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7 Excessively Speedy Takes

7 Excessively Speedy Takes

Last updated on: October 15, 2021 at 8:34 am by Anne Kennedy

7 Excessively Speedy Takes 2021-10-15T08:34:18-04:00 Anne Kennedy

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I knew this month would be a rush and it is:

One

We finally celebrated Matt’s 50th birthday yesterday only to turn around and dash into celebrating the now 14-year-old’s birthday. As in, she is turning 14 today, so that’s sort of epic. Let’s see, that makes the ages of all my children something like 19, 17, 15, 14, 11 (12 in 12 days), and 10. Is this why I feel like I’m running my legs off?

Tragically, my house is as wrecked as ever, if not more so. At least when they were all babies I could say things like, “Now we’re going to clean up!” and brightly carry out this brilliant plan altogether, like it was something that all people, no matter their age or situation in life, do. But now, in these latter days, I can’t say anything because they are all having to be carted off to places or getting into class or writing a paper. It makes being the “servant of all” not charming at all, but a complicated morass of administrative horror. For a nicer view of parenting at this stage of life, read Megan being much more Christian about it.

Two

Matt made his first practice turkey this week. It was pretty great, more so because I had just read this really nice thing. I devoured it while standing over a hot stove, the smell of autumn wafting up over me. I’ve noticed that in moments of stress, I find myself deep frying sweet potatoes, which is what I was doing, not just standing there reading. It’s called multi-tasking.

Three

I also decided to answer some spam email. I was eagerly waiting for a new message this morning, but none has come. Perhaps I overplayed myself with the mention of Jesus:

Four

Matt’s talk last week about Beauty in Tolkien was really great. The audio isn’t brilliant, but you should definitely try to listen. I had to drive past that wretched hotel again yesterday and it was just as ugly as ever, but now I feel more cheerful about it. Someday the thing will come toppling down and God or someone will plant a garden right there, and that will be so nice.

Five

In between plowing through Don Quixote, I downloaded The Rise and Triumph and started listening to it, because whenever I sit down to read a child comes and hassles me, and my goodness, it is so good. I knew it was good, I remembered that it was putting all the pieces together, and my memory did not deceive me. On that note, so is this piece by Trueman, with this very helpful insight:

My students have an accurate view of reality. Today’s cultured despisers of Christianity do not find its teachings to be intellectually implausible; they regard them as morally reprehensible. And that was always at least partially the case. This was the point missed by Noll and Marsden—though it may not have been as obvious at Wheaton College or the University of Notre Dame in the nineties as it is almost everywhere in higher education today. Our postmodern world sees all claims to truth as bids for power, all stable categories as manipulative—and the task of the academy is to catechize students into this orthodoxy. By definition, such a world rejects any notion that scholarly canons, assumptions, and methods can be separated from moral convictions and outcomes. Failure to conform to new orthodoxies on race, morality, sexual orientation, and gender identity is the main reason orthodox Christianity is despised today. These postmodern tenets rest upon cultural theories that cannot accommodate Christianity, precisely because they underwrite today’s academic refusal to discuss and weigh alternative claims. To oppose critical race theory or gender theory is to adopt a moral position that the culture’s panjandrums regard from the outset as immoral. The slightest hint of opposition disqualifies one from admission to polite society.

Six

Oh my gosh, I have to go make a pumpkin pie!

Seven

Go check out more takes! And have a nice day if you’re into that sort of thing.

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