A Visit to Monticello: Life, Slavery, and the Pursuit of Religious Freedom

Monticello called us.

It was Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.  The weather was beautiful, I hadn't been to Thomas Jefferson's home in years, and the boys had never seen it.   My parents were visiting, and it was their suggestion and their treat.  (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)

The tour guide (Oh, sorry, docent) said something that gave me pause:  When Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, he stated that we are given (I don't think she mentioned God or the Creator, come to think of it) specific rights, including liberty; but that ironically, he owned slaves.  I resisted the temptation to point out that the first right he mentioned was life, and wasn't it ironic that we now allow the rampant killing of unborn children in the womb, and act as though it's another inalienable right?

I was thinking about that again this morning.  I realized that back in Jefferson's day, slaves were considered non-persons, and that's how people justified the buying and selling them as personal property and treating them however they pleased.   Nowadays, we know better.  In 1973 the Supreme Court decided that unborn children were non-persons and therefore can be disposed of as a piece of unwanted garbage.  We are right 

back where we started, it seems to me.

On our way out we stopped by Thomas Jefferson's grave.  When I read the inscription on the tombstone ("Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia") I realized I was standing on sacred ground.  Even though Jefferson's religious views were a little bit unconventional--I'm told he wrote his own version of the Bible that eliminates all references to Jesus' miracles and makes no mention of anything supernatural--he understood the importance of our right to practice our religion without interference from the government.

...Almighty God hath created the mind free;

That all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens, or by civil incapacitations tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and therefore are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, who being Lord, both of body and mind yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do,

That the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired men have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavouring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world and through all time; 

That to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical...

(Source:  Wikipedia.  Emphasis mine.)

Jefferson noted that we are to be free to exercise our faith without coercion, without ridicule, without the threat of being sued, and without having to pay any taxes or penalties.  

Standing there I thought of the HHS mandate that forces employers to pay for contraceptives and abortifacient drugs even when it violates their religious beliefs.   I wonder how Thomas Jefferson would feel to see the United States government giving faithful Christians and Catholics the finger.  I think he would weep.

(P.S.  I may not be using Blogger much longer.  When I went to upload my photos I was informed that I'd used up all my space on their photo sharing site, and if I wanted more I'd have to pay $2.99 a month.  Since I'm a cheapskate and this blog generates zero income for me, I'm not willing to do that.  I deleted quite a number of photos that I'd published on older posts, and that seemed to do the trick--we'll see if they're also deleted from the posts--but at some point I will run out of space again.  Wordpress is looking quite attractive today.  I'll keep you posted...)

7 Quick Takes, The Sunday Edition

--1--

I've been trying to put my thoughts into words over the last week and a half since the election.  I pound away at my keyboard and push "Delete" over and over.  How do I express my profound disappointment without sounding like a sore loser and a whiner?  How do I say that four more years of Barack Obama will turn our country on its head and it will be almost impossible to get back what the Founding Fathers gave us without sounding like an alarmist?  How do I lament the fact that so many people seem more interested in getting handouts than taking risks without sounding like a snob who doesn't care about people in need?  And how do I (finally, after four years) admit that Barack Hussein Obama is in fact anti-American, has no interest in our national security, doesn't give a crap about you or me or anyone else except himself and his own twisted agenda to make America weaker and poorer without sounding like a loony conspiracy theorist?  I've heard many conservatives rant about how people who voted for Obama are fools, crazy liberal extremists, Kool-Aid drinkers; some Catholic bishops even went so far as to imply that because of Obama's pro-abortion record, voting for him would constitute a mortal sin.  Well, I know plenty of people who support Obama, and they're not any of these things (and I'm certainly not about to point any fingers and yell "sinner" at anyone).  They are kind and generous people who, like you and me, want the best possible future for their children and our country.  We just disagree (quite strongly, to be honest) about what that might look like and who would better serve our nation.  There are certainly some raving lunatics and Kool-Aid drinkers on both sides, and I'm convinced that the results of the election (assuming there was minimal voter fraud and Obama won fair and square--although did you see this story fromPhiladelphia?) is a reflection of our culture's moving away from God and from basic moral principles and our adoption of if-it-feels-good-do-it and how-dare-you-judge-me attitudes.  If I say abortion is always wrong, I'm an extremist.  If I don't want to pay for your birth control, I don't care about women.  If I say that marriage is between one man and one woman, I'm a bigot.  Am I racist if I criticize Obama?  Most people I know wouldn't accuse me of that, but remember when Jimmy Carter said that people who were against Obama just couldn't deal with having a black man in the White House?  We have a challenging four years ahead of us, but I am not going to sit around and whine about it.  I've made a promise to myself to be more kind, more patient, and more generous.  Every day I pray for four things:  tirelessness, selflessness, wisdom, and joy.  (I don't pray for patience; that always gets me into trouble.  I figure "wisdom" is much better, don't you think?)  If we all had more of those things, how much more wonderful this world would be.

