During a lively debate with my family about school shootings and gun control, we were debating the possible (unlikely) benefits of the different political solutions put forth. My sister, who is not political but runs her household and raises her children like she is the CEO of the most important company in the world as a stay-at-home Mom, added the one solution that I think could actually decrease gun violence.
She stated simply that,
“We need more moms. We need more people who state with their actions that there is no work more important than the family. Our children are desperate for our attention and engagement. When they don’t get it, they will go to extreme, even horrific, lengths to get it. We need more moms.”
Debate over. The impact of a devoted parent is so significant, it can’t be measured.
You wrote A Book? I get it as soon as I'm done with "Reasons to Vote for Democrats: A Comprehensive Guide" by Michael Knowles (you may have heard of him)
I'm hearing it may soon be a Major Motion Picture!
I haven’t heard of this book, but I’m assuming it’s quite comparable to Herbert Hoover’s, “The Challenge of Liberty.” In fact, I might be a word for word copy. 😂
Beautiful. And friends. Cultivating friendships with people who share your values. As I’ve gotten older and lost beloved family members I have been so astonished at the depths of the friendships that have developed and evolved. Friends are true blessings.
Recently our cat Jinx, who at 18+ is older even than Klavan the Elder or myself, has been declining. He showed less interest in his favorite places, treats, and finally had some vomiting and a total loss of appetite. We encouraged him to lie in the places he loved, tried to tempt him with food he had been willing in the past to walk over broken glass to get (metaphorically—we only keep burning coals here, no broken glass) and did everything we could to get him comfortable. When he stopped eating yesterday, we got him to the vet immediately, thinking this might be the end. Turned out he was hypothyroid (probably overtreatment with his hyperthyroid medication which kept him stable for about 2 years) and today he came up and was insisting on sharing some turkey and chicken my wife was having for breakfast.
The reason I am spinning this tale (entirely true) is that the prescriptions mentioned in the comments from Monday are all sound and can save in time, but if there is systemic illness, one must also identify and treat the underlying ills before the other recommendations have a chance to work on a personal (and family) level. The recommendations listed in today’s letter make perfect sense as coming from women, as women are much more attuned to caring for the individual and family. There are serious societal ills that also need to be addressed, or the more local remedies will not have the time or proper preparation in order to work, as the seed scattered on the rocky path or among weeds will not come to fruition.
We need engaged Moms and Dads also, and local communities beginning to awake from their torpor.
I sometimes am concerned about beaten paths, as I don’t often trust myself entirely in discerning the beaten paths from those lined with good intentions or as Thomas Sowell says, with PhD’s from Harvard or other august institutions. However, that’s why I have my wife.
My eldest daughter knows if she wants a sympathetic ear, she talks to my wife. If she wants a solution, she talks to me. I don’t vouch for the correctness of the solution, but it is a solution.
This plays against, and sanely, the current craziness of living your own truth. It occurs to me that the best work I’ve read exposing the realities of living your own truths is C S Lewis’, The Great Divorce. The souls living their own truths are in hell.
For me this is the manna in the ark. The things we do daily weekly, monthly yearly and the feast days that mark a life in growing up in god. It is what separates the intellectuals from those who discern correctly even if we don't always know how to articulate it. Covid was a perfect example of this. There was a phenomenon of mental illness that took hild especially of white girls called tiktok tiks. I personally knew several who started claiming to be neuro divergent saying they had tiks which they would do randomly. It was obvious that to have a voice you had to have a mental illness, or random sexual pronouns et cetera. It comes from being online, especially during a time when only the mad voices could speak. Well, it was a horrible and isolating time for everyone. Some of us are better for it and closer as families because we werent connected to this need to signal our loyalty to nonsense. I learned from it that if God is first, He will provide a way to turn bitter to sweet. Sanity.
It is so obvious that Marriage is the right thing for a happy life. It is so desirable and good, but as a devout Catholic premarital sex is off the table. This single fact excludes me from so many lovely potential mates Catholic or otherwise. The moral order surrounding sexuality is destroyed. At times I had concluded that sin is the only pathway to marriage. Of course I’m wrong, but it feels this way. Fidelity to God is isolating. Time has marched on and now I’m in my late 30s. We are meant to marry young. I’m not easy to fall in love with anymore. I take care of myself, but I struggle to be cheery and affable. My advanced maternal age peers aren’t easy to fall in love with either.
There’s an old joke of women being two of the three S’s. Sexy, Sane, Single. If she is sexy and sane, she is definitely not single. If she is single and sexy, she is definitely not sane. And if she is sane and single, well…probably not sexy.
Harsh, but it’s half true. Good women pair up in the years when nature has them best equipped. Bad women become feminist and by default screw would be fathers out of a happy meaningful life.
You can start the Appalachian Trail from hundreds of access points, but where you start and how you do it is what makes every hiker's journey unique. Great piece!
