The European Union, obviously not having anything more important to do, has passed a new safety directive that states that children under the age of eight years old are now not permitted to blow up balloons. Even more interesting, children under the age of 14 are not allowed to blow those whistle blowing party favors - the ones that blow out a long 'tongue' of paper.
First of all, I don't think it is anyone's business outside of my family to tell me what my children can or cannot enjoy at a party or family get together. Being a good parent, naturally, I kept small items like balloons out of my children's hands when they were too little to understand. By the time they reached five years of age, they knew not to either swallow a balloon or put their face or mouth up to an inflated one. Me, the parent, made the rules and provided the protection. I didn't need anyone to come into the privacy of my home and dictate to me. I didn't need a list of rules to tell me what I might be cited for doing/using/enjoying because some panel decided for me.
I'm still at a loss about the whistle-blowing party favors. Even if a child inadvertantly blew one towards another child's face, it is paper not a flame thrower. Again, my children only got to play with such items when they were old enough to not chew, suck, or swallow any part of it.
With all the problems in the world today, it seems interesting that weeks of deliberation would come up with this directive. Interested in reading more about all this . . .
http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/10/toy-police-to-children-no-more-balloons/
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
When opportunity knocks . . .
The doorbell rang the other morning. I opened the door and two ladies told me they were going from house to house this morning to encourage people to read the Bible. I said we did read the Bible and attended daily Mass. This seemed to confirm their worst suspicions. I guess they had hopes in spite of our three-foot statue of our Blessed Mother in the entry way.
When I was growing up, most Catholics I knew felt the best way to handle these door-to-door religion sales persons was to slam the door in their face as quickly as possible. They seemed to think that this was the best way to put these people in their place. Now that I have a home and family of my own, I cannot rudely dismiss people who are doing what they think is right. One cannot expect them to find the true Church if the members of it will not take a minute to talk to them. I want to treat them like people. If all I accomplish is to send them on their way, musing about the polite Catholic they met, I have done my job as a Christian.
The two ladies who visited my doorstep last week were a little more responsive to discussion than other meetings I have had with this sect. They had questions and were not so much trying to tear down my Faith as to really find out why I believed as I do. I got the usual questions about ‘worshiping Mary’. I answered from my heart and they seemed to respect that. Now at this point, they must have realized that they did not have a potential convert at this home yet they had more questions and they listened to my answers. They were knowledgeable about the goings on in the Catholic Church and were amazed when I had responses.
One a final note, they asked me how I felt about artificial birth control and the many different stands on this subject that were appearing under the guise of the Catholic Church. I said that the Church ruling on birth control was not just the whim of some elderly man in Rome. They totally agreed with me that life began at conception and abhorred abortion as much as I did. We were basking in the glow of harmony when I went on to say that it was sad that a woman on the pill could be aborting several babies a year. The younger of the two women looked startled, recovered and said that this was true of the IUD but not the pill. I explained the properties of the birth control pill and could see the inner struggle in her eyes. She said she had never heard this before. I assured her that it was correct. As we continued the subject, her hands reached down and clasped themselves on her abdomen as if protecting something. She kept looking down at her hands, at the baby she had with her, and at me. Maybe she did not totally believe me but I know I planted a seed in her heart.
In all likelihood, I did not convert a Jehovah Witness. Our conversation had a happy and a sad note to it. The young lady would never take a birth control pill again without remembering our discussion. That was a good thought. The sad part of this encounter is something they said as they were leaving. One woman said it was not very often that they ran across a Catholic who could talk about her Faith with any conviction.
We are all looking for ways to earn the grace to gain Heaven. Thank about all the doors you may have slammed in the face of sources of possible sanctification
When I was growing up, most Catholics I knew felt the best way to handle these door-to-door religion sales persons was to slam the door in their face as quickly as possible. They seemed to think that this was the best way to put these people in their place. Now that I have a home and family of my own, I cannot rudely dismiss people who are doing what they think is right. One cannot expect them to find the true Church if the members of it will not take a minute to talk to them. I want to treat them like people. If all I accomplish is to send them on their way, musing about the polite Catholic they met, I have done my job as a Christian.