--2--

Do you know this is the Year of Faith?  Truthfully I haven't really thought much about it; other than to tell myself perhaps I should start reading the Bible daily again and pray more regularly and consistently.  I have done one thing, though:  Flocknote has a very cool way you can read the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  I have one sitting on my shelf that I've barely touched.  Well, you can sign up to receive daily emails with a little bit of the Catechism in each one, and if you keep up you'll read it all the way through in a year.  I've already fallen behind, but every few days I'll read several of them at once, so hopefully it won't get too far ahead of me.  Interested?  Go here.

--3--

Saturday I ran my first 5K.  I shouldn't say I ran it; I walked some and ran some.  I originally signed up for it because Curly and Moe are preparing to test for their black belts (hopefully in January) and they need to do some "endurance events" between now and then.  The 5K was a fundraiser for the Special Education program at the Catholic high school up the road from us; and although our kids don't attend, many of their friends do.  I figured this would be a great way for us to get out and get some exercise, give a little something for a good cause, and help the boys earn their black belts.  I even downloaded a totally boss app on my phone to help me get into a running routine, and for the last few weeks I've been pretty faithfully doing my little running/walking workout up and down the street.  (AND, I say the Rosary while I'm doing it.  That's the best part.)  As it happened, Moe came down with an upper respiratory infection this week, and although he's much better we decided he should forego the race; and Curly, well, he just decided he didn't want to do it. (He owes me $15.)   I thought seriously of skipping it altogether, but decided to go ahead and do it.  I was a little nervous not knowing what to expect, whether anyone I knew would be there, and hoping I wouldn't be the only one who would mostly be walking.  I did see a few people there I knew, and there were many people who walked the whole three miles and had a great time doing it.  I finished in a little under 44 minutes, and I think this will be the first of many 5K races I'll participate in.  Next time I'm going to drag my family with me, assuming no one is sick...

--4--

Joe got a new car last weekend.  Want to know why?  On Friday as he was turning left through an intersection a woman driving a minivan sped around a curve, ran the red light, and slammed into him.   The whole front of his car was smashed.  I'm just glad she didn't hit the driver's side door, and that no one was injured.  Now he has a 2011 Hyundai, with automatic transmission that he can take to work and Larry can learn to drive; he's already talking about the two-seater sports car he'll someday get to drive on the weekends.

--5--

And now for our family entertainment report:  Moe made all-county chorus, and he got to spend a day at one of the area high schools practicing for the concert that was held in the evening.  He stood in the front row, and you can imagine how proud it made me seeing him standing up there singing his heart out.  Last weekend (in the middle of all the excitement with the accident) Larry starred as the prince in a musical production of Cinderella.  My parents came and stayed with us for the weekend, and Joe's mom and my brother and sister-in-law spent time with us and came to the show as well.  And this week, Curly and Moe auditioned for the school production of Disney's The Little Mermaid.  Curly will play Chef Pierre, and Moe snagged the most coveted part--Sebastian the crab.  Needless to say we'll be hearing this a lot in our house these next few months:

--6--

In the past we've traditionally traveled to my or Joe's parents' house for Thanksgiving; this year I'm hosting for the first time.  Yesterday I picked up my turkey at the farmers' market (I'm told he--she?--lived a happy life on the farm until Friday morning), and today's agenda (besides Mass, of course) will be to do finalize my menu plan, make my shopping list, and do some of the cleaning around the house that I didn't do yesterday. (BAD mom, BAD!)  My dad sent me a recipe for gluten free stuffing, and I expect I'll be browsing the Internet for some more of those; and my mother-in-law has already given me lots of great advice about cooking the turkey.

When I brought home the bird yesterday I found myself talking like the Swedish Chef.  I may be doing that quite a bit this week.

