Appreciate your thoughts. Thanks for sharing the link. I also think the two options you mention aren’t great. I think the solution is the cultivation of virtue, not rules. But cultivation, like farming, takes time.
Every man in the ministry has put some thought into the question of how to minister to the opposite sex, whether in the context of counseling or evangelism or discipling. I understand very much why so many look for safety in rules and forms. But, as far as I can tell, scripture gives us very little advice on this subject and society has nothing helpful to say.
Would you mind telling us a bit about virtue in this context Joseph? What have you seen or done that was helpful?
When I think about my own children, the modern idea of 'growing up and moving away' seems so utterly horrible to me. So much of my life was wasted starting from scratch, learning everything on the fly, being alone with no support system. Although there is something beautiful and unforgettable about a man and wife with nothing and noone alone against the whole world, I don't want that for them.
My current thoughts are that when they get married I would like to provide them with a house and a little piece of land close to us. That seems much more sensible than paying for a college education and 4-12 years of sucking in the poison of a dying society through a firehose. Don't know if that will happen but I know what a family scattered across 3 states is like and I intend to do better than that.
I'm on the other side of that and would think differently if I had the opportunity again. As you suggest with marriage, there is a pattern to pursue unless redirected by Providence. The idea plays well with the Benedict Option as well, though the cloistered compound is not Heaven. As Al Mohler says, Keep thinking.
The Benedict Option is not crazy(haven't read the book not a big Dreher fan but based on second hand accounts). I think that the 1950's ideal of the 'nuclear family' was not an ideal but the last in a long line of strategic regroups as we were losing the war for the family, after that it became entirely a rout, yeah?
I was reading Tom Woods yesterday on the subject of secession and he talked a lot about the rights and powers that individual medieval communities, whether cities or guilds or universities held AGAINST the state. And I thought about how we don't even realise how atomised, how rootless and unmoored we have become. We keep trying to make these astroturfed communities but it is clear that the communities that God has ordained for us are families and churches. These are the communities whose rights and privileges we need to push to increase. We can barely even see the context in which to try and honor our fathers and mothers much less actually honor them which doesn't bode well for our lifespan.
Sorry it took awhile to respond. I was still thinking.
I think Dreher's concept of separating from the world for the purpose of nurturing the family and the Body so that the world can be engaged by strong, healthy individuals is helpful. The Catholic vibe doesn't move me but that is not essential.
I agree that family and Body is God's prescription. It replaces the nation of Israel as the primary unit given that membership is now open to the redeemed of all nations.
Yes, we are in a rout, the Church not least of all. The attack is on the one effective strategy against evil and that is where the defense is most likely to be effective. The Church must first be healed. Healthy families still cannot effectively stand alone, they need a place to come together, a community. It must be free of political distractions. There is a lot of work to be done.
Appreciate your thoughts. Thanks for sharing the link. I also think the two options you mention aren’t great. I think the solution is the cultivation of virtue, not rules. But cultivation, like farming, takes time.
Every man in the ministry has put some thought into the question of how to minister to the opposite sex, whether in the context of counseling or evangelism or discipling. I understand very much why so many look for safety in rules and forms. But, as far as I can tell, scripture gives us very little advice on this subject and society has nothing helpful to say.
Would you mind telling us a bit about virtue in this context Joseph? What have you seen or done that was helpful?
There is currently a large, and much needed, emphasis away from college and toward trades. Complimentary ideas, perhaps.
Economics matters; maybe instead of college, parents could help establish a home.
When I think about my own children, the modern idea of 'growing up and moving away' seems so utterly horrible to me. So much of my life was wasted starting from scratch, learning everything on the fly, being alone with no support system. Although there is something beautiful and unforgettable about a man and wife with nothing and noone alone against the whole world, I don't want that for them.
My current thoughts are that when they get married I would like to provide them with a house and a little piece of land close to us. That seems much more sensible than paying for a college education and 4-12 years of sucking in the poison of a dying society through a firehose. Don't know if that will happen but I know what a family scattered across 3 states is like and I intend to do better than that.
I'm on the other side of that and would think differently if I had the opportunity again. As you suggest with marriage, there is a pattern to pursue unless redirected by Providence. The idea plays well with the Benedict Option as well, though the cloistered compound is not Heaven. As Al Mohler says, Keep thinking.
The Benedict Option is not crazy(haven't read the book not a big Dreher fan but based on second hand accounts). I think that the 1950's ideal of the 'nuclear family' was not an ideal but the last in a long line of strategic regroups as we were losing the war for the family, after that it became entirely a rout, yeah?
I was reading Tom Woods yesterday on the subject of secession and he talked a lot about the rights and powers that individual medieval communities, whether cities or guilds or universities held AGAINST the state. And I thought about how we don't even realise how atomised, how rootless and unmoored we have become. We keep trying to make these astroturfed communities but it is clear that the communities that God has ordained for us are families and churches. These are the communities whose rights and privileges we need to push to increase. We can barely even see the context in which to try and honor our fathers and mothers much less actually honor them which doesn't bode well for our lifespan.
Sorry it took awhile to respond. I was still thinking.
Thinking is good! 😀
I think Dreher's concept of separating from the world for the purpose of nurturing the family and the Body so that the world can be engaged by strong, healthy individuals is helpful. The Catholic vibe doesn't move me but that is not essential.
I agree that family and Body is God's prescription. It replaces the nation of Israel as the primary unit given that membership is now open to the redeemed of all nations.
Yes, we are in a rout, the Church not least of all. The attack is on the one effective strategy against evil and that is where the defense is most likely to be effective. The Church must first be healed. Healthy families still cannot effectively stand alone, they need a place to come together, a community. It must be free of political distractions. There is a lot of work to be done.