happened to other people who you prayed for or sent sympathy cards to. Tragedy was not a personal thing, and we didn't know how it felt. We couldn't write a paper on it, and we couldn't act it out. Tragedy didn't touch us in the secure bubble of loving homes and friendly grade schools, and we weren't seeking it out. No matter, because that morning, it sought us.
It is a cruel thing to expose a child to evil, to hate him, or to cause him to know the pain of tragedy. I think I will always believe that. We have not equipped children to handle the immensity of those things, and we shouldn't do so until they are ready and able to process them. They're concepts children will know about, but not ones they should be exposed to. These are the things that shatter innocence, destroy security, and instill fear, and on September 11th my friends and I were exposed to all of them. On that day, we lost a part of our childhoods we would never be able to reclaim. This is not to say that in one day we became world-weary and jaded, because we didn't. But for most of us, it was the first time we learned that mom and dad couldn't protect us from everything, and that evil was very real and knew no boundaries.
I thank God now that I couldn't take in everything that had happened right away. I saw the news, I heard the stories, but something about it didn't really click for a while. However, it was hard enough in the meantime to try to understand why someone would do this. How could somebody hate innocent people so much that they would intentionally kill thousands of them? Wasn't killing people wrong? Wasn't God going to do something about this? It was difficult to process what was going on, but I guess it's taken these ten years to find out exactly what happened. As much as it's been a process of discovery about facts or events, it's been a self-discovery, as well. It has taken me ten years to figure out what happened and the effects of the 9.11 attack because, I guess, in some ways I would have to grow up in the post-9.11 world, and certain bits of knowledge and wisdom were only going to come with time.
Because I couldn't fully grasp or process what had happened to America, or to me personally, my process of discovery began when I started to hear that Muslim kids were being singled out at their schools and bullied because they were also "terrorists" like the hijackers. At that age, it's still a pretty effective tool to get a child to think about how they would feel in a similar situation, and I knew that I would feel just as sad and angry as those other kids did. I knew that all Muslims couldn't possibly be hijackers, even if only for the simple reasons that there weren't that many planes or that many tall buildings to knock down. My parents would also tell me that 9.11 wasn't motivated by another faith, it was motivated by angry people who were poor and had been told that attacking America was a good thing. At the time, I didn't really understand the motivations, but I did understand that if you were an American, you weren't happy about these attacks, hence, the Muslim boys and girls didn't deserve the treatment they were getting.
Through middle school and high school, I began to learn more about Islam and politics, following America's military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq. I started to understand some of the more obvious things that would have motivated the hijackers, the things that I wouldn't have been able to understand in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. It was at this point in high school that my atheism and my relativism clashed; the atheist in me said religion was responsible for this ignorance, destruction and sorrow, but the relativist told me I couldn't judge people's actions or their motivations for doing so. It became a quandary that I put out of my mind because I wasn't able to riddle out which stance was right, though I now know that neither was.
As I moved into more of a comparative religious study phase, I began to see that, like the Bible, the Qur'an had passages in it that were gruesome and violent. I began to see that these men had been told that these were the important parts of the Qur'an, and that the whole part about Allah forbidding murder and the like were being ignored, much in the same way that many Christians ignore the Just War Theory. I began to feel angry that Muslims had been given such a bad reputation over the years because there were fringe whackos who identified with a couple of extreme passages calling themselves Muslim and crusading against the West for Allah. I was an atheist, though, and only studying these things for class, because everybody knew that religion was silly, and all religious people were being duped to some degree or another.
Last year, when September 11 rolled around, I was on the Newman Center's freshman retreat, and at Mass that morning, we all just reminisced about how we couldn't believe it had been almost ten years. We prayed for the families of the victims, and for peace and protection for our country, but by the time night fell, I was already wrapped up in bigger things, like being completely overwhelmed by an experience of God and conversion of heart. I gave no thought to September 11 until May, when Osama bin Laden was killed.