--7--

Our prayers continue to be with the victims of Hurricane Sandy.  Seeing the devastation and hearing the stories of communities coming together and helping each other reminds me of how much I truly have to be thankful for. 

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, no matter who you voted for (haha) !

For more Quick Takes, visit Jenn's Conversion Diary blog.  Happy Sunday!

November Blessings

Now that the fall colors are fading, and Thanksgiving is approaching, I often find myself in a bit of a funk. During the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas I always worry and fret and stress myself out. What are we going to get our kids/parents/brothers/sisters-in-law/niece/nephew? What am I going to cook? How am I ever going to get my house clean AND buy presents AND send Christmas cards AND get presents wrapped and shipped, etc. etc. etc. I'm always envious of people who get all their Christmas shopping done and their presents wrapped before Thanksgiving, and are able to relax and enjoy Advent, and really prepare their hearts for the coming of the baby Jesus. I've mentioned this to Joe on occasion, but he doesn't like to think about Christmas until after Thanksgiving; although today he reminded me that there is no reason why I can't start thinking about it sooner. But this year at least, as always, we'll spend time with family for Thanksgiving (which is always a relaxing and enjoyable time for us) and in the weeks ahead, try not to stress too much about Christmas.

This year I want to focus on the many blessings that we have. Why do I worry so much about what gifts to buy friends and family? Many people are unable to buy gifts for anyone. Is it really necessary that my children get the latest electronic gadget they're begging for?

We have so much to be thankful for. We have a home to live in and plenty of food to eat and clothes to wear. My husband has a decent paying job that keeps the heat on in the winter, the refrigerator stocked, and allows us to save money so the kids can go to college. Right now our parents are all alive and well, and they love our children more than they imagine. They have aunts and uncles and cousins who miss them and pray for them every day. The boys are all doing well in school, and are forming lifelong friendships.

I want to share some highlights of the last month; on All Saints Day, Moe dressed up as St. Juan Diego. He had an old shepherds' tunic left over from one Christmas when the boys were in our church's Christmas pageant, and he painted an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the front. At school his class led the annual All Saints Day parade, and he was one of a few students selected to read his essay about his saint in front of the whole school. His teacher complimented him on how well he read. I was so proud of him!

(He's covering his face because he doesn't want me to take his picture. I'm seriously thinking of abandoning my own blogging rule about not showing my kids' faces here, especially now that they're getting older. The picture of Moe with the hat on top of his head is much better, and you should see his sweet smile!)

This is Curly, getting wrapped up like a mummy this past Sunday by the boys in his confirmation team. I am really looking forward to his confirmation preparation this year! My friend Lesley, whose twin daughters are also preparing for the sacrament, and I are leading the team together. (That's the other thing. I'm tired of referring to my friends as "L" and "J" and "B", etc. I want to use their real names from now on. I hope they don't mind.) Anyway, on Sunday we got the team together for our first official meeting, fed them ice cream, and as an ice breaker we had them wrap each other up in toilet paper.

At our parish, kids preparing for confirmation are required to complete three spiritual works of mercy and three corporal works of mercy with their assigned teams. A spiritual work might be attending Stations of the Cross during Lent, or a holy hour at church--something to help them grow closer to God. A corporal work is serving someone's physical needs--feeding the homeless, collecting clothing for the Salvation Army, raking leaves for an elderly parishioner. We decided (and this was Lesley's idea, as was the toilet paper icebreaker; I am extremely blessed to be working with my friend I've known since the sixth grade--plus she's super-organized AND creative!) for our first corporal work we would pack boxes for Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child project. We packed boxes with small toys, school supplies, toiletries, even socks and t-shirts, and they each wrote a note to the child who would be receiving his or her box. Lesley delivered the boxes to the distribution center where they were packed into crates and loaded onto a truck to be shipped, eventually, to needy children overseas.

Ever since we moved into our house nearly fourteen years ago, we've been talking about landscaping the front and back yards. We've had a lot of other things done--remodeled our kitchen and two of our bathrooms, had a deck built, painted and re-carpeted various rooms--and now we've finally hired a landscaping company to hopefully make our yard more attractive and (hopefully) less muddy. On Saturday there was a crew here drawing lines and digging holes and planting bushes and ferns and things and spreading topsoil. These last few days have been rainy, so unfortunately they haven't been back; but Lord willing, we'll have a perfectly landscaped yard before Christmas, and if we're lucky, it will stay that way for years to come.