The two ladies who visited my doorstep last week were a little more responsive to discussion than other meetings I have had with this sect. They had questions and were not so much trying to tear down my Faith as to really find out why I believed as I do. I got the usual questions about ‘worshiping Mary’. I answered from my heart and they seemed to respect that. Now at this point, they must have realized that they did not have a potential convert at this home yet they had more questions and they listened to my answers. They were knowledgeable about the goings on in the Catholic Church and were amazed when I had responses.
One a final note, they asked me how I felt about artificial birth control and the many different stands on this subject that were appearing under the guise of the Catholic Church. I said that the Church ruling on birth control was not just the whim of some elderly man in Rome. They totally agreed with me that life began at conception and abhorred abortion as much as I did. We were basking in the glow of harmony when I went on to say that it was sad that a woman on the pill could be aborting several babies a year. The younger of the two women looked startled, recovered and said that this was true of the IUD but not the pill. I explained the properties of the birth control pill and could see the inner struggle in her eyes. She said she had never heard this before. I assured her that it was correct. As we continued the subject, her hands reached down and clasped themselves on her abdomen as if protecting something. She kept looking down at her hands, at the baby she had with her, and at me. Maybe she did not totally believe me but I know I planted a seed in her heart.
In all likelihood, I did not convert a Jehovah Witness. Our conversation had a happy and a sad note to it. The young lady would never take a birth control pill again without remembering our discussion. That was a good thought. The sad part of this encounter is something they said as they were leaving. One woman said it was not very often that they ran across a Catholic who could talk about her Faith with any conviction.
We are all looking for ways to earn the grace to gain Heaven. Thank about all the doors you may have slammed in the face of sources of possible sanctification
Memories . . .
Since my four children are either graduated from or going into college, I'm busy selling off all our homeschooling curriculum. As I go through the various books, so many memories come back to me.
When my youngest daughter was six years old and starting in First Grade, she began learning the First Communion Catechism and came up with some interesting observations. I asked her if she knew the two, main sins and she promptly informed me they were Original and Actual Sin. I inquired if she knew what Actual Sin was and she said, "Actual sin is a sin you actually do yourself. And Original sin? "Oh, for that," she replied with conviction, "You need a group!"
When we had advanced to confession in our catechism studies, my daughter was learning to recite the steps for making a good confession. She was stuck and I gently prodded her with, "And after you leave the confessional, what do you do?" A moment’s hesitation and she suddenly lit up, "You kneel down and think about all the sins you forgot to confess!"
When my youngest daughter was six years old and starting in First Grade, she began learning the First Communion Catechism and came up with some interesting observations. I asked her if she knew the two, main sins and she promptly informed me they were Original and Actual Sin. I inquired if she knew what Actual Sin was and she said, "Actual sin is a sin you actually do yourself. And Original sin? "Oh, for that," she replied with conviction, "You need a group!"
When we had advanced to confession in our catechism studies, my daughter was learning to recite the steps for making a good confession. She was stuck and I gently prodded her with, "And after you leave the confessional, what do you do?" A moment’s hesitation and she suddenly lit up, "You kneel down and think about all the sins you forgot to confess!"
And, sadly, it is still true too often today . . .
In the days immediately following Vatican Council II, seminaries rightly began training the seminarians in social and pastoral activities, but wrongly neglected discipline and the spiritual life. The result was that no sooner were the young chicks hatched than they ran with foxes".
Fulton J. Sheen
Fulton J. Sheen
Liked both these quotes!
"Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assaults of
thought on the unthinking."
-- John Maynard Keynes
-- John Maynard Keynes
"You live and learn. At any rate, you live."
-- Douglas Adams
-- Douglas Adams
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