1. CS Lewis was a prophet.
I taught a fair bit of his work in my English class this past semester, which I delighted in because I’m always happy for an excuse to read or re-read St. Jack. This spring, I re-read The Abolition of Man and all three books from his Cosmic Trilogy, and as always, I was reminded of not only how wise and astute he was, but also how spot-on he was about the twenty-first century. His observations about the state of his current culture were prophetic warning calls about where we’d become now, eighty years later:
“And all the time—such is the tragi-comedy of our situation—we continue to clamour for those very qualities we are rendering impossible. …In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.”
2. Starting new, local things takes guts.
I’ve been spearheading the start of a classical co-op in our town, and it’s both exciting and exhausting, thrilling and terrifying. I have no idea if this will work (I think it will, but there’s no guarantee). I went through all the red tape rigamarole to make us legal and legit. Classes are filling up, but there’s still space. I’ve already missed emails from people asking legit questions so they can register their kids, and I’ve had to forgive myself for that (and a hundred other things). Yet it’s been a formative step in my walk with God to take this risk and try a new thing, and to focus my energy specifically on serving my local community. The meeting location miraculously fell into place, as have all the teachers and initial interested families. That’s been amazing, actually. It seems like we’re meeting a genuine need for our neighbors. But still… this has been walking into the unknown. It’s been awhile since I’ve done something new like this.
3. “Raising” an adult child who now lives a thousand miles away is hard.
I know all the things They say is true: you never stop being a parent; when they leave the nest you just have to pray and trust that God goes with them; experience is the best teacher. It’s all true. Also — parenting a young-adult-who’s-still-learning-the-basics-of-life who lives far enough way to come back only a few times a year has stretched my motherhood in new ways I haven’t experienced since the toddler years. It’s been good, don’t get me wrong; it’s been a joy to watch Tate become more of the person God made her to be. I love that she’s exactly where she’s meant to be, and I’m honored to keep cheering her on as I have for years, and as I’ll continue to do for her brothers. But still… Parenting an adult-child is just weird. How am I at this stage of life already?
