Wow! I have never thought about this idea until this evening. And then I encountered it twice in an hour. I just got off the phone with my friend Ryder doing two-person-book-club. We are reading and discussing Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis. In this book, he talks to a race of aliens and asks them why they do not yearn to be young again. They answer:
"how could we endure to live and let time pass if we were always crying for one day or one year to come back– if we did not know that every day in a life fills the whole life with expectation and memory and that these are that day.
When he is young he has to look for his mate; and then he has to court her; then he begets young; then he rears them; then, he remembers all this and boils it inside him and makes it into poems and wisdom." And they share this wisdom with their children.
What a great blessing and challenge we have been given to help build a new humans worldviews. Do you ever have moments where you don't know what to tell your kids? What do you say? That is definitely one of my concerns for my future that hopefully includes me having my own kids.
Thank you so much for adding your perspective at the perfect time.
Hey Paul! Thanks so much for these thoughts. It has been a long time since I read Out of the Silent Planet, but I really enjoyed that one long, long ago. I love that quote from the book, and it is funny how it connects to these ideas that have been mulling around in my brain. There is a constant synthesizing of information and experience that goes into parenting--how to distill the language down into something that each child can understand... It is an art that I think we get better at as we go. Hopefully by the time this ninth baby comes into the world, I will be better at it than I was with my first. But then again, every human is different and experiences the world in such a different way. So, who knows!
Congratulations on your engagement! I am so happy for you guys. I got to talk with your mom about it on a grocery run a few weeks ago. And speaking of your mom, I think she has given you a beautiful translation of this world through her words of love and encouragement, and you will naturally pass that on to your children one day in the future. Michelle has a gift for giving words. I feel like there have been so many things she has said that have stuck with me and helped me to navigate difficult seasons of my own life--especially with homeschool and parenting. I'm sure her words will come back to you when you need words of your own.
Thanks so much for reading and responding, Paul, and for all of your thoughts. Good to hear from you.
Wow! I have never thought about this idea until this evening. And then I encountered it twice in an hour. I just got off the phone with my friend Ryder doing two-person-book-club. We are reading and discussing Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis. In this book, he talks to a race of aliens and asks them why they do not yearn to be young again. They answer:
"how could we endure to live and let time pass if we were always crying for one day or one year to come back– if we did not know that every day in a life fills the whole life with expectation and memory and that these are that day.
When he is young he has to look for his mate; and then he has to court her; then he begets young; then he rears them; then, he remembers all this and boils it inside him and makes it into poems and wisdom." And they share this wisdom with their children.
What a great blessing and challenge we have been given to help build a new humans worldviews. Do you ever have moments where you don't know what to tell your kids? What do you say? That is definitely one of my concerns for my future that hopefully includes me having my own kids.
Thank you so much for adding your perspective at the perfect time.
Hey Paul! Thanks so much for these thoughts. It has been a long time since I read Out of the Silent Planet, but I really enjoyed that one long, long ago. I love that quote from the book, and it is funny how it connects to these ideas that have been mulling around in my brain. There is a constant synthesizing of information and experience that goes into parenting--how to distill the language down into something that each child can understand... It is an art that I think we get better at as we go. Hopefully by the time this ninth baby comes into the world, I will be better at it than I was with my first. But then again, every human is different and experiences the world in such a different way. So, who knows!
Congratulations on your engagement! I am so happy for you guys. I got to talk with your mom about it on a grocery run a few weeks ago. And speaking of your mom, I think she has given you a beautiful translation of this world through her words of love and encouragement, and you will naturally pass that on to your children one day in the future. Michelle has a gift for giving words. I feel like there have been so many things she has said that have stuck with me and helped me to navigate difficult seasons of my own life--especially with homeschool and parenting. I'm sure her words will come back to you when you need words of your own.
Thanks so much for reading and responding, Paul, and for all of your thoughts. Good to hear from you.