What do I think: One Last Time

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From the mailbox:

I'm sure you've heard the news that Palin's daughter is pregnant.  I amterribly sad ... I still believe that McCain's election is necessary in order to put at least one more justice on the Supreme Court in order to reverse Roe v. Wade and therefore save millions of lives (versus Obama who has stated that his first act as president will be to sign an executive order reversing all the anti-abortion legislation), and I believe her daughter's pregnancy can also be a witness to a culture of life (versus Obama's culture of death statement months ago that if his daughters "made a mistake," he wouldn't want them to be "punished with a baby").  However, it unfortunately is also a witness to our culture of immorality (her daughter is already being compared to Britany Spears), it feeds into the arguments of those moms who believe she should be home raising her children (and I have to admit, that is one argument I am now pondering ... would this pregnancy have happened if her mother had been more present?), it buttresses the arguments of those who are against abstinence only education, and it serves as a distraction to this campaign.

I am also sad for me and my own little children, I saw her as a great role model, and now I'm feeling like the tide of our immoral/promiscuous culture is so great that I will never be able to bring them up purely.  I am wondering if it is wrong for me to feel so sad.  I am wondering how you are feeling about it (or how does Mary [Beth Bonacci] feels about the news?

Well, I'm quite sure this wouldn't have happened if her mother had been in the room with her. Beyond that, do teenaged daughters of mothers at home sometimes find themselves unexpectedly pregnant? Yes, they do. Furthermore, do teenaged children from homeschooled families sometimes find themselves unexpectedly pregnant? Yes, they do. And while it might bring to mind Britney Spears, unwed pregnancy is not limited to this generation of our culture. We have been fallen creatures since Adam and Eve and fallen creatures are prone to committing sins. Teenagers are particularly prone to sins of the flesh--even teenagers from good, Christian families. The beautiful thing about this particular sin is that God can bring great good out of a bad situation and He can prove again and again that babies are only and always blessings.

I still see Sarah Palin as a role model. Furthermore, I see her daughter Bristol as a role model. There is nothing rock-star glamorous about this time in their lives and my children know that very well. They also know the enormous love and sacrifice that come with deciding to carry, bear, and raise a child when one is seventeen-years-old. They've lived with that example in their own home for the last four years. For my children, the pro-life movement is much more personal than marching with signs and putting bumper stickers on the great, big van. Did we have to explain a few things I'd rather not have discussed so early? Absolutely. But I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that all of  my children are secure in the knowledge that if they make a mistake and find themselves unexpectedly pregnant, we will not consider that a punishment. We will consider "that"  as part of the family. And we will come together as a family once again with unconditional love and support to nurture both the baby and the young parents in whatever way God shows us.

Since Senator McCain has said that he knew that Bristol Palin was pregnant before he named his nominee, I'm quite sure that Governor Palin knew as well. And now more than ever, it is not my place to offer opinions about another woman's conversations with her God.

Novena for the Election

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It's nine weeks until Election Day. Please join us for the Novena for the Election.

O God, we acknowledge you today as Lord,
Not only of individuals, but of nations and governments.

We thank you for the privilege
Of being able to organize ourselves politically
And of knowing that political loyalty
Does not have to mean disloyalty to you.

We thank you for your law,
Which our Founding Fathers acknowledged
And recognized as higher than any human law.

We thank you for the opportunity that this election year puts before us,
To exercise our solemn duty not only to vote,
But to influence countless others to vote,
And to vote correctly.

Lord, we pray that your people may be awakened.
Let them realize that while politics is not their salvation,
Their response to you requires that they be politically active.

Awaken your people to know that they are not called to be a sect fleeing the world
But rather a community of faith renewing the world.

Awaken them that the same hands lifted up to you in prayer
Are the hands that pull the lever in the voting booth;
That the same eyes that read your Word
Are the eyes that read the names on the ballot,
And that they do not cease to be Christians
When they enter the voting booth.

Awaken your people to a commitment to justice
To the sanctity of marriage and the family,
To the dignity of each individual human life,
And to the truth that human rights begin when human lives begin,
And not one moment later.

Lord, we rejoice today
That we are citizens of your kingdom.

May that make us all the more committed
To being faithful citizens on earth.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In Her Own Words

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Here is a snippet of an interview Sarah Palin did with Time magazine on April 29, 2008. The entire interview is worth reading, but this part directly answers some concerns expressed by women:

Where do you see yourself going? Staying on in Alaska. Washington?

You know, I don't know. I knew early on that the smartest thing for me to do was to work hard, do the best that I can, make wise decisions based on good information in front of me. And then put my life, get myself on a path that could be dedicated to God and ask Him what I should next. That will be the position I will be in as long as I'm on earth — that is, seeking the right path that God would have laid out for me.

Please pray for the Palin family today.

Eating Our Own

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Well that didn't take long.

