[So sorry not to read this aloud but one of my children literally went to his college orientation with none of his health documents and I have to tear up my office while sobbing in high dudgeon.]
Phew—I managed to get the kids through their state testing. I know I ought to do this in a more timely fashion, but basically, it always gets shoved back until everything else is done. Also, I never budget enough time. I think it’s going to take barely an afternoon, but, my bad, it always fills at least two interminable days. Anyway, I’m gaming the system by graduating one child early and making the baby of the family skip a grade. Next year at this time I will be testing two children instead of four.
Also, I am rushing to finish all my paperwork because Matt is going to Provincial Council on behalf of Stand Firm and I’m going with him as a special treat. I plan to sit in the elegant cafes of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and enjoy myself.
As I was wrapping up my state testing, where I have to prove that my children can read and do some math, I ran across this on XTwitter and of course, I was intrigued, so I went over and put the @ in, and found a whole lot of accounts by the same person. I couldn’t find the clip linked there above, which is of a mother explaining how if you let them alone, eventually they will give up and express a vague interest in reading and arithmetic, but I did find this:
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And this:
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And this:
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And honestly, as a homeschooler, I love her energy and confidence. I was never able to summon it, even as a Christian. I was always on my knees before God, begging for mercy, hoping that it would turn out in the end. But then, I can’t be bothered to actually learn how to cleanse my chakras or manifest in the fifth dimension.
But also, I’m reviewing Keila Shaheen’s Shadow Work Journal: A Guide to Integrate and Transcend Your Shadows, and, it’s like everyone is so unutterably pagan. I say “like” but I mean it in the sense of “is.” Everyone is unutterably pagan. Any vaguely Christian idea has entirely evaporated from the consciousness of people who do ordinary things like write books and homeschool their children.
For Real
I’m trying to take the Shadow Work Journal seriously because it’s been bought, apparently, by millions of people. And by “people,” I expect we all know I mean “women.” It purports to be propagating the teachings of Carl Jung, though it’s hard for me to believe he would have approved of what people are doing with the deep thoughts he considered.
Anyway, I’m supposed to be in the section where I’m meant to heal my child self. I’m writing in the book, but I honestly can’t get into the spirit of the thing. Here is a sample of my top-of-mind answers—for you are not supposed to think deeply, just write whatever comes first into your thoughts:
Fill in the Blank
I always feel like I’m the ____only___ one. ____Writing____is how I manage to escape. ____Jesus___ brings me peace. I am so tired of ___the heat___and ___work____ but excited about _____going to Pittsburg ____. I want to try to ____clean my office____ so that I can finally ____get anything done____. For some reason, I always end up ____too tired to vacuum___. I deserve ___an ice cream___ and ____ a vacation____.
This exercise did not shed the least bit of light on my child wound. So I turned to the next page where I was asked to fill in the blank for “As a child I was told not to____.” I wasn’t supposed to think very hard so I wrote “be disrespectful.” For the sentence “This made me very” I wrote, “nice to be around others on account of how I wasn’t disrespectful.” Then came “I feel like things would be different if,” and I wrote, “sinned less.” Honestly, it absolutely devolved from there.
So anyway, I’ve got miles to go in the next couple of days. I have to finish all my school reports, and do a pile of work at church, and many other tasks which are too boring to mention.
But most of all, wandering around online and in books, I feel a little bit mollified that I can only write about one thing every day. In my dreams, I would have been a fancy novelist, or a hard-hitting book reviewer who made the bad writers cry, or an opera singer, or a five-star Michelin chef. But in reality, all I do is get on the internet every single day and beg the passerby to think of the Lord Jesus who really does not make anyone make bricks without straw, or manifest their precious wellness. But is, rather, a Person who offers the weary a very light burden, one of only, day after day, trusting in him for the child to spell, for the child to grow, for the child to believe, for the daily bread, for the right amount of strength for the journey.
Have a nice day!
I think a lot of “practical” Christian-adjacent fads are rather pagan. I used to be into the Enneagram, and my friends and I found it so helpful and useful in understanding ourselves and each other. But now, looking back, it feels like a grand distraction at best, pagan at worst. Same with “boundaries.” Both very popular with Christians, both with a tendency to push worldly frameworks. With the Enneagram, you seek to understand yourself more deeply. With boundaries, you are to see that sometimes, it’s ok to put down your cross and not be self-sacrificing. Both aim for “health,” a concept not really focused on in the Bible, if it’s there at all.
I think you may have succeeded in this part: " or a hard-hitting book reviewer who made the bad writers cry ..."
At least, they would cry if they read what you write about their Very Bad Book.