Dearest Mahri,
I saw an elderly Chinese man on the bus the other day and he reminded me of my Grandad. Now my Grandad, Samuel Mackie (your Great-Grandad), was not Asian, as this might suggest. He was made of the heartiest Celtic blood there is. (Though he would be quick to point out that, as a [...]
Archive for January, 2008
Brylcreem, Brushes and Grandfathers (Letters To Mahri – January 30, 2008)
Posted in Letters To Mahri, tagged Duntocher, family, fatherhood, geneology, grandfathers, grandmothers, grandparents, Letters, letters to children, parenting, stay at home dad on January 30, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Dish Pig (Letters to Mahri – January 29, 2008)
Posted in Letters To Mahri, tagged blueberries, cleaning dishes, dishpig, family, fatherhood, letters to children, parenting, stay at home dad on January 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
My Dear Mahri,
We ate Blueberries today at lunch. They are my favourite food in the world. I could eat Blueberries all day. And I usually just eat them frozen because I can’t wait for them to defrost. It turns out you like them too.
But today was a glorious day for another reason. The Repairman came [...]
U2 3D
Posted in Movies, tagged 3D, IMAX, movie review, Movies, music, rock music, U2 on January 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The new IMAX concert film U2 3D is a feast for the eyes and heart. While offering only an abridged version of the Vertigo tour, it nonetheless maintains the spirit of the show. And with the 3D technology, not only does it feel like you can see the individual hairs on the band members’ [...]
Letters to Mahri – January 26, 2008
Posted in Letters To Mahri, tagged child sickness, children, crib death, daughter, fatherhood, Letters, letters to children, parenting, stay at home dad on January 26, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Dearest Mahri,
You almost died today.
At least that’s what I thought for two seconds.
I’m sure what I’m about to describe is common for most first time parents. When you go through pre-natal classes and read the parenting books, you hear a lot about “crib death”. You’re taught best practices to mitigate the factors that might contribute [...]
Letters to Mahri – January 25, 2008
Posted in Letters To Mahri, tagged Chesterton, child sickness, children, crib death, daughter, fatherhood, Letters, letters to children, parenting, play, stay at home dad, swimming lessons on January 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
My Dearest Mahri,
Today I got us all fed, dressed, and out the door in time to bike the couple of miles to the pool for our bi-weekly swim lessons. As we were getting changed, I discovered that I had everything but… a swimsuit for myself. (Argh!) So, with my tail between my legs, I exited [...]
God is the most youthful one of all?
Posted in Old Books, tagged adulthood, Chesterton, G.K. Chesterton, God, Orthodoxy, parenting, Youth on January 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Here’s an excerpt from Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton. It was first published in 1908.
“All the towering materialism which dominates the modern mind rests ultimately upon one assumption; a false assumption. It is supposed that if a thing goes on repeating itself it is probably dead; a piece of clockwork. People feel that if the universe [...]
Letters to Mahri – January 24, 2008
Posted in Letters To Mahri, tagged child sickness, children, crib death, daughters, fatherhood, John Mayer, Letters, letters to children, parenting, self-esteem, stay at home dad on January 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Dearest Mahri,
I should be exercising (no one would ever guess I was a personal trainer only a few months ago!) but instead I really wanted to write to you. So I sat down and, for the first time I my life, put my laptop’s music player on ‘shuffle’. The first song that came up was [...]
The Country of Marriage
Posted in Oblations, tagged commitment, covenant, Love, Marriage, Wendell Berry on January 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
by Wendell Berry
I.
I dream of you walking at night along the streams
of the country of my birth, warm blooms and the nightsongs
of birds opening around you as you walk.
You are holding in your body the dark seed of my sleep.
II.
This comes after silence. Was it something I said
that bound me to you, some mere promise
or, [...]
Unamuno
Posted in Oblations, tagged anguish, belief, despair, doubt, God, religion, unamuno, uncertainty on January 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Those who believe they believe in God,
but without passion in the heart,
without anguish of mind,
without uncertainty,
without doubt,
and even at times without despair,
believe only in the idea of God,
and not in God himself.
~Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo
Cardinal Suhard
Posted in Oblations, tagged belief, Cardinal Suhard, God, living mystery, propaganda, religion, witness on January 18, 2008 | 1 Comment »
To be a witness
does not consist
in engaging in propaganda,
nor even in stirring people up,
but in being a living mystery.
It means to live
in such a way
that one’s life
would not make sense
if God did not exist.
~Emmanuel Célestin Cardinal Suhard (April 5, 1874—May 30, 1949)