That night, I think I finally came to the fullest realization I've yet had about what happened on September 11. Some people I knew were out in the streets celebrating because a threat to America had been eliminated, some were screaming because they thought that Osama had finally gotten what he deserved, some were probably just caught up in the moment. I was none of those things. I wasn't even outside. I was inside with a couple of friends, waiting to see what would happen next, trying to absorb what this meant for us and for our country. I realized for the first time that what had happened on September 11 was just plain sad. An angry, disenfranchised man with a lot of money was organizing a lot of other angry, disenfranchised men to attack another country because they had money, power and freedom. They saw their nations as having been bullied by this country, and decided to strike back, believing it was the will of Allah. They killed people for no gain of their own, and achieved nothing more than to make the entire world angry, and to make the most powerful country in the world seek out others like them to kill. Osama bin Laden was an angry little man who had started a horrific killing spree which continues to this day.
It was then I decided to pray for him. I really didn't know what else to do. I wasn't happy he was dead, but I was shocked. I knew this wouldn't put an end to what was happening in the Middle East, but it meant a lot of big changes in the lives of myself and my peers. I did the only thing I could think of to do, and so I stopped to pray for him. I had no idea what to say, so I prayed only that God's will be done, and that Americans would remember that the fights we had started weren't near over yet. I was alternately praised and scorned by people who either thought praying for him was noble, or that praying for him was an un-American act of treachery because he was finally burning in hell where he belonged.
For the past ten years, my peers and I have had to deal with the reality of living in a post-9.11 world. We had to learn about things that were way beyond our ken before we should have done, and in an awful way. In some ways, I wish we could have continued with our childhoods unspoiled until it was time for us to learn about evil, until we were able to process it. It didn't turn out that way, though, and I've learned a lot over the years about myself, about people around me, about the whole world because of September 11. I wonder now what the next ten years will look like, how the world will remember this date which will live in infamy. All I can say for sure is that I will always remember September 11, 2001, and that its sheer sadness is a cruel reminder of our broken nature which makes me desire all the more to help heal this world before I (hopefully) go back to God.
Much like having no real concept of evil or hate, my peers and I had no real concept of tragedy, either. It was a word we knew, and it described something abstract, something sad, something that happened to other people who you prayed for or sent sympathy cards to. Tragedy was not a personal thing, and we didn't know how it felt. We couldn't write a paper on it, and we couldn't act it out. Tragedy didn't touch us in the secure bubble of loving homes and friendly grade schools, and we weren't seeking it out. No matter, because that morning, it sought us.
It is a cruel thing to expose a child to evil, to hate him, or to cause him to know the pain of tragedy. I think I will always believe that. We have not equipped children to handle the immensity of those things, and we shouldn't do so until they are ready and able to process them. They're concepts children will know about, but not ones they should be exposed to. These are the things that shatter innocence, destroy security, and instill fear, and on September 11th my friends and I were exposed to all of them. On that day, we lost a part of our childhoods we would never be able to reclaim. This is not to say that in one day we became world-weary and jaded, because we didn't. But for most of us, it was the first time we learned that mom and dad couldn't protect us from everything, and that evil was very real and knew no boundaries.
I thank God now that I couldn't take in everything that had happened right away. I saw the news, I heard the stories, but something about it didn't really click for a while. However, it was hard enough in the meantime to try to understand why someone would do this. How could somebody hate innocent people so much that they would intentionally kill thousands of them? Wasn't killing people wrong? Wasn't God going to do something about this? It was difficult to process what was going on, but I guess it's taken these ten years to find out exactly what happened. As much as it's been a process of discovery about facts or events, it's been a self-discovery, as well. It has taken me ten years to figure out what happened and the effects of the 9.11 attack because, I guess, in some ways I would have to grow up in the post-9.11 world, and certain bits of knowledge and wisdom were only going to come with time.
Because I couldn't fully grasp or process what had happened to America, or to me personally, my process of discovery began when I started to hear that Muslim kids were being singled out at their schools and bullied because they were also "terrorists" like the hijackers. At that age, it's still a pretty effective tool to get a child to think about how they would feel in a similar situation, and I knew that I would feel just as sad and angry as those other kids did. I knew that all Muslims couldn't possibly be hijackers, even if only for the simple reasons that there weren't that many planes or that many tall buildings to knock down. My parents would also tell me that 9.11 wasn't motivated by another faith, it was motivated by angry people who were poor and had been told that attacking America was a good thing. At the time, I didn't really understand the motivations, but I did understand that if you were an American, you weren't happy about these attacks, hence, the Muslim boys and girls didn't deserve the treatment they were getting.
