It's been a while.....

Dec. 2021: It's been a while since I wrote anything. Maybe creativity has died.....or maybe it's that I have been writing many other things not meant for here. Partially their content, partially their unfinished nature as they have been explorations, a continual wrestling, with theological questions. I find myself trying to stretch myself effectively over two jobs: two research projects (with a third creeping in), some admin/social media work for my institute, and trying to maintain some semblance of a balanced life by not hermiting away all my free time and actually socialising as safely as possible in this continued covid-tide. In the middle of this I agreed to give a talk that is close to my heart on a theology of motherhood. As tends to happen with projects of this nature, one that bridges my past work in medical history and my current work in theology, it is a bit broader than first envisioned. There is simply so much I feel needs to be included, considered, and said. I find myself in the Lash Library of my institute, the Margaret Beaufort Institute in Cambridge. I feel fortunate to have this space, usually all to myself, my own personal library,

only occasional shared with our resident Benedictine nun, in a somewhat central, leafy, and peaceful corner of Cambridge. It is a rather odd library, we have received a donation of books and I sit here surround by chairs, shelves and boxes of books in what looks like a rather homely but haphazard place. And yet, it has so many hidden gems that have fed my studies these past few months. 

This motherhood project has allowed me to connect to catholic moms of all ages and many nationalities. The message that comes through calls for a change of mentality on how we as a society, both those that are Catholic and those that are not, view mothers and motherhood. What can we do to better support mothers? Is our way of viewing motherhood problematic? Why?

___________________________

Jan. 2022: When I began writing little did I know that I would have a most bizarre of Christmases and that I would manage to avoid the 'rona' in spite of it chasing me across continental Spain. My badly planned travels became even more precarious as I had to change them last minute because of illness in those households I meant to visit on my touristy trip across the north of Spain. Then all attempts at avoiding it failed when my brother caught it, with me in the house. Masks, alcohol, and all sorts of measures that involved having constant open windows in the middle of Dec followed. Somehow I have made it back to Blighty at the moment not infected (knock on wood). 

Back in my corner of Cambridge I saw the new year in, in isolation (as per gov rules) but with several video calls to pass the evening. Life takes unexpected turns and I rang in the new year talking to someone I had spent well over a decade not seeing or talking to. It is interesting what life has in store for us and I begin the year wondering what will come next. For once I have no inkling, no emotion, no plan or dream for the new year, I am simply living, one day at a time, trying to survive this unplanned and unexpected year that is turning out to be much better than I could have imagined.  

For fun I tried out Jen Fulwiler's word of the year generator and got the very US word 'Moxie', do people even use this word anymore? I like it though, there is something really quite playful about it and so while I can't really imagine that I have much moxie left in me I will embrace the challenge. Let's see what comes of it. 

So I hope you have all been having a lovely and blessed Christmas (remember it is still Christmas for us Catholics until apparently the baptism -9th of Jan- though some Catholics will say it's until the Presentation- 2nd of Feb.) and that the New Year brings something unexpected and joyful to your life. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On marriage: thoughts from a marriage ‘postulant’

 This may not be the easiest post to read for some people I know and may seem infinitely naive for those few I know that are actually knowledgeable and much more practiced on the subject. Edith Stein once gave a talk titled in German Muttererziehungskunst- roughly translatable as motherhood kraft. At the start of it she humourously commented on the irony of a single female academic, who had spent the better part of a decade living in a Dominican convent and college, and a year or two later would become a Carmelite, being asked for talk about motherhood. She of course had ample knowledge about spiritual motherhood, something she also commented on in this talk. There is much that one can learn from observation and talking to others about a certain topic, it isn’t only experience, though obviously experience gives a knowledge about some things that renders a depth that is missing without that experience. In the case of marriage, it is a curious thing, but the church has a clear idea about
Read more

A brief note on going too far

Image
 These past weeks have involved intense discussions, prayer, and thinking on a topic close to the hearts of all of my fellow discussants. Our concern, pain, and confusion is clear. St Catherine of Siena comes up regularly. Watch this space if you are interested in some weeks or a few months you might want to find out more. Independent of them and only briefly publicly saying what I think on one topic specifically, I write this very brief note. The role of women is one of those topics that has become a ‘hot’ topic for Catholics and one can be easily misunderstood if one is too diplomatic. It has happened to me as a theology student in Cambridge and being amongst anglican ordinands I was diplomatic and wholly misunderstood. The way I, a Catholic, think about this topic is radically different from theirs and I wanted to spare their already confused and frayed spirits. BUT being misunderstood on this important topic did no one any favours. As a Church we have some wonderful sources for thi
Read more

Edith Stein and issues with translations

Image
Part of the reason linguistic matters have come to the forefront of my work is the particular way in which they related to my work on Edith Stein’s essay’s on Woman and the comments made by several friends on what they perceived to be her narrow view on women in today’s world. I couldn’t understand it at the time because Stein’s ideas are in line with their own way of thinking. My lack of understanding stemmed from not having read either the English or the Spanish versions of her essays.  This term I am tutoring a student who is analysing an evangelical influencer group that is anti-feminism but defend what can be understood as fractional complementarity. I felt she needed to read Stein to better understand the broader context of Christian Feminism and how the group she is analysing has failed to comprehend certain aspects of metaphysics, unsurprising given their evangelical background and how since Luther this has been a weak point in Protestant theology. My student does not read or s
Read more