May 26 2008
Today is not only Memorial Day, but it is also TJ’s birthday. She’s taking a well deserved break from her arduous everyday posting schedule.
Offer up some birthday greetings, too! Just use the comment box–she’ll be happy to hear from you.
Please note that the candle count is inaccurate, as it should be.
May 25 2008
Today I was quieter in my prayer. I didn’t try to verbally justify my sins or “work it out” by talking out my problems in a problem-solving way. I stated my concerns and the personal mistakes I now recognized, expressed my need for help and closed my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Then I stopped talking and listened. I had a reassuring thought unrelated to my prayer. I followed it willingly but still fighting the impulse to try to figure out why I needed to do that. In a short time my course opened, and I knew why and how. I only followed.
Jesus Christ said,
“And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.”
May 24 2008
The discussion of the May Selection for the Bodacious Bloggity Book Club is starting. I’m a day early with my post, but I’ve already planned my Sunday post on another topic. After you’ve read my review of Watership Down by Richard Adams and you want to follow the discussion, visit Marathon Bird on May 25 and check out the other links.
First of all, I know there is a word for animals that are given human characteristics—yes, I am right, anthropomorphism. I typically detest that sort of book or movie and feel it is the bane of parenthood to be subjected to them. But, I took a chance by remaining open to suggestion, and It was worth it.
I am not sure if this is a true example of anthropomorphism or just a creative interpretation of how a warren of rabbits may actually live. Adams was not overtly saying, “Here is a human disguised as a rabbit.” And that is why I think this book was not only tolerable but struck me with great curiosity.
Whatever the author’s intended approach or form, I recognized numerous examples that showed similarities between the personalities of the rabbit characters and human personalities.
Identifying each rabbit’s personality and then observing how it fit into the group showed a theme of governance and individual agency. Leadership that allows for individual ownership and participation by making choices and acting upon responsibility increases the growth and survival of the whole group. On the other hand, dependence upon others takes away the opportunity and the capacity to make decisions and stifles growth.
The leader of the main group of rabbits in this story follows the first philosophy of leadership as they encounter the other types of leaders and groups. As such a leader, he even extends freedom to other animals, recognizing and using their traits in exchange for protection or service. Hazel, who becomes the Chief Rabbit of stragglers escaping a doomed warren, said, “If anyone finds an animal or bird that isn’t an enemy, in need of help, for goodness sake, don’t miss the opportunity. That would be like leaving carrots to rot in the ground.”
When they come across some hutch rabbits on a farm, they learn quickly that captivity destroys not only the use of agency to make choices but diminishes the ability to develop the reasoning to do so. Describing some hutch rabbits that the wild rabbits turned loose, “They did not know how to make up their minds. It was not within their capacity to take a decision and act on it. These rabbits had never had to act to save their lives or even find a meal.” Self-reliance encourages long-term survival.
Of all the characters, my two favorite personalities are Fiver and Big Wig.
As a sensitive soul myself, I adore Fiver, the small rabbit who can sense danger or wrong choices. He is the one who insisted on leaving the doomed warren in the first place. At first, the others doubt his ability to see and listen to the signs around them, but he has a gift that through several experiences is proved invaluable.
Big Wig is a tough but smart fighter who does not shirk from a difficult task. About him Hazel predicted in the beginning, “He was certainly no coward, but he was likely to remain steady as long as he could see his way clear and be sure what to do. To him, perplexity was worse than danger.” These were true statements, but Big Wig learned to not only face danger but to also make decisions in the midst of it.
These characters and all of the others are leaders in one way or another as they use and develop their particular gifts to benefit all. Their struggles to create a warren of their own, protect it against their enemies and help it flourish with buck, does and kittens is an apt analogy for our own life experience as families, communities and nations.
I am surprised that I liked it and admitted that to my daughter’s 3rd grade teacher who saw me carrying it at a classroom performance. She said, “I used it as a read-aloud with my kids—my own kids at home, not my classroom students.”
Intrigued, she gave me an idea of how to extend my May Reading Challenge in a summer read-aloud of Watership Down with my children.
May 23 2008
Be consistent. That’s the parenting advice I most often received as a new mom. From that perspective I envisioned that meant always giving the same discipline to correct a behavior.
Later, I found that in the confusion of the moment, that I reacted more than I acted. Consequently, I stressed that my parenting did not fulfill some all-important rule of being a good parent.
Now, my children are older and the pressure of hands-on parenting has eased. In this more relaxed state, I noted their progression at their annual piano recital. Consistency. The word slipped into my thoughts alongside my joy at watching my oldest daughter perform. The word came to comfort.
When I calculate the years of consistent lessons and add them to the consistent schedules for practice, I now see the advice to “be consistent” wholly different. Be consistent in listening to the good and the bad. Be consistent when they are not. Be consistent in what I can maintain. Be consistent in steady support.
More than good luck or good genes, I credit consistency.
May 22 2008
The Question: Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us today?
The creeping phlox in my terraced rock garden in bloom.
Year after year, the lavender phlox appears in a surprise of unexpected color.
I doubt—not the creator—but my own capacity as a gardener.
I work to revive the landscape from the harshest of winters;
yet the perennial renews its beauty without me.
My certainty grows with its continual increase. How can I not see His hand in both?
Perennial: adj. 1. Lasting or active through many years. 2. a. Lasting an indefinitely long time, enduring. b. appearing again and again, recurrent. n. 1. Botany: a perennial plant. 2. Something that recurs or seems to recur on a yearly or continual basis.
Confidence: n. 1. Trust or faith in a person or a thing, 2. A trusting relationship. 3. A feeling of assurance. 5. The state or quality of being certain.
