Hello Readers!
I would like some help. I promised in January to give a talk to my homeschool group on "Engaging the Culture". I know where I want to go, but only sort of. The reason I want to have this conversation is because I think sometimes if someone has been homeschooling for a while, say 10 or 20 years, they get a little insular and focus mostly on "getting my family to heaven". I know as Catholic homeschoolers that is our ultimate goal, and it's one that gets neglected a lot. However, I strongly feel my children will be spending a great deal of time in the world before they get to Heaven, and I don't want them to be at a disadvantage while living in the world, but not of it.
My DH is in the tech industry, so we get quite a smattering of the culture from him, because at work is the "wave of the future" and all the fun gadgets people use and OVER USE. (As a digression, I went to a play the other night, and many teens next to me where texting on their gadgets the whole darn play! It was a beautiful play, but they thought it was ok because they weren't noisy. Let me just tell you how annoying a blue light flashing on and off is!!) The thing is, for people in their 20's and younger, this is how they operate. Many older people are also a little addicted. A friend of mine says he saw a bishop texting during a Mass, I kid you not. Ouch.
Technology is not the only point of my talk. Part of it is how do you defend yourself, keep the faith, and still have friends who are different from you, especially as our kids go out more and more without their parents. Some of them will get part time jobs, and be surrounded by folks who rather violently disagree with them.
Also, we have a lot of infighting. Take Sarah Palin, for instance. A lot of very conservative people felt she should stay home with her kids, while others were thrilled to see such a pro-life politician who sounded like a normal person, was a strong person, and had a family that showed real support to its members.
I think I will use "How Not To Share Your Faith" as a jumping point, because it shows how to be charitable and still strong, which is a hard balance.
Does anyone have some other ideas of a way to organize this talk? It's very unorganized at the moment. Keep in mind all age groups.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
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Not really any ideas - maybe if I read "How Not to Share Your Faith", but I think right now you are way ahead of me. Maybe understanding how, exactly, you are trying to engage the culture? Are you trying to integrate your children into it, or challenge it with a healthier way to live?
ReplyDeleteEither way, the two things I'd be interested in specifically would be engaging materialism and society's tendancy to turn romantic love into mere recreation.
I don't know if that's what you are looking for, but I know that's what I'm thinking about lately. My kids already are more familiar with Santa than Jesus, and that kind of bugs me. I want Christmas to be about Christ, not about greed. And I'm already wondering how I can sow the right seeds for when my children become teens.