Big weekend this weekend.
It will be #1's confirmation at church. He's been taking classes one day a week since October, and he's ready. He's pretty mature for his age, I think - but then what do I know - I'm just the mother.
Last week, Main Man sat him down and had a little talk with him about Buddhism, Main Man's choice off the spiritual menu. I don't think he meant to convert him on the spot. It would be silly to think he could. #1 and his brothers have been attending church and church school pretty much every week with me since they started breathing - technically even before. To think that #1 would decide a week before his big celebration that he was going to abandon it all and follow the Buddhist route would be rather ludicrous. Still, it was important for Main Man to discuss his faith with him, and it was important to me that Main Man have that opportunity.
We'll have a houseful for brunch on Sunday after the service. I love hosting brunches. They just don't seem as stressful as dinners. We don't have a very big house, so we usually do up a buffet table in the kitchen. Then people can eat at the diningroom table or in the livingroom on trays as they visit. It will be fairly informal. And if the weather's nice, some people may choose to eat in the back yard. That would work out well too.
I'm not the world's best entertainer. I love hosting people in my home, but I'm not the greatest housekeeper, so getting things ready for company is always a little stressful. Saturday will be plum full of dusting, scrubbing vacuuming, etc., and I mean for the whole family. Believe me, I won't be the only maid here!
The tricky thing is that my mother-in-law actually arrives today, so we'll have to do our cleaning blitz around her. Some of you may be saying - get her to help - but, no, I'd rather we do it ourselves, thank you. Sometimes when she helps with things, it's like a two-year-old helping with the baking; it requires more work than doing it myself.
Others of you may be thinking, why didn't Library Mama clean up before MIL was due to arrive? That would be another great question. This has been a very busy week at work. Yesterday was the track and field meet - lots of planning goes into that - and today, my Big Boss from the Big Office comes to tour my library. (Under Pressure!!) Suffice it to say, this weekend snuck up on me like a cat on tiptoe.
And speaking of sneaking up, time to leave for work is sneaking up. Have a great weekend, everyone!
About Me
- Library Mama
- I am a mom, a wife, and a teacher-librarian. I have four boys at home: Main Man (44), #1 (14), #2 (11), and #3 (7). Although they keep me very busy, I also look after a library for an elementary student population of 500 (give or take). I love my family; I love my job.
14 comments:
Sad weekend for me.
Mentok is a Buddhist? Hahahahahaha...Im sorry. I mean... Heh...Hahahhahah. Kidding.
Confirmation? You Mormon? Catholic? Protestant? You don't have to tell me. I'm not trying to convert you or anything.
You are now in my control!
You just bought yourself a couple more reincarnations as a garden slug with those comments, Hippo ;-)
Coincidentally, the word verification I got actually spelt "Obey"! Freaky.
Just for the sake of maybe starting some entertaining debate, I'll make a few inflammatory comments...
If you ask me, what's "ludicrous" is the the concept of childhood confirmation employed by many Christian denominations.
Most people only start thinking seriously about spiritual matters in their early teens. To pretend that a 12-year-old is done his spiritual reflection and ready to be "confirmed" in one religion over all others is a joke, frankly.
Christianity has many important rituals I appreciate. Infant baptism (debatably) is an important ritual for the community...the community committing itself to the infant. Marriage is an important ritual. Funerals are important rituals.
But confirmation? For all the hoopla, it's an utterly meaningless ritual.
But it is a good excuse for a brunch, and I love brunches! ;-)
Mentok, I am ignoring you. Except to point out that the "obey" in your first comment must be referring to what you must do this weekend to help me get ready for all this company. :)
Hippo - It would take much more than that to control me. Just ask Mentok!
And we are Anglican. I suppose you would call us Episcopalian down your way.
I couldn't post earlier...cuz the verification was down. I agree with Mentok about infant baptism....but he must understand not all Christian religions baptize infants. My religion gave me awhile to decide for myself...however my parents pressured me.
In college I learned of other religions out there...pro's and con's of everything....interpreted whether there is a Supreme Being....or just a natural force...
I looked at everything...and just came to the conclusion that my religion looked as good or better than every other religion.
When I die...I go to heaven.
When Mentok dies, if he's lucky, he turns into a moth.
I'd rather be ressurected than turn into a bug.
Hey Mentok....when you're a bug...do you retain all past thoughts of when you were human?
Then why the hell do these damn bugs fly into the bug zapper?
I could never deal with a MIL in the house while cleaning! Ick!
I like entertaining and the cooking but the cleaning before and after I would rather do without.
We don't have conformation in the Orthodox religion I was born in.
I say that because I never chose my religion not that I practice it much either.