Through middle school and high school, I began to learn more about Islam and politics, following America's military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq. I started to understand some of the more obvious things that would have motivated the hijackers, the things that I wouldn't have been able to understand in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. It was at this point in high school that my atheism and my relativism clashed; the atheist in me said religion was responsible for this ignorance, destruction and sorrow, but the relativist told me I couldn't judge people's actions or their motivations for doing so. It became a quandary that I put out of my mind because I wasn't able to riddle out which stance was right, though I now know that neither was.
As I moved into more of a comparative religious study phase, I began to see that, like the Bible, the Qur'an had passages in it that were gruesome and violent. I began to see that these men had been told that these were the important parts of the Qur'an, and that the whole part about Allah forbidding murder and the like were being ignored, much in the same way that many Christians ignore the Just War Theory. I began to feel angry that Muslims had been given such a bad reputation over the years because there were fringe whackos who identified with a couple of extreme passages calling themselves Muslim and crusading against the West for Allah. I was an atheist, though, and only studying these things for class, because everybody knew that religion was silly, and all religious people were being duped to some degree or another.
Last year, when September 11 rolled around, I was on the Newman Center's freshman retreat, and at Mass that morning, we all just reminisced about how we couldn't believe it had been almost ten years. We prayed for the families of the victims, and for peace and protection for our country, but by the time night fell, I was already wrapped up in bigger things, like being completely overwhelmed by an experience of God and conversion of heart. I gave no thought to September 11 until May, when Osama bin Laden was killed.
That night, I think I finally came to the fullest realization I've yet had about what happened on September 11. Some people I knew were out in the streets celebrating because a threat to America had been eliminated, some were screaming because they thought that Osama had finally gotten what he deserved, some were probably just caught up in the moment. I was none of those things. I wasn't even outside. I was inside with a couple of friends, waiting to see what would happen next, trying to absorb what this meant for us and for our country. I realized for the first time that what had happened on September 11 was just plain sad. An angry, disenfranchised man with a lot of money was organizing a lot of other angry, disenfranchised men to attack another country because they had money, power and freedom. They saw their nations as having been bullied by this country, and decided to strike back, believing it was the will of Allah. They killed people for no gain of their own, and achieved nothing more than to make the entire world angry, and to make the most powerful country in the world seek out others like them to kill. Osama bin Laden was an angry little man who had started a horrific killing spree which continues to this day.
It was then I decided to pray for him. I really didn't know what else to do. I wasn't happy he was dead, but I was shocked. I knew this wouldn't put an end to what was happening in the Middle East, but it meant a lot of big changes in the lives of myself and my peers. I did the only thing I could think of to do, and so I stopped to pray for him. I had no idea what to say, so I prayed only that God's will be done, and that Americans would remember that the fights we had started weren't near over yet. I was alternately praised and scorned by people who either thought praying for him was noble, or that praying for him was an un-American act of treachery because he was finally burning in hell where he belonged.
For the past ten years, my peers and I have had to deal with the reality of living in a post-9.11 world. We had to learn about things that were way beyond our ken before we should have done, and in an awful way. In some ways, I wish we could have continued with our childhoods unspoiled until it was time for us to learn about evil, until we were able to process it. It didn't turn out that way, though, and I've learned a lot over the years about myself, about people around me, about the whole world because of September 11. I wonder now what the next ten years will look like, how the world will remember this date which will live in infamy. All I can say for sure is that I will always remember September 11, 2001, and that its sheer sadness is a cruel reminder of our broken nature which makes me desire all the more to help heal this world before I (hopefully) go back to God.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Worthy of the Call
Do you know what's great about the beginning of a new year? You get to start over. You don't have to repeat old mistakes, and you're even encouraged to think of how you can change and do better this time around. It's life's way of saying you get another shot at this, and it's a little bit of new hope.
I've never really been one to set goals for myself; it just seemed like a waste of time to think of something I wanted to spend more than a couple of days getting done, and then resolve to keep myself on track to do it. Even new year's resolutions seemed sort of pointless, and the only reason I kept my Lenten sacrifices before last year was a vague sense of divine repercussion if I didn't. This year is different. This year, the real world has started bearing down on me, and I can't really avoid the necessity of laying out things that have to be accomplished in what all of a sudden seems like it is going to be a very short year.