During a lively debate with my family about school shootings and gun control, we were debating the possible (unlikely) benefits of the different political solutions put forth. My sister, who is not political but runs her household and raises her children like she is the CEO of the most important company in the world as a stay-at-home Mom, added the one solution that I think could actually decrease gun violence.
She stated simply that,
“We need more moms. We need more people who state with their actions that there is no work more important than the family. Our children are desperate for our attention and engagement. When they don’t get it, they will go to extreme, even horrific, lengths to get it. We need more moms.”
Debate over. The impact of a devoted parent is so significant, it can’t be measured.
And dads.
You wrote A Book? I get it as soon as I'm done with "Reasons to Vote for Democrats: A Comprehensive Guide" by Michael Knowles (you may have heard of him)
I'm hearing it may soon be a Major Motion Picture!
I haven’t heard of this book, but I’m assuming it’s quite comparable to Herbert Hoover’s, “The Challenge of Liberty.” In fact, I might be a word for word copy. 😂
:-)
Beautiful. And friends. Cultivating friendships with people who share your values. As I’ve gotten older and lost beloved family members I have been so astonished at the depths of the friendships that have developed and evolved. Friends are true blessings.
Recently our cat Jinx, who at 18+ is older even than Klavan the Elder or myself, has been declining. He showed less interest in his favorite places, treats, and finally had some vomiting and a total loss of appetite. We encouraged him to lie in the places he loved, tried to tempt him with food he had been willing in the past to walk over broken glass to get (metaphorically—we only keep burning coals here, no broken glass) and did everything we could to get him comfortable. When he stopped eating yesterday, we got him to the vet immediately, thinking this might be the end. Turned out he was hypothyroid (probably overtreatment with his hyperthyroid medication which kept him stable for about 2 years) and today he came up and was insisting on sharing some turkey and chicken my wife was having for breakfast.
The reason I am spinning this tale (entirely true) is that the prescriptions mentioned in the comments from Monday are all sound and can save in time, but if there is systemic illness, one must also identify and treat the underlying ills before the other recommendations have a chance to work on a personal (and family) level. The recommendations listed in today’s letter make perfect sense as coming from women, as women are much more attuned to caring for the individual and family. There are serious societal ills that also need to be addressed, or the more local remedies will not have the time or proper preparation in order to work, as the seed scattered on the rocky path or among weeds will not come to fruition.
We need engaged Moms and Dads also, and local communities beginning to awake from their torpor.
I sometimes am concerned about beaten paths, as I don’t often trust myself entirely in discerning the beaten paths from those lined with good intentions or as Thomas Sowell says, with PhD’s from Harvard or other august institutions. However, that’s why I have my wife.
My eldest daughter knows if she wants a sympathetic ear, she talks to my wife. If she wants a solution, she talks to me. I don’t vouch for the correctness of the solution, but it is a solution.
This plays against, and sanely, the current craziness of living your own truth. It occurs to me that the best work I’ve read exposing the realities of living your own truths is C S Lewis’, The Great Divorce. The souls living their own truths are in hell.
Great book.
Marriage, faith , patriotism = relationships, purpose, belonging. An earthly trinity in line with the spiritual one
For me this is the manna in the ark. The things we do daily weekly, monthly yearly and the feast days that mark a life in growing up in god. It is what separates the intellectuals from those who discern correctly even if we don't always know how to articulate it. Covid was a perfect example of this. There was a phenomenon of mental illness that took hild especially of white girls called tiktok tiks. I personally knew several who started claiming to be neuro divergent saying they had tiks which they would do randomly. It was obvious that to have a voice you had to have a mental illness, or random sexual pronouns et cetera. It comes from being online, especially during a time when only the mad voices could speak. Well, it was a horrible and isolating time for everyone. Some of us are better for it and closer as families because we werent connected to this need to signal our loyalty to nonsense. I learned from it that if God is first, He will provide a way to turn bitter to sweet. Sanity.
Andrew,
It is so obvious that Marriage is the right thing for a happy life. It is so desirable and good, but as a devout Catholic premarital sex is off the table. This single fact excludes me from so many lovely potential mates Catholic or otherwise. The moral order surrounding sexuality is destroyed. At times I had concluded that sin is the only pathway to marriage. Of course I’m wrong, but it feels this way. Fidelity to God is isolating. Time has marched on and now I’m in my late 30s. We are meant to marry young. I’m not easy to fall in love with anymore. I take care of myself, but I struggle to be cheery and affable. My advanced maternal age peers aren’t easy to fall in love with either.
There’s an old joke of women being two of the three S’s. Sexy, Sane, Single. If she is sexy and sane, she is definitely not single. If she is single and sexy, she is definitely not sane. And if she is sane and single, well…probably not sexy.
Harsh, but it’s half true. Good women pair up in the years when nature has them best equipped. Bad women become feminist and by default screw would be fathers out of a happy meaningful life.
You can start the Appalachian Trail from hundreds of access points, but where you start and how you do it is what makes every hiker's journey unique. Great piece!
100 💖's
So true!