Here and There (06/7/23)
Teen jobs, Fantasy and Faith, Overheated Coffee Shops, and Hope in Christ
Well, it’s been relatively quiet around here lately and although I do have a couple of things I’m working on, I thought that first I’d just send out an assortment of quick updates/things I’ve been reading.
My teenagers all have jobs this summer—ten jobs between the four of them, to be exact. I love that they each have a strong work ethic and are saving some money, particularly since three of the four (two rising seniors and one rising junior) have college looming ahead. (We want our kids going to college, it’s really just the private Catholic liberal arts schools they’re looking at, and they know that the more money they have saved up, the more school options they’ll likely have. Because that’s just life, right? I know not everyone chooses to go to college, and needs to decide for themselves, but in our family we really encourage the kids to get a college education.)
But I also miss the days when they were younger, and weren’t working, and we’d spend our weekday mornings at swim team practice, then come home smelling of chlorine and with the lazy summer day stretching ahead. Now there are the constant comings and goings and I can’t keep anyone’s schedules straight, and we’ve really lucked out this week because the kid working the late shift at Home Depot can swing by and pick up the kid working the late shift at the fast food place. I remain fascinated by the different phases of family life, so much to love about all of them and also things you miss about them when they’re gone.
I really enjoyed this recent piece by Joseph Pearce, Faith & Fantasy: Chesterton, Tolkien, Lewis, Rowling & Other Tellers of Tall Tales. For many years I was under the erroneous impression that I didn’t care for the fantasy genre—too silly and far-fetched. (I know.) That was my reason for not ever having finished the Narnia series, for avoiding Harry Potter, and for refusing to touch Tolkien and his hobbits with a ten-foot pole. But finally a year or so ago I dove into Lord of the Rings, all three books, and discovered I’d been missing out. Sad! Anyway, Pearce does an excellent job illuminating why this particular genre is important, and why the work these authors have done over the years matters. There are some great quotes from GK Chesterton, too. Definitely worth reading!
In keeping with the aforementioned theme, I’m currently going through all of the Narnia books with three of my younger kids (ages 10, 6, and 4.) We’re all loving it! I’m also finally giving JK Rowling a try, and I’m enjoying those books as well. Don’t mind me, I’m just over here trying to rectify old wrongs in between shuttling my kids to and from their jobs. (My godson just received the sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion this past Sunday, and we gifted him the Chronicles of Narnia set. Every child should own it!)
Last week I stopped into a coffee shop to get some writing done. I hadn’t done that in pretty much forever, and it did help in terms of productivity/creativity, although it may have primarily been the caffeine. But anyway. I struggle to carve out good routines around writing, and I don’t like to have to go elsewhere to do it (I’m both a homebody and a person opposed on principle to spending upwards of $6 for a cup of coffee when, let’s be honest, I can make good coffee at home), but it was pretty effective. Next time, though, I’ll be visiting a different coffee shop, one that isn’t mysteriously an unbearable eight hundred degrees.
A close friend of ours passed away this week. Mike was pretty much the bedrock of our parish, and he was everybody’s close friend, and no one can imagine things there with him gone. Mike had a deep and unshakeable faith, a great sense of humor, and leaves an incredible legacy behind. It is, truly, such a loss.
In thinking about all of this, I find myself gravitating towards this scripture translation of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, from The Message:
13-14 And regarding the question, friends, that has come up about what happens to those already dead and buried, we don’t want you in the dark any longer. First off, you must not carry on over them like people who have nothing to look forward to, as if the grave were the last word. Since Jesus died and broke loose from the grave, God will most certainly bring back to life those who died in Jesus.
As if the grave were the last word. Yes. Jesus conquered death, and invites us into eternal life with Him. The separation is painful for those left behind, but God is there, in all of it. Death is not the end; in many ways, it is just the beginning!
Going back to Joseph Pearce’s article, there’s a point near the end of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone where Dumbledore is speaking to Harry, in the hospital, about the imminent death of Dumbledore’s former partner and creator of the Sorcerer’s Stone, Nicolas Flamel. Flamel will essentially be sacrificing his life to save Hogwarts and the rest of the world: the stone will be destroyed in order to defeat Voldemort, who is obsessed with obtaining it so he can live forever.
When Harry expresses his concern about Flamel dying, Dumbledore tells him:
“After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.”
So, no, we don’t grieve like those without hope. We know that Jesus conquered death, and wants to spend forever with us in Heaven. There is a beautiful solace and settled peace there, even in the face of great suffering and loss. It is something to cling to. And it’s part of having faith, a willingness to trust in Christ and place your hope in the unseen. How blessed we are. If you think of it, please pray for Mike’s beautiful family, and for the repose of his soul.
And that’s all I’ve got for today. I hope you all are well, and finding hope and joy in whatever season of life you are in!
Warmly,
Brianna