Free review copy of my forthcoming e-book

Madonna des Kanonikus by Jan Van Eyck (detail; Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons). You can read my e-book in one sitting, but meditate on it for a lifetime.

I've been working on a new project I want your help with. I've written a short e-book that I think you'll love. It's on a topic dear to my heart. I'm keeping the specifics secret for a little while longer, but I'll tell you this much: it's on the spiritual life, and I believe it will change your life.

I want as many people as possible to read my e-book--not for my glory, but for God's. I want to help people become saints, and the first step towards union with God is knowing how to get there.

That's why I'm asking for your help. I only have so many readers. But many of you have your own blogs with as many or more followers than mine. So I have decided to give advance copies of my e-book to other bloggers who promise to help me spread the word.

If you have at least 100 followers on various social media, and have time in the next 3 weeks to read a short e-book and help me publicize it, please send me an email. I'm at crossini4774 at comcast dot net.

After you've read the e-book, please write a brief review on your blog. Or you could include a few lines in a 7 Quick Takes post, tweet about your reactions, or start a conversation on Facebook.

I plan to release the e-book for free download on Tuesday, June 11.

Can you help me?

A Whispered Hello

Our whispered hello to God and each other is called prayer.

I am not just reciting theology when I remind you that there is neither time nor distance when we live and move and breath in the Spirit. When someone dies or moves far away, I don’t have to say good-bye just whisper hello, a different kind of hello that moves with the speed of light to brighten each heart when I think of them.

As believers, we are all connected in the Mystical Body of Christ.

God is the great “I AM” who exists in yesterday, today and tomorrow. His Spirit mysteriously unites all of us, intimately present to each soul, all at the same time. Our whispered hello to God and each other is called prayer.

We are never alone. We live in the Spirit and He dwells in us. We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who pray for us and support us, they are as near to us as our next breath because they are also in the Spirit and He is in them. Let’s welcome the Word of God and the prayers of the faithful because they are like rays of Son shine in our hearts.

Virginity, Rape, and Loss

Elizabeth Smart, a kidnapping victim who was abducted at age 14 and then raped and held for nine months, stated recently that her religious upbringing had caused her to lose hope after being sexually violated. Based on a schoolteacher's talk about abstinence, Elizabeth concluded that after being forced to have sex, she no longer had any worth as a human being. "Why would it even be worth screaming out? Why would it even make a difference if you are rescued? Your life still has no value," she said.

This led to an intense flurry of Internet posts and commentary on the value of abstinence-only sex education.  Critics such as Calah Alexander focused on the fear-mongering aspects of abstinence-only programs, which sometimes compared a girl who had lost her virginity to a dirty glass of water or a chewed-up piece of gum. But perhaps a more helpful line of inquiry would have centered on the value of virginity itself and its relationship to the value of a human person.

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A Certain Way

Friedrich Schwinge painting US public domain

There is a certain way
of living in the presence of God
through which,
if the soul so desires,
it can remain always in prayer
and continually aflame
with love of God.

It is realized
by carrying out one's duties
with the thought of
doing God's will,
and taking delight in that.  
    
St. Alphonsus Rodriguiz

Math can be poetic

 I was good at arithmetic in school (adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing), but I never had a mathematical mind. I struggled through algebra. I don't retain dates or phone numbers well, despite my good memory. When a friend decided to major in math, I didn't understand it. How boring, dry, difficult, cold!

I've changed my opinion since homeschooling. D and M have the Rossini affinity for numbers. They're interest ignites mine. But beyond that, I've learned that math can be beautiful!

I first heard the term poetic math in this article from Mater at Magistra. Author Lesley Payne says that math, like literature, can " instill in our children awe toward the beautiful, poetic aspects of creation."  Scientists use math to discover laws of nature. So shouldn't lovers of beauty appreciate math as well?

 

Math, poetry and patterns

 

One thing that transformed my view on math was thinking about it in terms of patterns, not numbers. Joseph's coat, patchwork quilts, and even poems have patterns. In fact, we used all of these to include math in our unit on Joseph and His Brothers.
The simplest nursery rhyme has a pattern, a rhyme scheme that could as easily be called 1-2-1-2 as a-b-a-b. Shakespeare's sonnets have meter. Haiku is especially mathematical.

Find resources for poetic math in the rest of this post at Contemplative Homeschool.

I Forgot to Say Hello

all about melanie jean juneau

People look at me, their eyebrows shoot up, their mouths drop open and they sputter, ”YOU had 9 children??"

My writing is humourous and heart warming/ thoughtful and thought-provoking. Part of my call and my witness is to write the truth about children, family, marriage and the sacredness of life, especially a life lived in God.

Continue reading at....http://wp.me/P2JshK-yw

Preaching, Teaching, and Washing Dishes

"Wash more dishes," my spiritual director inevitably advises me. This kicks off a prolonged spate of whining on my part. My children are brilliant whiners, and they have taught me well. "But ... I'm not good at it!" I insist plaintively, sometimes silently, sometimes out loud. "And I don't like it. And I didn't do enough of it as a kid. Or as a young adult. I'm not meant to wash dishes. I'm better than that! And who cares about dishes anyway?" Oh, wait, the Holy Father recently told us no whining? But...

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