This will eventually become a stone pathway.

Oh, and one more miracle happened: Curly was able to snap a picture of Holly our neurotic yellow Lab before she jumped up and started barking and letting us know in no uncertain terms that she does NOT like cameras.

I want to wish you all a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!

UPDATE: There is one more November blessing I did not mention; check out my latest post over on Cooking Nick's Books to see what it is!

7 Quick Takes: Thanksgiving into Advent and Beyond

ONE: I hope your Thanksgiving was as lovely as ours! We spent the holiday near Blacksburg with my parents, my brother and his new wife (I need to come up with blog names for them. I'll call my brother Tuba Man because in high school and college he played the tuba in the marching band. My sister-in-law will be Auntie J until I can think of something better), and my parents' friends, Mr. and Mrs. B, came over for dinner as well. We had a lovely meal; Mr. and Mrs. B told us stories of their recent travels to Yellowstone (I blogged here, here, and here about our adventures there) and Alaska--a place we're hoping to visit, possibly this summer or maybe next. Maybe. My dad and Mr. B talked about how when they were kids, they had very little as far as material possessions, and how their home life was rich and full of love and life and how they didn't realize growing up how much of a struggle it was for their parents to raise and provide for them. The only photo I took on Thanksgiving day was this one of my mother's cute centerpiece:

TWO: On Friday Joe wanted to take the kids to a park that had a basketball court so Curly could practice dribbling and shooting. We thought there would be one at a certain local park, but there wasn't. We decided instead to go looking for a geocache hidden somewhere in the vicinity of this caboose. We didn't find that, either.

We finally found a basketball court at the old abandoned middle school building that Tuba Man and I had attended, and where Mom taught many more years ago when it was still the high school.

The hoops were so old and rusted, the boys were almost afraid to use them for fear they would knock them over with the ball.

THREE: While the boys were shooting hoops, I took a stroll around the school grounds. There are a lot of memories here, and it made me sad to see the building standing empty and neglected.

FOUR: Mom celebrated her 70th birthday recently, and we decided to treat her to dinner at Mountain Lake Hotel, where Dirty Dancing was filmed. (I didn't take this photo, of course; it was dark outside.)

Tuba Man and Auntie J, being newlyweds, had been calling each other "Baby" all weekend. (So sweet. Joe and I have never called each other Baby.) During dinner I was tempted to take a photo of Auntie J. sitting against the wall next to one of the stone columns, have Tuba Man standing in front of her with his hand out, and caption it "Nobody puts Baby in the corner." I didn't.

FIVE: On Sunday Joe and the boys performed their annual male bonding ritual, Leaf Blowing, Leaf Raking, and Leaf Hauling. They'll probably be doing that again this weekend.

We lit our Advent wreath (we're pretending that the red candle is really pink)

and had beef stew and cornbread for dinner. (Stay tuned to Cooking Nick's Books: A Sparks Fan's Food Blog for the recipes, which I hope will be up this weekend.)

SIX: When Larry and I visited the National Shrine Basilica a couple of weeks ago, I bought this devotional book:

Each day there is a quote from Chesterton or one of his contemporaries, a scripture passage, a prayer, and an action to perform in the spirit of Advent. Today's Chesterton quote was this:

All ceremony depends on symbol; and all symbols have been vulgarized and made stale by the commercial conditions of our time...Of all these faded and falsified symbols, the most melancholy example is the ancient symbol of the flame. In every civilized age and country, it has been a natural thing to talk of some great festival on which "the town was illuminated." There is no meaning nowadays in saying the town was illuminated...The whole town is illuminated already, but not for noble things. It is illuminated solely to insist on the immense importance of trivial and material things, blazoned from motives entirely mercenary...It has not destroyed the difference between light and darkness, but it has allowed the seller light to put out the greater...Our streets are in a permanent dazzle, and our minds in a permanent darkness.

He wrote these words in 1927. How true they still are today.

SEVEN: Christmas cards have started to arrive in the mail. People are putting Christmas lights on their houses. The whole town will soon be illuminated. Which means I'd better get off my duff and start doing something Christmas, like sending out cards and ordering presents. I'll stop back by here to say hello between now and the 25th, maybe with a Small Successes post about how I've finished everything I need to do way ahead of time and all that's left is to sit around and drink egg nog. Wouldn't that be something?

Head on over to Conversion Diary for Jen Fulwiler's Quick Takes for this week!