All at once, I have an awful lot to do, and no time at all. Or, it seems that way, at least. So this year, I have made resolutions. Real ones, that I intend to keep, in order to prepare myself for the firestorm of my junior and senior years. Academic resolutions, while important (especially considering my current plans for grad school), are not what I want to talk about here. More difficult, and I think, more important, are the spiritual resolutions I've made to prepare myself for the tentative start of my discernment process next year. These are things that still frighten me to think about, but such is the occasional unpleasantness of life, that we must sometimes think about and plan for those things we would rather not.
Looking at this year, I'm thinking of what I'm going to do as discernment prep. Last year, I was commanded firmly not to discern because I was too new to the faith, and my foundation wasn't yet strong enough to handle the pressures and stresses of discernment. I also had an immature faith that really needed better formation and much more knowledge added to it before I could be considered fit to try to discover what God wanted me to do with the rest of my life. Though my faith is certainly more mature now than it was a year ago, I'm still not ready to discern, so I'm going to take this year to mature more and try to make sure than I am equipped spiritually and experientially to start discerning my vocation.
This year, what I want to do is:
1.) Develop a solid, consistent prayer life,
2.) Date, and
3.) Set myself up properly for grad school.
Developing a solid, consistent prayer life: This is most important. Prayer is one's relationship with God, and as such, ought not to be neglected. Over this summer, though, I got lazy. I wouldn't say a particular prayer if I didn't feel like it, and some of what I experienced at home made it more difficult to pray like I did at school. This year, I'm not taking any excuses. A good prayer life is one of those things I consider absolutely essential to the discernment process. If you're going to pray about God's will for your life, then you have to have an established pattern and habit of prayer first. I consecrated myself to Mary last year, as some of you may know, and I do say quite a few Marian prayers, but I want to get back in the habit of praying a daily Rosary, and doing at least Morning and Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. I want to know that I have a solid foundation in prayer before using it as my main tool to find out what God wants me to do with the remainder of my life.
Dating: This, though less important than prayer, is still very important. Last summer, I broke up with a long-time boyfriend, and all through last year, I struggled with chastity. As my faith has matured and refined this past year, and as I've learned more and more about the hows and whys of chastity, I think I've become properly prepared to begin dating again. But this time, I'll have a clear head. What's great about taking a year off and then starting (hopefully) to date again is that now I really do know what I want in a man. I know what is actually something I will not negotiate on, what merits compromise, and what are the silly fantasies of a little girl which I can (or should) do without. This will help with discernment because if I am called to the single or religious life, I will know that I haven't left any stone unturned, and I will be secure in knowing that this is truly a calling, not a personal inclination. If I'm called to marriage, on the other hand, I will already have a little experience of Christian dating, and what I need to do to prepare myself to be someone's wife.
Setting myself up properly for grad school: Again, important. No matter what my vocation is, there will always be the chance that God won't want me to pursue it the instant I discover it. Many religious orders want women to have a Bachelor's Degree and some experience living on their own in the world before they enter the convent. Living as a chaste single, I will need to have something to which to devote my life, and a higher degree of some sort will be a good way to get my foot in the door of a career I can have for my whole life, and be something I can use to consecrate my life's work to God's service. If I'm called to be married, I want to be able to help support my family, or if I don't get married particularly young, I will need a way to support myself, and a great number of employers want to be able to hire people with a Master's Degree or whatever the terminal degree is in their field. I need to be thinking about my future, and as far as I can tell right now, grad school is definitely in it. I know the plans I have for myself, and until I find out God's plans, I need to have some form of security, and graduate school is it.
So this hectic year, pre-discernment, I have a lot of work to do, but I'm looking forward to it. I am an uber-planner, and it is serving me well now. I finally have long term goals to work toward, and I will do my best to make sure they are accomplished. I know this post makes me sound very driven, but I am still vastly uncertain about where my life is going, so this is my small effort at making sure that I am set up for whatever comes my way. Last year was my grounding in the faith, and the next two years will be discerning God's call for me, so this year is all about self-improvement. I want to start next year knowing that I have become a woman worthy of whatever God is calling her to. A tall order, indeed, but I'm up to the challenge.