How did i get here the first time.
I don't know to be honest or I should say I dont remeber. I may hit 100 blogs a night but it would be safe to say through one of my readers.
Have a nice weekend :)
Mentok is Buddhist...
Rofl. Okay I'm sorry.
Just had to get that out of my system. It's out. Have a good weekend.
LOL!
I am new to this blog. But I see where Mentok is coming from. I am Christian, but we don't do "Confirmation". I think my husband and his family went that route.
We do what is called a "dedication" with our infants. Basically, the church agrees to assist us in the direction we are going raising the kids. We are all one big family who will support and encourage the child as they grow.
We believe that it is a personal choice to choose to follow Christ. As Mentok said, one can't really be sure about that choice until they are far older. We are taking our children to church, reading the bible, praying with them and showing them what we believe (by teaching and example), but ultimately, it is up to them what they do with that info. My husband has tried to explain the whole confirmation thing to me and I still don't get the point! LOL
Same with the infant baptism. Infants will go to heaven if they die, no matter what. So is that a belief they are somehow "Saved" from hell if they don't get baptised??
I am very curious about this stuff and do not mean to offend or anger anyone. I seriously want to know (if anyone has the time to enlighten me, that is!!) what it all means to the people who participate in it.
That being said, I know this is a very special time for you and your son. Enjoy it!!!
Have a great brunch and I know hear you on the MIL front. TRUST ME.
Hehe...Buddhist.
Thanks for all the comments, everyone.
Hippo - Mentok was very well behaved this weekend. You would have been very proud.
Mentok - I've addressed your "inflammatory" comments elsewhere (ie: our dinner table). Thank you for all your help this weekend. Couldn't have done it without you.
Barbara - Yes, I even survived cleaning my house with my MIL around. Whenever she asked what she could do to help, I cheerfully replied, "Oh, just sit and keep me company..."
At one point, she asked Mentok what she could to to help, and he asked her to dust the livingroom. He soon discovered what I already knew - that if you give her a job, she requires direct supervision. He found her "dusting" under the couch, but she didn't dust the stereo centre or the bookshelf. (!?)
Walker - I'm with you on liking entertaining, but not the clean-up. The one good thing about all my work Saturday is that now my house is fairly clean for a little while.
Lowa - Hi there. Thanks for visiting. Nice to meet you.
When it comes to baptism, I regard it as a welcoming of a child into the community of the Church and the family of God. I suppose I see it as more of a "dedication", as your faith calls it, than a "saving" of the infant. I personally find it the most touching ceremony in our worship cycle. I find it difficult to be at one without tearing up.
Confirmation is a follow-up to baptism. Sometime between the ages of 11 and 13, when a youth understands more abstract concepts and can discuss them coherently, they begin to take a class conducted by the minister. The class is a primer in the theological teachings of our faith and the meanings behind some of the symbolic traditions. Upon completion of the class, instead of a graduation ceremony, the students participate in a "confirmation" ceremony, in which they are once again welcomed into the family of God, only this time as a full-fledged member, not as a child.
I don't see this as my son promising to be an Anglican forever (although I hope he will be an active member in some Christian church as an adult). I do see it as the celebration of the growth of his comprehension of our faith.
Sorry - didn't mean to bore you to death - but I hope this answers some of your questions. Of course, this is just my opinion - and opinions are like noses; everybody has one. ;)
Do come visit again soon.
Have a great week, everybody!
First of all, LM, yes it was a touching ceremony. I appreciated it far more than I thought I would and agree that it is a good experience for the young people involved. My previous remarks were intentionally inflammatory and I unreservedly withdraw them.
Hippo - Literal reincarnation (e.g. coming back as a bug) is more akin to Hinduism than Buddhism, although some Buddhist denominations have "weasel word" beliefs that amount to much the same thing.
Modern Zen/Westernized Buddhists tend to describe reincarnation in the context of the unity and interconnectedness of all existence, which is a scientific fact.
The best symbolic way to imagine it is the concept of a wave. A wave appears to be an individual thing but is actually an interconnected part of a greater whole. It would therefore be irrational to talk about a wave "being born" or "dying".
As for why bugs fly into the zapper... being inferior creatures, bugs throw themselves headlong into self-destruction over and over again because they falsely believe that the shiny, pretty thing will bring them happiness and contentment, in spite of repeated evidence that it is actually killing them.
How lucky that we humans are so much more evolved ;-)
Hehe. Zen Buddhism.
Thanks so much for explaining it to me! It wasn't boring at all:) I understand more now and I am sure if I had been there to witness it, I would have been extremely emotional!!
I hope that you and your family had a wonderful weekend:) What great memories!
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