There were wonderful submissions for October, and I'm excited to point out some of my favorites. But first, a bit about what we've been up to...
Starting the Discussion
We had a couple chilly, rainy weekends here and my body went into hibernation mode! I didn't feel like doing anything with my leisure time but lie on the sofa reading. That has meant lots of catching up in my commonplace book and lots less work in my nature journal. Is everyone else as seasonal in their keeping habits? This is actually why I schedule my keeping: I have small personal goals so that I'm always stretching myself, just a bit, encouraging myself to grow in understanding and in practice. But I absolutely do embrace those seasonal shifts beyond that!
This week I spent most of Sunday reading Willa Cather's The Shadows on the Rock, which is a beautiful novel that I highly recommend. (I stumbled upon this first edition hardcover in a bookstore years ago and it has been sitting on my shelf unread since then!)
I came across this relevant quote about the practice of keeping a Calendar of Firsts:
Another fun bit from our keeping this month: I did a progressive peek at my weekly nature journal entry over in my Insta-story...
I think I might do more like this now and then because it was kinda neat!
This Month's Round-Up
Some beautiful moments captured over on Instagram this month -- I especially love that fall leaves have nearly taken over the feed!
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aolander - jeffsjessie - italianfarmgirl19 - athena_amidstthereeds theycallmemommy618 - all.saints.academy - beuniqueheather - angelaboord ambervanderpol - vlcjrogers - sarahjokim - dove_tania |
mariasugiyopranoto |
kaypelham |
thanks33 |
Melanie shares bits of her keeping life: notebooks, posters, pressed flowers in the window, and a mother's snapshots of her time with her children -- because that's what we do as mothers, isn't it?
I found Nancy's suggestions toward a citizenship notebook to be tremendously inspiring. Even though I'll save the formal keeping of this nature until my kids are a tad older, her comments here affected our Plutarch discussions this past month very fruitfully. Don't miss it!
Looking for some fall fun? My Peace in the Puzzle is leaf stamping into nature notebooks with her littles. (Right alongside The Iliad and Til We Have Faces -- there's a lot going on in her home!)
Lisa notes some favorite Amy Carmichael passages that are both beautiful and convicting.
Carol is always drawing such interesting connections among books she's reading, and this month is no exception: peeks at heavy-hitting commonplace entries from Chesterton, Tozer, Wallace, and Chambers.
I cheered at Gina's post: I am a CM student too. (I am!)
And now it's your turn...
The Link-Up
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As always, thanks for sharing!
As always, love reading through this, Celeste. So encouraging and inspiring. Great idea about working on something for a few days...I should do that, so I finish things. Bless you.
ReplyDeleteCeleste, a bit off topic, but I would love to hear a Catholic's perspective of Pilgrim's Progress. Is this something I should read to my children?? They love audio CDs, so I am contemplating AO's recommendation by Orions Gate. When you have time, I would really appreciate your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteHi Nicole! I haven't done PP as an audio -- the first time through we read the original on the 2-year schedule that AO recommends, and this time through we're reading Dangerous Journey instead (in our Morning Basket), which is an abridgement that retains the original language. I think it's a fantastic option. You get the benefits of PP without the more complicated theological discourses, which are less helpful to us as Catholics anyway. ;)
DeleteI'll share my general thoughts on including PP for a Catholic. We have chosen to include it because it has merit as a cultural touchstone, just like I would recommend that atheists have their children study Bible stories if they want to give a true education in the Western canon. But I also think it's just a good adventure story. :) The allegory is obvious but welcome. My kids have all really enjoyed it and haven't gotten caught up in the nuances of theology. I'm not sure if I'm just missing it all, not being a theologian myself, but I don't see huge, insurmountable theological issues with the book. (With the man, yes, but not with the book.) There are some lines here and there, but my kids haven't really noticed them -- kinda like reading Shakespeare. ;)
Can you do without PP? Yes, for sure. But I think it would be a shame to miss for the theological bits. This is a book you have to discern for your own family but we have found it very worthwhile.
Celeste, your response is so helpful. Thank you so much!!
DeleteI have struggled with this as well because my kids respond so well to allegories! I hesitate because there is so much wealth in our Catholic faith that it seems weird that we wouldn't have something beautiful to replace Pilgrim's Progress with. I JUST found the allegory "The Voyage of Pax" and will be reading it with the kids this advent. You can find it online free if you are interested. With that and the "King of the Golden City", we might be set. But, I would like to pre-read Dangerous Journey- esp if you Celeste think it is worthy!
DeleteObviously we have read King of the Golden City, but not The Voyage of Pax -- I'll check that out! Thanks, Katie!
DeleteHi celeste, coming in late again this month! Love the photos here. X
ReplyDelete