I've never really been one to set goals for myself; it just seemed like a waste of time to think of something I wanted to spend more than a couple of days getting done, and then resolve to keep myself on track to do it. Even new year's resolutions seemed sort of pointless, and the only reason I kept my Lenten sacrifices before last year was a vague sense of divine repercussion if I didn't. This year is different. This year, the real world has started bearing down on me, and I can't really avoid the necessity of laying out things that have to be accomplished in what all of a sudden seems like it is going to be a very short year.
All at once, I have an awful lot to do, and no time at all. Or, it seems that way, at least. So this year, I have made resolutions. Real ones, that I intend to keep, in order to prepare myself for the firestorm of my junior and senior years. Academic resolutions, while important (especially considering my current plans for grad school), are not what I want to talk about here. More difficult, and I think, more important, are the spiritual resolutions I've made to prepare myself for the tentative start of my discernment process next year. These are things that still frighten me to think about, but such is the occasional unpleasantness of life, that we must sometimes think about and plan for those things we would rather not.
Looking at this year, I'm thinking of what I'm going to do as discernment prep. Last year, I was commanded firmly not to discern because I was too new to the faith, and my foundation wasn't yet strong enough to handle the pressures and stresses of discernment. I also had an immature faith that really needed better formation and much more knowledge added to it before I could be considered fit to try to discover what God wanted me to do with the rest of my life. Though my faith is certainly more mature now than it was a year ago, I'm still not ready to discern, so I'm going to take this year to mature more and try to make sure than I am equipped spiritually and experientially to start discerning my vocation.
This year, what I want to do is:
1.) Develop a solid, consistent prayer life,
2.) Date, and
3.) Set myself up properly for grad school.
Developing a solid, consistent prayer life: This is most important. Prayer is one's relationship with God, and as such, ought not to be neglected. Over this summer, though, I got lazy. I wouldn't say a particular prayer if I didn't feel like it, and some of what I experienced at home made it more difficult to pray like I did at school. This year, I'm not taking any excuses. A good prayer life is one of those things I consider absolutely essential to the discernment process. If you're going to pray about God's will for your life, then you have to have an established pattern and habit of prayer first. I consecrated myself to Mary last year, as some of you may know, and I do say quite a few Marian prayers, but I want to get back in the habit of praying a daily Rosary, and doing at least Morning and Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. I want to know that I have a solid foundation in prayer before using it as my main tool to find out what God wants me to do with the remainder of my life.
Dating: This, though less important than prayer, is still very important. Last summer, I broke up with a long-time boyfriend, and all through last year, I struggled with chastity. As my faith has matured and refined this past year, and as I've learned more and more about the hows and whys of chastity, I think I've become properly prepared to begin dating again. But this time, I'll have a clear head. What's great about taking a year off and then starting (hopefully) to date again is that now I really do know what I want in a man. I know what is actually something I will not negotiate on, what merits compromise, and what are the silly fantasies of a little girl which I can (or should) do without. This will help with discernment because if I am called to the single or religious life, I will know that I haven't left any stone unturned, and I will be secure in knowing that this is truly a calling, not a personal inclination. If I'm called to marriage, on the other hand, I will already have a little experience of Christian dating, and what I need to do to prepare myself to be someone's wife.
Setting myself up properly for grad school: Again, important. No matter what my vocation is, there will always be the chance that God won't want me to pursue it the instant I discover it. Many religious orders want women to have a Bachelor's Degree and some experience living on their own in the world before they enter the convent. Living as a chaste single, I will need to have something to which to devote my life, and a higher degree of some sort will be a good way to get my foot in the door of a career I can have for my whole life, and be something I can use to consecrate my life's work to God's service. If I'm called to be married, I want to be able to help support my family, or if I don't get married particularly young, I will need a way to support myself, and a great number of employers want to be able to hire people with a Master's Degree or whatever the terminal degree is in their field. I need to be thinking about my future, and as far as I can tell right now, grad school is definitely in it. I know the plans I have for myself, and until I find out God's plans, I need to have some form of security, and graduate school is it.