Dear Elizabeth,
I can't tell you how disappointed I am that a former editor of Welcome Home would write such strong support for Sarah Palin. Don't you think that Mrs. Palin should be home with her children, particularly since she has a new baby with Down Syndrome? Shame on you!

Holly ( a longtime reader)

Dear Holly, thanks for writing. You really are a longtime reader! Because of your note,  I spent a pleasant evening reminiscing fondly about my days at Welcome Home. I wrote my first published piece for that wonderful magazine when I was twenty-five years old and had one child. I was honored and grateful to be the managing editor until after I'd had my third baby. I was blessed by the professional mentoring I found there--bright women who were articulate and savvy about the publishing business shared freely from the wealth of their knowledge and experience and encouraged me unabashedly. It was a truly beautiful place to learn and grow. More than the professional experience, though, I will always, always treasure the mothering wisdom I learned from some of the best mothers on the planet.Welcome Home shaped me in so many, many ways--all of them good.

I think that you, Holly, might not understand fully the mission of Welcome Home and the Mothers at Home organization. It was never, ever to judge or condemn mothers who chose to work outside their homes. Instead, it was to encourage mothers (or fathers) who had made the decision to be at home with their families. That's a big difference in purpose. Mother at Home staunchly refused to enter into the "Mommy Wars" when media outlets persistently called for interviews and asked if we'd go on record disagreeing with the choice to be employed outside the home. It was the belief of the organization that it is counterproductive for all of us to sit in judgment over one another. Far better that we should encourage one another and build each other up. (see 1 Thessalonians 5:11)

We stand here at a precipice. We can elect a president who believes that babies who don't die in the course of abortion should be left to die alone on a dirty shelf in a hospital. Or we can elect a solidly pro-life team of candidates. The truth is, Christian women can make or break this election and the appointment of the next justices to the Supreme Court. It greatly disturbs me to read the buzz out there.  We need to come to our senses. Christian women who are threatening to stay at home instead of voting for a woman who has a baby and growing family are really missing a valuable point. And it's a point we miss again and again on large and small scales.

We eat our own. We make up litmus tests and then level judgments. Does she dress the way a Christian woman should? Does she wear her hair the way a Christian woman should? Does she go to the "right" parish? Does she manage her finances the "right' way? Use the "right" curriculum? Spend her time the "right" way? Does she have enough children and are they spaced the "right" way? If the answers don't fit what we've decided--in our opinions--constitute holiness, we chew the woman up and spit her out in disgust.

And we become women of opinion, not conviction, to use a phrase coined by Colleen Mitchell. We become women who are so preoccupied by judging and condemning that we tear down our own homes with our own hands. The spirit of condemnation pervades the very being of the woman and erodes at the gentleness, peacefulness, and goodness her family deserves.  She becomes a bitter women and her life bears bitter fruit.

I appreciate the trip down memory lane, Holly. I was the youngest member of the staff by far in my Welcome Home days. I learned so much from the women with whom I worked. Now, with the benefit of time and experience, I appreciate even more the "policy" Mothers at Home always had regarding women employed outside the home. It's a policy that we should extend to all our relationships.

I can't imagine being Vice President. I can't even imagine being the managing editor of a magazine, working from home, any more. And you know, I can't imagine running a lacemaking business from my home either. But Zelie Martin did. And she will be canonized a month from now. I can't imagine being a busy doctor while caring for several young children. But St. Gianna Molla did. I can't imagine starting a ministry with my husband, involving my children in it, and moving countless times as necessary to see it grow. But Sally Clarkson did.  I can't imagine having to enroll my children in school and resume a professional career because my husband is gravely ill. But one of the holiest women I know did exactly that. And in every case, those women did what was right for their families. In every case, the fact that mom had a job was part of their family culture. In every case, these women and their husbands raised great kids. Every one of those women is heroic. Every one of those women was an intimate friend of God and listened to and followed His call, no matter how daunting it seemed. And God blessed that courage and conviction and discipline. God is big, very big, much bigger than our narrow notions of how women should look if they are holy women. God has big ideas for women.

We have an opportunity now to shape the future of our culture, an opportunity to ensure that our children and our grandchildren are safe in a  culture of life. We have an opportunity as mothers, wives, and women to  effect change: meaningful, positive change. And you can bet that the forces of evil would like nothing better than for us to be sidetracked by judging Sarah Palin's "fitness" as a Christian woman. We are the voting block that can turn the tide in this country.

I've thought almost incessantly in the past twenty-fours about how in the world Mrs. Palin can possibly accomplish all she does. I want her time management skills. I bet she doesn't waste one precious second peering into other women's homes and marriages and families and judging how they should be living out their vocations. Instead, she hears the call of her Maker. She keeps her eyes on her own work.  He's asking her to make a huge sacrifice for His kingdom. He's asking her to take on a daunting task for the culture of life. He's asking her to act as a woman of conviction. Instead of wasting time worrying about the intimate details of her family, maybe we all should spend our time in prayer for her and for our country.

And then we should roll up our sleeves and help get her elected.

Talk About It Here