by JAiME for SCHOOLS, July 3rd, 2023
HOME - FAMILY - DEATH
What do HOME and FAMILY and DEATH have in common? I would not have tied these three subjects together if they had not all come crashing together for me.
As I reflect back on the month of June, I think about the articles I intended to write. They all went unpublished due to an unexpected event that happened in my life on June 3rd. The death of a close family member has a way of making time stand still, and in this case, the subject of home has never been more real for me than in this moment.
This leads me to ask the question,
Is home in a PERSON? Is home in a PLACE? Is home in an OBJECT?
When I made home the theme for June, I was thinking of home as being a person, place or thing. My thoughts were on all the children home from school for the summer. Many college students have returned home as well. We teach our children at home through chores and playtime and togetherness. Home is where learning begins and ends and endures through the years. From sunrise to sunset, and even while asleep at night, learning NEVER ends for a child at home.
Home is school and school is home, and all of us who parent are HOMESCHOOLING, whether we choose to use that term or not. Whether we choose to send our kids OUT during the day to a school away from home, or whether we keep our kids IN during the day to school them together at home … HOME IS THEIR FIRST SCHOOL.
Home is comfort and home is protection, but home is so much more than just a place on this earth. My Gram’s death and burial took me far away from Woodbury, Minnesota, the place I call home. It was only in facing her death straight-on that I was able to see the bigger picture, that this home on earth is merely temporary. In life there is the certainty of death, and that is scary. But in death there is the promise of life in Jesus Christ, and that is awesome
These Little Ones
From the moment I became a mom, I experienced a love beyond anything I had ever know before. It was a protective, nurturing kind of love … the kind that reaches outside and beyond ones self to meet the needs of those most vulnerable little beings – the children.
For me, the job of mom has been more important than any other. I place this job above my career, above my wealth, and above my station, status or position on any corporate ladder. When my children were first born, they depended on me nearly 100% for survival. So I temporarily gave up part of myself to meet their needs by staying home with them during the day and working part time in the evening. Slowly, over the years, their dependency on me has shifted. What once was 100% dependency will soon become 0%.
As the infant child grows more independent with each passing year, so too does the elderly grandparent grow more dependent. My Gram moved five times in her last year of life because her need for care increased so rapidly. It was hard to watch, but my mom (her daughter) met Grandma’s needs by sacrificing her time and energy. In the same way as Gram had given up part of herself for her daughter, now 70 years later mom was giving part of herself for her mother.
The love between a parent and child is most beautiful when it comes full circle. What other relationship can compare to that kind of love and sacrifice? The hand of God in the natural order of life is so simple by design, and yet it is more brilliant than any human inventor who tries to replace it.
Does the state sacrifice itself for the well being of a child in the same way as the parent sacrifices for the well being of their own child?
No, the state does not even compare to the parents love and devotion.
Does an LGBT relationships sustain the cycle of life, sacrifice self for the dependency of an infant, and give/receive love that comes full circle in the end?
I do believe, just as an adoptive parent and child can come full circle, the latter of these three are possible. However, since LGBT cannot sustain the cycle of life alone, its foundation contradicts natural order at its core.
Last month I began to prepare writing about SoWashCo Schools FLASH Sexual Violence Prevention curriculum.
If this gender inclusive curriculum did not 1) defy the nature of biology, 2) oppose natural order, 3) suppress the reproductive cycle, 4) work so hard to erode the family unit, and 5) promote lust, pleasure and selfish, self-serving, sinful desires of the flesh which are warned against in the Holy Bible … then I would not have a reason to fight against it.
There would be no need for me to write an article further explaining this gender inclusive curriculum if good parents understood that the weight of the claim is aimed at them … FLASH does not call out the sex trafficker or the groomer or the businesses making money off pornography and prostitution. It is the good parent who is called out as the violent perpetrator. Public Health of Seattle and King County wrote a curriculum that vilifies the student’s parent, the parent’s religion, and any person who contradicts a gender inclusive base-line of learning.
Good parents don’t know this though because the district communicates curriculum through two very different dialogues : one is a watered down version of fluffy code words meant for parents, and the other is a highly sexualized version of explicit diagrams and examples hidden from parents and meant for students only through the privacy of classroom exploration.
“In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are consequences.”
-Robert Green Ingersoll
Throughout history, the state has forced its power over the rights of family.
Sophocles Antigone
Written over 2,400 years ago, Sophocles Antigone is said to be one of the finest examples of Greek tragedy to survive today. I don’t think it was coincidence that I finished reading this book just days before my Gram passed away. It helped me process her death and burial in a much more profound way that spoke to this idea of passing from one world into the next and going home.
Unfortunately this play is no longer read by the majority of public school children in District 833, and it will not be read any time soon given the new ARC reading standards which have replaced literature with editorial news.
But this does not mean death to the three Theban Plays of Sophocles. Sophomores and Juniors at Hill Murray, Trinity School at River Ridge, and Concordia Academy High School still learn from the valuable lessons that follow the events of the Oedipus Legend.
This play represents the political climate of the time. It’s two main characters are Antigone and Creon who represent the two opposing moral forces we still face to this day. They are …
LOYALTY TO THE STATE vs LOYALTY TO THE FAMILY
Which side do you take before reading Antigone? Which side do you take after reading Antigone? You may be surprised to find out that your loyalties change as you identify with the rebel of the story. Isn’t that human instinct after all? To sympathize with the martyr? Any good author knows this and will use human instinct to sway their audience.
In the case of Antigone, she is a woman who fights for the unwritten divine moral code of the gods who prescribe burial for all dead men. Her duty is to her brother and to the family relationship. Creon charges her with disloyalty to the city-state and seals her death sentence with arrogance and pride. Creon, reflects the viewpoint of the general public at that time which believed supreme loyalty of the citizen should be to the state.
“And whoever places a friend above the good of his own country, he is nothing: I have no use for him.”
Creon in Antigone (203-4)
The difference between Greek Tragedy of 441 BC and today’s tragedy, is the author who chooses the martyr. One is assigned by a 5th Century B.C. playwright who sympathizes with Antigone’s loyalty to family and opposition to the state. The other is assigned by a highly politicized 21st Century entertainment industry who confuses their sympathy to state with their political party of preference. But when the DFL is no longer in control, the newspaper editors and progressive activists and woke social justice warriors will once again retaliate against the state just like they did before.
In A Summary and Analysis of Sophocles’ Antigone, Dr. Oliver Tearle says,
“Antigone is one of the most significant female characters in ancient Greek tragedy, and this is one reason why the play has continually proved popular to new generations. The other is that although at first glance the play appears to be about a largely unfashionable clash between civil and religious law, it has endured, and continues to be relevant to modern readers and audiences, because it is really about honoring family in the face of inhumane and unjust – indeed, immoral – laws that forbid such a thing.”
Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)- Link HERE
The protective love I have for my children runs deeper than myself or any man-made system. The love I have for my children is not self-serving and does not come from selfish desires or any need to be in control. It is not onerous or oppressive or compulsory. This love runs universal through time and space and is the norm, not the exception.
If you are a parent today listening to the voice of an institution declaring their love for your child is greater than your love for your child, beware! The devil is a liar. A parents love is the purest, deepest kind of love any child can receive.
Over and over again I learn, through the process of writing this blog, that the power of the Holy Spirit is infinite beyond human comprehension. The Holy Spirit, when asked, will show you the greatest depth of understanding, wisdom, and truth imaginable. When asked, the Holy Spirit won’t just stop at half full or offer you a partial answer. He will fill your cup up to the top, completely and wholly.