So this hectic year, pre-discernment, I have a lot of work to do, but I'm looking forward to it. I am an uber-planner, and it is serving me well now. I finally have long term goals to work toward, and I will do my best to make sure they are accomplished. I know this post makes me sound very driven, but I am still vastly uncertain about where my life is going, so this is my small effort at making sure that I am set up for whatever comes my way. Last year was my grounding in the faith, and the next two years will be discerning God's call for me, so this year is all about self-improvement. I want to start next year knowing that I have become a woman worthy of whatever God is calling her to. A tall order, indeed, but I'm up to the challenge.
Friday, September 2, 2011
A Most Beautiful, Blessed Life
The subject of life has hit me full force this week, and it was pretty astonishing. Loss of life, starting a new life, protecting it, praying for it, seeing it in its various stages. You almost can't help but marvel at what a gift life is. I could try forever to come up with something that accurately expresses the sheer beauty and wonder of life, but for your sakes, I won't. I have to say though, I have never, ever appreciated life more than since coming back to Catholicism, and, one might say, being born again.
One of my favorite lines in any drama has to be from the Reverend John Hale in Arthur Miller's The Crucible. He says to Elizabeth Proctor at the end of the play, "I tell you, woman, life is God's greatest gift, and no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it." He was trying to get her to keep her husband John from sacrificing himself for refusing to confess to witchcraft, rather than letting him die for telling the truth that he wasn't a witch. Rebecca ultimately refuses to convince John to lie to save his life, but I have never been able to help thinking that Rev. Hale's words are just as correct as John's refusal to lie to save his life. Both are born of true Christian sentiments, even if not always guided by them.
Another art form which shows us characters not always guided by Christian sentiments or principles is rap, though to the credit of many rappers, and one in particular at the moment, they do occasionally come out with beautiful and inspiring music worthy of the distinction art.The rapper of the moment is Lil' Wayne, and he has just released a beautiful song and video called "How To Love", which honestly made me tear up. I guess after so many years of negativity and being caught up in either the game or the business, a man needs some outlet for the negativity other than anger and vulgarity. So when these songs come out, not only are they the rare gems of the rap industry, but they speak to the truth in every person's heart, and reach outside the rap community because they speak to a universal truth.
I've also been thinking lately about the start of new life, since the Newman Center's freshman retreat is coming up, and that really marked my return to new life in Christ. I'm going this year as a student leader, and I want to be able to give a talk that really communicates the effect of that new life on me, but also to let the freshmen know that they can have it as well. Obviously, leaving oneself open to it is key, but it is there for the taking if you're willing to leave the old life behind. Coming to college is starting a new life in many ways, and so it complements being born to new spiritual life quite well.
Motherhood has also popped up on my radar this week, as I've been exercising my spiritual motherhood muscles, and seeing physical mothers all around me. One of the women who went to daily Mass last year is pregnant now, and I'll be excited to see her and her husband when the baby is born, and obviously to see the new addition to their little family. A woman who also comes to daily Mass had her baby last year, and she brought her in with her husband to see our chaplain, and I cannot get over how beautiful she is. It's always a marvel to see how quickly babies grow and change when you are no longer doing much growing or changing. Also, babies awaken a motherly instinct in me, and so it is a joy to be able to see babies and take care of them, and to imagine even having some of my own one day.
Lastly, protecting life has been on my mind, since it is Friday, the day that our Newman Center traditionally does its Rosary for Life at the abortion clinic on campus. I've also been reflecting on my call to spiritual motherhood, which seems to have manifested itself in aiding others with the big problems that crop up in their lives. I've been doing it since before I hit puberty, and have sporadically been mother to those friends who have needed me. It's a tough job, and I wonder now how I was ever able to do it before I was able to go to God in prayer for help. I take it very seriously, though, with the result that I often find myself weeping for others, or wishing it could be me instead.
I suppose that all of these varied reflections combined point that I was always meant to be a mother in some way. I have always loved children, and I have always given of myself for the love and protection of others. It's part of what John Paul II called the "feminine genius", the particular way in which women nourish all people, reflecting the way in which Mary is mother to all people, at once feminine enough to be a caretaker, and strong and steadfast enough to weather the trials and tribulations of life.
