"IF" by Rudyard Kipling

I ran across this poem in my copy of William Bennett's "Book of Virtues." I will most definitely have my boys memorize this in a couple years. Fantastic.

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Speaking of men . . . I just snapped this picture real quick. My "little" man is growing up so quickly!  Spending a rainy afternoon reading to himself. I am in awe; they really do grow up right before your very eyes!!

Fortitude (and continuing 1000 Gifts)

We quickly reviewed Faith, Hope, Charity, Prudence, and Justice at the breakfast table this morning. And moving move onto the virtue of Fortitude.

"Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause."

So many, many gifts. Many I haven't spoken of in months past. May we never stop counting our blessings.

#58 a good night's rest
#59 a sharp view of a beautiful bird on the deck, right out the kitchen window
#60 the "happy place" feel of our kitchen and dining room, bright, light, sunny
#61 our constant panorama view
#62 surprise find of a butcher block (an answer to a "thinking prayer")
#63 caring friends and neighbors
#64 tears of beauty
#65 Baraboo Fire Department: our tax dollars wonderfully at work; a feeling of safety (not a scary story here  but fun one)
#66 personal project with purpose
#67 an excellent moving day (so much so that a home cooked meal unexpectedly happened)

The First Supper

Joking around at breakfast this morning. 

Verse of Fortitude:

"The Lord is my strength and my song." Psalm 118:14

Virtue of the Month: Prudence


We on are onto a new virtue this month. Perfect timing because dad and mom could use an extra dose of prudence this month. Our home in Washington is selling this month (God willing). Wahoo!!    After the house closes, we will have the opportunity to decide what to do next.

Anyhow, during lunch today the boys and I reviewed faith, hope, and charity. We then started talking about prudence. Here are a few notes on prudence from my binder. I hope they might bless you as well.

"Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it."

"It is called auriga virtutum (the charioteer of the virtues); it guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of conscience. The prudent man determines and directs his conduct in accordance with this judgment. With the help of this virtue we apply moral principles to particular cases without error and overcome doubts about the good to achieve and the evil to avoid."

Memory Verse: "The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps." Proverbs 14:15

Just a little trip down memory lane.

BTW, Lent is right around the corner. I am hoping to have a plan in place by next week. Prayers for me as I seek to draw near to Him? Have anything special planned?

Charity

We are continuing our study of the virtues. We pick back up this month with the virtue of Charity.

"Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God." (CCC, 1822)

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." I Corinthians 13:4-7

What is happiness?

"The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men's activities and purifies them so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven; it keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity."

(CCC 1818)



Our attempt at a translation for 6 (almost 7) year old boys:

God put a desire for happiness in all our hearts. But God wants to take that desire to be happy and make it much more. He wants to turn it into hope. Hope looks to the kingdom of God and heaven to be happy. Hope helps us when we are discouraged, it helps us when we feel lonely, and helps us look forward to happiness in heaven forever. If we are lost in an ocean of sadness, hope is our life raft. This life-boat lifts us up out of selfishness, "I want to go buy something to make me happy. It's all about me."  It leads us to a real happiness that comes from love (charity).

This Month's Virtue: Hope


"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs, is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven."

Matthew 5:3-12

"Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus' preaching in the proclamation of the beatitudes. The beatitudes raise our hope toward heaven as the new Promised Land; they trace the path that leads through the trials that await the disciples of Jesus. But through the merits of Jesus Christ and of his Passion, God keeps us in the "hope that does not disappoint." Hope is the "sure and steadfast anchor of the soul" . . .that enters  . . . where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf."

(CCC 1821)

Hope

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him." Ps 62:5

Today the boys and I decided to move on to the next virtue in our study of the 7 major virtues. So this morning we reviewed faith and read the definition of hope.

"Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit." (CCC 1817)

Wow. How timely. You know, my faith has been greatly strengthened by witnessing the uncommon timing of lessons in my own heart, our home education lessons, and lessons/activity happening in our country. I guess I'm so political this time around because it seems to be on an ironic parallel track in our own personal lives. Kinda funny in a not so funny kind of way. Get me? Probably not.

In the past year we've faced some faith-stretching difficulties. Our own issues seemed to have paralleled, if not intersected, similar issues in our country. Maybe I read into things and feel things too deeply. Maybe not. But it gets me thinking and thinking is a good thing. Unless, of course, one is trying to sleep.
"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone. . . "

So faith. Faith is the virtue where we "believe in God and believe all that he has said." By faith "man freely commits his entire self to God."  Still working on that one: freely committing myself to God. This year its been about believing in God, believing He is good, believing what I know to be true. Believe that in the end, all things will work together for good no matter what happens.


 So now we move on to hope in our "school" lessons and I follow that onward movement in my heart. As I anticipate the election in two weeks and things hang in the balance when it comes to our home in Washington, I am tempted to pray and beg for what I want. As a Christian though, I MUST not cling to my own desires because holding those desires as most important will only lead to discontent. For peace in all circumstances, there must be hope. Hope is not "hoping" that everything will go as I would choose. Hope and happiness comes from an onward and upward expectation that is beyond this life. The kingdom of God. The kingdom of God that is already here but also the kingdom of God that is yet to come. Heaven.

So that's my aim right now. Cultivating hope. I've got to think through/pray through these earthly difficulties and my own desires concerning them. I absolutely must strain my eyes to see past the challenges in our country and in my desire for a home. I've MUST look forward to that heavenly country and my heavenly home. Perfect peace, security, and happiness cannot fully come in this life. Lord, help me take off the nearsighted glasses.

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will
 be added unto you."









And just for fun . . . another quote.
"The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration of happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men's activities and purifies them so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven; it keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude  Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity." (CCC 1818)