Seven Tools for Culture Recovery
Putting them all in one place as an introduction for new folks
If you’re new to the Journals, welcome! This joyous Christmas season has seen me writing many articles but so far none of them are quite finished. The topics range from marriage preparation to toys to Tolkien speculation, and I’m putting the finishing touches on an Epiphany gift to paid subscribers (thank you, all!) so hopefully more will be coming soon. But I thought I’d send this out right away as a welcome and a thank you for reading and continuing to read.
This Culture Recovery Project began with actual journals I began keeping almost a decade ago probing the problem of how we can rebuild a dying culture, a culture of life, but from the perspective of a homemaker. I am a Roman Catholic, and strive to be faithful to the teachings of Christ’s Church. Being aware of her breadth and history, I appreciate many different culture-building groups in the Church while not insisting that my preferred charisms will suit everyone. I was raised charismatic and yet have spent most of my life being nourished and fed by traditionalist (ie: Latin Mass) Catholics, and hence see many similarities of aims and goals among the two. I have Eastern Rite and Orthodox friends as well. I also cherish my non-Catholic Christian friends who also love Christ and seek His desired unity. After all, Christ prayed on the eve of His death that all His followers would be one. I have no idea how Christian unity could possibly work out, since I of course believe as a faithful Catholic that everyone would have to become some kind of Catholic—which is of course what none of the other Christian groups believe, so all I can say to my non-Catholic readers is that this is going to be absolutely fascinating to see how Our Savior is going to work this all out… but then again, He is God and all….
I believe that despite the darkness in our world, the Holy Spirit has prepared us decades in advance for the current froth of crisis in the Church and has put the tools in our hands before we knew we would need them. Here’s my list here. It’s not exhaustive: I could have added the Divine Mercy Chaplet or consecration to St. Joseph as well, but these are the seven I see as the most key. I’m just typing up this article so all the links will be in one handy spot for anyone who wants an overview.
Other key articles are my thoughts on what I term a theology of locality and the importance of a foundation of poverty. Also I feel it’s important to understand why loving your (Catholic) neighbor is difficult and why we need to recover collaboration between the sexes before tackling intentional community.
Since folks seem to enjoy them, I’ll also add links here to three articles on women’s dress (more to come on that topic, hopefully!). Part 1 - Part 2 - and a “Why.” I also spent time pondering how to incarnate my beliefs into family life in a way that attracts and “sticks” between the generations, hence my posts on celebrating Easter and Christmas or how you can catechize with silver or flowers or by just slowing down.
Also here are my thoughts on centerpieces and why they’re so important. On that note, I had to share this photo of one of the Christmas centerpieces my children helped me to put together. My two youngest proudly brought in this muddy and twisted hollow log, and diligently cleaned and purged it to make it house-worthy. Others collected real and artificial greenery. And my beloved Bambino (present to myself last Christmas) fits so well into the little wooden bowl a dear friend gave me years ago, cushioned with lambskin. Fairy lights (we had a fairy theme this year) were the final touch. Enjoy, and blessed Christmas!
If you enjoy what I write, I appreciate your paid subscriptions so much, but honestly, the best gift you can give me is sharing it with those who you think will also enjoy it!