Building a culture of life

I took a walk tonight and marveled at the beauty of dusk. Despite living right in the heart of the city, we are surrounded by natural beauty -- birds, animals, lovely flowers and trees, children, clear sky, water ... Gave thanks to the Lord and was once more struck by how contingent it all is. There is no earthly reason that He had to make creation beautiful. He made it beautiful just because, because He loves beauty just as we love beauty only with an infinitely greater, truer, holier love. And out of love, He could take it away from us, or allow us to destroy it.

So that got me thinking that we ought to work HARD to hold onto the gifts He has so gratuitously surrounded us with.

When I got home, I finished reading the perfect post from http://www.studeo.blogspot.com/ on building the culture of life. Since I don't know how to link, go to the blog and read the seven points. They are just excellent! And then started thinking, I would like to come up with some ways to build the culture of life. Smaller than the writer at Studeo, who really has defined some core concepts. But ways that I myself would like to work on being part of the solution.

1. Support new families with a lot of encouragement, prayer, and gifts. As Pope John Paul II of blessed memory said, "The future of humanity passes by way of the family." Every new family is a slap in the face of our enemy. He would love to ruin them all.

2. Be open to our own children, and be open to other people's. How stupidly simple in theory, but how difficult in practice. Children can be exhausting, and selfish people, like me, have a million ways to avoid them even when we are living with them (even when we are co-sleeping!). And we need to make sure we don't overextend our strength and end up with a nervous breakdown. But really, I can be more attentive, listen better, be more focused, than I sometimes (ok, often) am.

3.Hospitality, especially to the single. Good food that retains some semblance of being prepared by a person rather than a machine; a table that looks like it was set for someone special; conversation, music, storytelling, strolling, poetry-reciting and piano-playing by us for us.

4. Family time that involves no screens at all. (Yes, I'm kind of a Luddite on this one.) Family time in which we figure out how to enjoy life together without the Nuk of electronic amusement. There's a place for passive entertainment, but we're building the culture of life, here. Let's learn to crochet, or weed the garden, or paint our toenails together.

5. Gratitude for whatever we have and an instant and irrevocable rejection of envy or wistfulness for something else. This world has no experience of peace, none. Even as ridiculous a Christian as I am can offer the world His peace if I am willing to accept, as from His hand, whatever I have or do not have, whatever I gain or lose.

6. Get serious about prayer. Huge. Get really, really, really serious about spending time in the presence of our Blessed Savior. No excuses, no limp-wristed sighing. Good grief, the only one who can help us is right here! As a corollary, I am going to be more intentional about offering Mass for the culture of life.

I'd love to hear other ideas from the other three people who occasionally read this blog.