Life is, as Rev. Hale says, God's most precious gift. It is a beautiful, complex, stunning, awesome gift, and I cannot imagine any other thing this side of salvation which could hold a candle to it. I suppose that is what makes the first sentence of the Church's Catechism so powerful in its simple truth: "God, infinitely perfect and blessed in Himself, out of a plan of sheer goodness, freely created man to make him share in His own blessed life." And indeed, what a blessed life it is.
One of my favorite lines in any drama has to be from the Reverend John Hale in Arthur Miller's The Crucible. He says to Elizabeth Proctor at the end of the play, "I tell you, woman, life is God's greatest gift, and no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it." He was trying to get her to keep her husband John from sacrificing himself for refusing to confess to witchcraft, rather than letting him die for telling the truth that he wasn't a witch. Rebecca ultimately refuses to convince John to lie to save his life, but I have never been able to help thinking that Rev. Hale's words are just as correct as John's refusal to lie to save his life. Both are born of true Christian sentiments, even if not always guided by them.
Another art form which shows us characters not always guided by Christian sentiments or principles is rap, though to the credit of many rappers, and one in particular at the moment, they do occasionally come out with beautiful and inspiring music worthy of the distinction art.The rapper of the moment is Lil' Wayne, and he has just released a beautiful song and video called "How To Love", which honestly made me tear up. I guess after so many years of negativity and being caught up in either the game or the business, a man needs some outlet for the negativity other than anger and vulgarity. So when these songs come out, not only are they the rare gems of the rap industry, but they speak to the truth in every person's heart, and reach outside the rap community because they speak to a universal truth.
I've also been thinking lately about the start of new life, since the Newman Center's freshman retreat is coming up, and that really marked my return to new life in Christ. I'm going this year as a student leader, and I want to be able to give a talk that really communicates the effect of that new life on me, but also to let the freshmen know that they can have it as well. Obviously, leaving oneself open to it is key, but it is there for the taking if you're willing to leave the old life behind. Coming to college is starting a new life in many ways, and so it complements being born to new spiritual life quite well.
Motherhood has also popped up on my radar this week, as I've been exercising my spiritual motherhood muscles, and seeing physical mothers all around me. One of the women who went to daily Mass last year is pregnant now, and I'll be excited to see her and her husband when the baby is born, and obviously to see the new addition to their little family. A woman who also comes to daily Mass had her baby last year, and she brought her in with her husband to see our chaplain, and I cannot get over how beautiful she is. It's always a marvel to see how quickly babies grow and change when you are no longer doing much growing or changing. Also, babies awaken a motherly instinct in me, and so it is a joy to be able to see babies and take care of them, and to imagine even having some of my own one day.
Lastly, protecting life has been on my mind, since it is Friday, the day that our Newman Center traditionally does its Rosary for Life at the abortion clinic on campus. I've also been reflecting on my call to spiritual motherhood, which seems to have manifested itself in aiding others with the big problems that crop up in their lives. I've been doing it since before I hit puberty, and have sporadically been mother to those friends who have needed me. It's a tough job, and I wonder now how I was ever able to do it before I was able to go to God in prayer for help. I take it very seriously, though, with the result that I often find myself weeping for others, or wishing it could be me instead.
I suppose that all of these varied reflections combined point that I was always meant to be a mother in some way. I have always loved children, and I have always given of myself for the love and protection of others. It's part of what John Paul II called the "feminine genius", the particular way in which women nourish all people, reflecting the way in which Mary is mother to all people, at once feminine enough to be a caretaker, and strong and steadfast enough to weather the trials and tribulations of life.
Life is, as Rev. Hale says, God's most precious gift. It is a beautiful, complex, stunning, awesome gift, and I cannot imagine any other thing this side of salvation which could hold a candle to it. I suppose that is what makes the first sentence of the Church's Catechism so powerful in its simple truth: "God, infinitely perfect and blessed in Himself, out of a plan of sheer goodness, freely created man to make him share in His own blessed life." And indeed, what a blessed life it is.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Thank You, Mother McAuley
I may or may not have mentioned this before, but I attended a Mercy high school. As in, the school was run by the Sisters of Mercy, although there were only two employed by the school at the time. I loved the experience of being there, especially in the all-girls environment, and it was an all around good time.
