Monday, February 25, 2008

Homeschool or School at Home Part II

I have to say that when I originally wrote the part I post on Friday I had no intention of there being a part II post, however, God has shown me that there is more to write. He showed me this by way of my husband, who, now that he has finally read my blog, can actually have some input. Friday evening he happened to be reading from a book that (now that I am trying to find the exact title, I can't) was written by Father Jean Baptiste Saint-Lure and said, "Oh look, here is more fodder for your blog!" This tidbit comes from the third section of this book and it is entitled "The Practice of Conformity to the Will of God" and so I am throwing it out there for you all to chew on. (Dear friend who sent me this ebook, please tell me where we can get a hard copy of it because I would like to pass that info on to everyone else!!)

"To obtain the help of Providence it should be your aim to cooperate, as it were, with the Fatherhood of God and bring up your children as He would wish them brought up, especially by showing them good example. Have the courage to lay aside all other ambition and let this be the only object of your care and desire. Then, whatever the number of your children, you can rest assured that their heavenly Father will provide for them. He will watch over them and dispose all things for their happiness and welfare, and the more unreservedly you entrust their future to His hands, the greater will be His loving care for them."

So, while I am sure the author is not advocating that we sit back and not teach them anything (for that would not be setting a good example), I think what he is trying to tell us is that we need to have our priorities straight when it comes to the education of our children. Kind of like going back to that Heaven or Harvard thing. Sure it would be great if because of their education they could go on to a good University for further education, but I think that should not be our primary focus. I gather from the above quote that we need to bring our children up with a good Christian example and let God direct the rest. Maybe your children are called on to higher education, but maybe they are not. Are we to let the pressures of family or of society dictate this or should we try our hardest to resist that and just put as much trust as we can muster in God and rest assured that somehow God will take care of them, even if we think we have done less than a stellar job in educating them (trust me, I am including myself in this, too!!!)?

God Bless!

5 comments:

  1. I really like your thoughts here!

    My older brother attends a Catholic liberal arts college that uses a Great Books curriculum, and he's often asked: "If you're not majoring in anything, if you're not training for a specific job, how are you going to get by in the real world?"

    The president of that same college asked a question several years ago that I've kept in mind ever since: "What is the real world?"

    So many people see the real world as a place where one goes to a university, gets a good job, and hopefully makes a lot of money. But we need to remember that the real real world isn't about making it in a monetary or social way. We're not getting an education for money... we're getting an education for knowledge and Truth.

    Because the real world is about finding Truth, following Truth, serving Truth, and spending an eternity with a God Who is Truth.

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  2. Laura - The name of the book is "Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence" (NOT the same as Abandonment to Divine Providence -also an excellent book!) subtitled The Secret of Peace and Happiness. The first section is written by Fr. Jean Baptiste Saint Jure, SJ and the second section is by Saint Claude De La Colombiere, SJ. It is published by TAN books. Let the buyer beware It is a life-changing book! I bought 15 to hand out to people wherever I saw the need. Please encourage everyone to support their local Catholic bookstore and order it through them rather than directly from TAN. We lost an excellent bookstore in our area and may lose another if we don't patronize them and encourage others to do the same.

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  3. Laura B, since you said the book is life changing, I'll get mine out and re-read it. I know I felt that way when I read it years ago. God bless, Dolores H

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  4. Why not Harvard AND Heaven???
    Last time I checked, quite a few saints were educated at universities.

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  5. Of course! I'm sorry if you thought I was implying that they were mutually exclusive. Where would the world be if people like John Paul the Great had not gone on to higher education?

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