I'm supposed to be enthralled and moved, I guess, by all this:
You are not only a link with something. You are the thing itself; and you are the sacrament, the instrument, by which we learn to love the things that are. Your body is the first object any child of man ever wanted. Therefore dispose yourself to be loved, to be wanted, to be available. Be there for them with a vengeance. Be a gracious, bending woman. Incline your ear, your heart, your hands to them.
My first -- and so far only -- reaction? "Oh, fuck off."
Sorry, I can't be nice all the time. (Of course, the moonbeam who emitted this gush of prose is an Episcopal priest. This open-to-wonder style of Christianity makes one positively yearn for the scourge, the hairshirt, and the Inquisition.)
Comments (8)
Be a gracious, bending woman.
Tell him, graciously, to get bent. :)
Posted by CGHill![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://victorysoap.us/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 5, 2007 9:08 PM
Posted on July 5, 2007 21:08
This kind of mother-as-open-wound-worship gives me the creeps. Maybe this attitude is why I never wanted kids. I can imagine that my two cats want me to "bend" to their every wish, but I can pick them up and swing them around, and they'll never grow up to write a tell-all book entitled "Human, Dearest," so we're even.
Posted by Andrea Harris![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://victorysoap.us/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 5, 2007 9:59 PM
Posted on July 5, 2007 21:59
"She's the sort of woman who lives for others -- you can always tell the others by their hunted expression."
C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
Posted by Jim C.![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://victorysoap.us/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 5, 2007 11:53 PM
Posted on July 5, 2007 23:53
"...You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here...."
(pauses; takes big hit off bong)
Posted by David Fleck![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://victorysoap.us/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 6, 2007 8:08 AM
Posted on July 6, 2007 08:08
Oh, how that C.S. Lewis quote reminds me of certain people in my life...I often wear that hunted expression.
Posted by Susan B.![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://victorysoap.us/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 6, 2007 9:17 AM
Posted on July 6, 2007 09:17
Andrea: "...but I can pick them up and swing them around...".
Eh, you can do that with kids, too.
I wonder how long I could "be there for them with a vengeance" before my family started swinging me around and chucking me out an upper story window?
Posted by Moira Breen![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://victorysoap.us/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 6, 2007 9:43 AM
Posted on July 6, 2007 09:43
I wonder what ``be there with a vengeance'' is supposed to mean. As a veteran mother (5 kids) I can assure you that often ``being there'' means just that - as in, keeping your mouth shut and waiting for them to come to you if they want to talk about something.
As for this bit:
``You are the thing itself; and you are the sacrament, the instrument, by which we learn to love the things that are.''
This isn't Christian, this is earth-mother-fertility-goddess paganism. God is the Thing Itself, if you like, and it is God we find in the sacraments. If I'm lucky I may be an instrument of grace - that is, by my behavior I encourage others and help them bring out the best in themselves - but I am not an object of worship.
This gal sounds unpleasantly self-involved, and if I were her kid I'd keep a whole time zone between her and myself.
Posted by Annalucia![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://victorysoap.us/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 8, 2007 2:52 PM
Posted on July 8, 2007 14:52
Well actually, she is only quoting the passage, which was penned by a male. Then again, she seems to have liked it, though she is Christian. Perhaps she was flattered by someone saying nice things about motherhood -- she writes about her children quite a bit, though she doesn't give off that self-involved "my children, my self" vibe, so I'm surprised she liked this bit. Or maybe she didn't -- the passage was provided without comment. It's hard to know what people think when they don't say anything.
Posted by Andrea Harris![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://victorysoap.us/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 8, 2007 3:35 PM
Posted on July 8, 2007 15:35