During my time there, I was in all three choirs, and it was there that I cultivated my love of singing and various type of choral music. But, as with every choir, there will be pieces that you love to sing, and pieces that make you want to cry, because you just dislike them that much. Thankfully, the latter wasn't often the case for me, but one of the times it was was when the Advanced Vocal Ensemble had to sing the Sucipe of Mother Catherine McAuley, the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy. It's a very simple piece, with no interesting harmonies, and lyrics that don't quite speak to the heart of the average 21st century teenage girl. The director of our choir also wasn't crazy about the song, and every time we sang it, she'd say, "Okay, I know you hate this, but please try to sing it like you're not dead." A ringing endorsement it was not.
I still hold the song in low esteem, having all those memories of trying to sing it like I believed anyone could really feel that way, but hidden in there, I've rediscovered a beautiful little sentiment which has been too long overlooked. In the second verse, Mother McAuley writes "Take from my heart all painful anxiety, Let nothing sadden me but sin, And then let my delight be hoping to see Your face, God my all." Not riveting material, certainly, but a beautiful and under appreciated expression of Mother's trust in God. I can only imagine trusting God so completely that the only thing that bothered me was sin, and to be hopeful each day merely with the chance of seeing God one day. It's much more profound and touching than anything else we're told to feel that way about in this day and age. It's the kind of faith we should all strive to have in living out our universal call to holiness.
Some of you no doubt saw the post I wrote early Monday morning, and believe me, that intention still needs all the prayer it can get. However, I remembered that particular verse from Mother McAuley's Sucipe this morning, and it shamed me into remembering that as a human, there is only so much I can do to affect the outcome of Intention X, and that at some point I am going to have to trust God to take care of it. It also shamed me that I laughed at the sentiments of a holier woman than I, but that now they carry the weight of truth, and I'm looking to them for guidance. So thank you, Mother McAuley, for that little prayer I had to sing so often, and for reminding me of the comfort and trust it takes to be a true woman of God.
Here is a video of the Sucipe, just in case anyone was interested in hearing it:
During my time there, I was in all three choirs, and it was there that I cultivated my love of singing and various type of choral music. But, as with every choir, there will be pieces that you love to sing, and pieces that make you want to cry, because you just dislike them that much. Thankfully, the latter wasn't often the case for me, but one of the times it was was when the Advanced Vocal Ensemble had to sing the Sucipe of Mother Catherine McAuley, the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy. It's a very simple piece, with no interesting harmonies, and lyrics that don't quite speak to the heart of the average 21st century teenage girl. The director of our choir also wasn't crazy about the song, and every time we sang it, she'd say, "Okay, I know you hate this, but please try to sing it like you're not dead." A ringing endorsement it was not.
I still hold the song in low esteem, having all those memories of trying to sing it like I believed anyone could really feel that way, but hidden in there, I've rediscovered a beautiful little sentiment which has been too long overlooked. In the second verse, Mother McAuley writes "Take from my heart all painful anxiety, Let nothing sadden me but sin, And then let my delight be hoping to see Your face, God my all." Not riveting material, certainly, but a beautiful and under appreciated expression of Mother's trust in God. I can only imagine trusting God so completely that the only thing that bothered me was sin, and to be hopeful each day merely with the chance of seeing God one day. It's much more profound and touching than anything else we're told to feel that way about in this day and age. It's the kind of faith we should all strive to have in living out our universal call to holiness.
Some of you no doubt saw the post I wrote early Monday morning, and believe me, that intention still needs all the prayer it can get. However, I remembered that particular verse from Mother McAuley's Sucipe this morning, and it shamed me into remembering that as a human, there is only so much I can do to affect the outcome of Intention X, and that at some point I am going to have to trust God to take care of it. It also shamed me that I laughed at the sentiments of a holier woman than I, but that now they carry the weight of truth, and I'm looking to them for guidance. So thank you, Mother McAuley, for that little prayer I had to sing so often, and for reminding me of the comfort and trust it takes to be a true woman of God.
Here is a video of the Sucipe, just in case anyone was interested in hearing it:
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