A couple of neighbors and I had recently finished Richard Powers, Bewildered, and were, well, quite bewildered. Tom built a fire in the pit out back, Malia came with tea and whiskey, and we gathered under the stars to hash it out. The conversation wound round and round, as all good ones do–helped along by the primordial calming of the flames and the absence of screens or time limits. Just three humans living in a broken world, trying to figure out what Powers was saying about that. Why all the dead mothers in his novels? Why all the disconnected dads? Are the alternate planets in
This is 100% the conversation that I want to have with parents. If I have the boy who asks if he can give his allowance to the mom asking for money in front of our grocery store, then I have succeeded, even if he is struggling to write a 5 paragraph essay. We are passing on a world to them that I can’t understand as a grown-up but for them it’s just the world. I see all this hope and excitement in my boys for the future and it reminds me to keep paying attention and growing right along with them. Thank you for this unbelievably thought provoking post.
So necessary... thank you, Courtney. The passage on instant jammies reminds me of Aldo Leopold's Sand County Almanac in the virtues of getting closer to land and means of production and limits: “There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.”
Oh Courtney. Once again you have touched my heart and tickled my neurons. Just yesterday I got my copy of Sojourners March magazine in the mail with a cover article entitled 'Dancing in the Dragon's Jaw: Raising our Children for Joy Amid Climate Catastrophe'. While the author is not as deeply poetic as you and writing for a Christian audience, there are nuggets of wisdom like: 'We welcome our children into a vulnerable space of fear and uncertainty. And that is a beautiful thing. Trust these hallowed spaces of unknowing to be fertile ground for our kids' imaginations and for all of our hearts to grow.' My own sons are now tall and handsome men - the oldest turns 33 on Saturday - but I know the grand-babies will come one day soon and I hold space for the great mystery of how they will arrive perfectly prepared for the hurting world into which they have been born.
Why must it be only 6 minutes? Please try to fit into your extremely busy schedule more time for your listeners than this because just the sound of your voice is both stimulating and comforting, ever since I first listened to your "slam poetry" at Columbia and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (how many of your fans can claim hearing this double bill?). Anyway, the final sentence of this superlative piece made me think again of why I don't like the Bible's admonishment: "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child; but when I became a man(!), I put away childish things." (Corinthians 13:11). Then, in today's NY Times, there's an op ed trying to explain away ambivalence about the Cosby Show that commends this Biblical verse (2/16/p. A.21). I'll take Courtney's wisdom to either of these sources, so thanks once again for setting interpretations of childhood straight. Love as always, DD
Feb 16, 2022·edited Feb 16, 2022Liked by Courtney Martin
Thought provoking as always. The idea of appreciating limits resonates with me. I tend to fool myself intp thinking that things are forever (homes, cars, computer, family members, pets). It's that thinking that allows me to look past the over-consumption tendencies and willful blindess to the consequences. I want to savor the time I have with my parents. Melanie's comment reminds me to slow down and appreciate the spaces we live within.
This is 100% the conversation that I want to have with parents. If I have the boy who asks if he can give his allowance to the mom asking for money in front of our grocery store, then I have succeeded, even if he is struggling to write a 5 paragraph essay. We are passing on a world to them that I can’t understand as a grown-up but for them it’s just the world. I see all this hope and excitement in my boys for the future and it reminds me to keep paying attention and growing right along with them. Thank you for this unbelievably thought provoking post.
So necessary... thank you, Courtney. The passage on instant jammies reminds me of Aldo Leopold's Sand County Almanac in the virtues of getting closer to land and means of production and limits: “There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.”
Oh Courtney. Once again you have touched my heart and tickled my neurons. Just yesterday I got my copy of Sojourners March magazine in the mail with a cover article entitled 'Dancing in the Dragon's Jaw: Raising our Children for Joy Amid Climate Catastrophe'. While the author is not as deeply poetic as you and writing for a Christian audience, there are nuggets of wisdom like: 'We welcome our children into a vulnerable space of fear and uncertainty. And that is a beautiful thing. Trust these hallowed spaces of unknowing to be fertile ground for our kids' imaginations and for all of our hearts to grow.' My own sons are now tall and handsome men - the oldest turns 33 on Saturday - but I know the grand-babies will come one day soon and I hold space for the great mystery of how they will arrive perfectly prepared for the hurting world into which they have been born.
Why must it be only 6 minutes? Please try to fit into your extremely busy schedule more time for your listeners than this because just the sound of your voice is both stimulating and comforting, ever since I first listened to your "slam poetry" at Columbia and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (how many of your fans can claim hearing this double bill?). Anyway, the final sentence of this superlative piece made me think again of why I don't like the Bible's admonishment: "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child; but when I became a man(!), I put away childish things." (Corinthians 13:11). Then, in today's NY Times, there's an op ed trying to explain away ambivalence about the Cosby Show that commends this Biblical verse (2/16/p. A.21). I'll take Courtney's wisdom to either of these sources, so thanks once again for setting interpretations of childhood straight. Love as always, DD
Thought provoking as always. The idea of appreciating limits resonates with me. I tend to fool myself intp thinking that things are forever (homes, cars, computer, family members, pets). It's that thinking that allows me to look past the over-consumption tendencies and willful blindess to the consequences. I want to savor the time I have with my parents. Melanie's comment reminds me to slow down and appreciate the spaces we live within.
THIS is the discussion I want to be in. Thank you Courtney.
Oh is this so right on and gorgeous. Thank you. I needed to hear this!
This is an awesome piece. A huge bow of gratitude for sharing your wisdom today.
Loved this. Thank you for sharing.
Brilliant piece! Thank you....
Thank you, Courtney (& Tom) for your wisdom, and always honest explorations,