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Brittany and I went to Great Homeschool Conventions last week and had a wonderful time! ♥ Texas really is a great place, y’all (see what I did there?). It was lovely to meet so many of you — you are amazing people with such wonderful, interesting thoughts.
Funny story: people seemed to think that Brittany and I spent our evening hours discussing Important Educational Things, but really I just read her the news headlines — the more outrageous the title, the more likely I read it aloud, and the more likely we laughed. One mustn’t be serious all the time!
If you missed the game we invented, Find Your Homeschool Speaker will be running on Instagram all year! When you go to your local GHC, act like the paparazzi and post your favorite speaker, using the #findyourhomeschoolspeaker hashtag. We can’t wait to see your photos, and we’ll be playing again when we’re back at GHC in Ontario in June.
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The Scholé Sisters Sistership was given a major upgrade this past month! We are thrilled about it. I mean, have you ever asked yourself, “What if there was a social media app just for classical and Charlotte Mason homeschool moms like me?” Um. Now there is!
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I read You Who by Rachel Jankovic on the plane to and from GHC and I was definitely a fan. It’s a message that’s needed in this culture of ours where we’re pretty mixed up about identity.
There were a couple places where I was concerned, however. The biggest one was probably this quote:
Jesus Christ came to this earth, struggled, suffered, and died so that you might die. Let that sink in. It was not His death that gave you life — His death gave you death in Him. But what happened after His death? His victory over death. The resurrection. Jesus Christ died so that you might die, and He lives so that you might live. Your life in Christ is what happens after your death in Him.
I get the gist of what she’s trying to say here. I really do. The problem is that she didn’t use enough Scripture to nuance it and so she sounds like she’s contradicting I Thessalonians 5:9-10:
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.
And also I Corinthians 5:14-15:
For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
I read the quote above (without the Scriptures) at lunch the other day and asked my children what they thought. A-Age-Fourteen said, “Well … Pastor Chad always says that Christ died for me that I might live.”
Ah, yes, so there’s that. I think what ties the whole thing together is that life abundantly is death to self. Which is probably what she was trying to say.
I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Jesus, John 10:10
This isn’t a caution against reading the book. I highly recommend the book. It’s just a reminder to mix it with brains and much Scripture reading — which is what we ought to do with all things, no?
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I am in LOVE with our new read aloud, Sophie Quire. Yes, we read Peter Nimble first — you pretty much have to because he’s a major figure in this book, and his back story is assumed.
Peter Nimble is an interesting character — I was convinced when reading the first book that he was a Christ figure, but then certain things didn’t fit. It was only when reading Sophie Quire and the story about Peter being found as a baby floating in a basket was revisited that I realized he didn’t quite fit because he was supposed to function as Moses, not Jesus. That really cleared things up.
Sophie Quire is delightful for a number of reasons, but the best thing is that it’s written by someone who obviously understands the power of stories and why they matter.
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This month in 2015:
I gobble a book every now and then with the best of ’em, but I’m so glad I finally learned to slow down in my reading — there is a difference between consumption and seeking wisdom.
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The first of the two episodes you’ve all been waiting for!!
If you want to hear us say things about what Dorothy Sayers said, click here or even better subscribe and listen in your favorite podcast player.
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If you want to be more diligent and pull yourself out of that winter slump, I highly recommend signing up! ♥ This is 30-45 minutes long and takes place Monday, March 18, at 1pm Pacific … a short period of investment to help you finish strong this school year. Click here to register.
7 Comments
[…] in addition to You Who, which I mentioned last week, I also finished Economics in One Lesson and The Lively Art of […]
I wondered about that passage in You Who as well, but as I was listening to Rosaria Butterfield’s book, Openness Unhindered, and brought up Romans 6 with similar language. This chapter probably would have been good to add to You Who. “Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him by baptism into death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin’s dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may not longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin’s claims. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him… ” Romans 6: 3-8
GREAT passage to bring into the conversation. Thank you, Leah! ♥
We loved Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes as a family read aloud and are currently reading Sophie Quire as well! Good stuff!!
I greatly appreciate your thoughts on “You Who.” Long story, I find myself less than clear – eyed on this subject and am taking in others’ thoughts on the topic. This is another blog I found with, I think, the same thoughts. How would you say this woman’s thoughts line up with your impression?
https://wiseinhiseyes.com/2019/02/26/you-who-why-you-matter-and-how-to-deal-with-it-review/?fbclid=IwAR0s4khpbQbRwkZUiRC9Z7CC9q_g7eBqYq3A1Z_pzAvDDXHYlVPl-GXpE3k
Ha. You are not the first person to send me this review. 😉
I think this review is over the top. Yes, I think Jankovic could stand to spend a little more time making a couple of these things more clear, but one example would be where the reviewer takes issue with this quote from You Who:
But you saw the verse from I Corinthians I quoted in my post, right? It specifically says that Christ died “that those who live should no longer live for themselves.” The ideas harmonize rather well, I’d say.
It’s true You Who doesn’t use a lot of theological terms (another criticism), but my guess is that Jankovic was talking to a more general audience and didn’t feel those terms were appropriate? I was reminded in Plutarch’s Life of Titus Flamininus this week that a good rhetorician doesn’t speak his own language, but rather the language of the people he is trying to persuade.
Now, do I agree with You Who that obedience is a spiritual superfood? Well, yes and no. On the one hand, I feel like we need to be careful saying something like that. I’m not ready to plant my flag on the side of this assertion at this time. I’d have to give it more thought. On the other hand, the Church has historically affirmed the teaching of Aristotle that you are what you repeatedly do. Implied in this is that our actions DO change us in a real way. I think I’d just feel more comfortable with it if the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit was given more credit in that part of the chapter!
I looked at the bio of the author of that review. She’s 29-years-old. I was a lot more critical — a lot less unable to philosophically harmonize — at that age, too. And I think that is a *good thing* about the 20s. But it also means it can be taken with a grain of salt. The review is worth thinking through, in my opinion, but I think You Who is, too. 🙂
I don’t know if that helps, but those are my thoughts.
That helps bunches. I also appreciate your tidbit on the behaviours in the 20’s– valid point.
I didn’t have as strong a reaction as the one in the link I sent, mine was more like yours. Glad to hear it wasn’t necessarily that I’m just so steeped in it that I pay no attention.