Posts by Well-Read Mom
A Journey to the Hiding Place
A Reflection on the Consolation of Sacred Scripture by Nicki Johnston When the public celebration of Mass was suspended because of COVID, we informed our four young boys that we would be watching Mass online for a while. My four-year old looked up at me with his big blue eyes and asked, “But Mama, how…
Read MoreTill I Read With My Family…
I changed my mindset as to the role of reading in my family’s life. At some point, reading became something I did with my family rather than as an escape from them. Instead of trying to sneak in “me time” to read a book, I made reading integral to our home.
Read MoreAn Ode to the Ordinary
Wendell Berry’s Jayber Crow is a meandering, poetic homage to community, human relationship, and leisure in a bygone era of pastoral, small town living. It forces us to ask: what really is most important in this life?
Read MoreThe Sacredness of Names In Jayber Crow
Wendell Berry is not alone in elevating the sacredness of names. Every mother knows the tremendous honor and responsibility of choosing, along with her husband, a name for each child.
Read MoreWendell Berry, Finding Life in Limits
6th, in the heart of rural Kentucky, Carla, Colleen, and I convened around the kitchen table of the Berrys. Our conversation, which for me was a taste of heaven, lasted three hours. “Mr. Berry, I live in a small town, and for 30 years, I have wrestled with the limits of small-town life. You live in a remote area too. Do you ever think, ‘I have to get out of here; I need more?’ What is it like for you? Can you find what you need here”? I ventured to ask.
Read MoreMotherhood: An Unexpected Invitation to Leisure
Mothers, view your vocation as a catalyst, not an impediment, for true leisure. Place yourselves with serene confidence in His care and constantly reflecting on His wondrous ways.
Read MoreMothering: The On-Going Birth Story
It’s easy to tell ourselves that we do not have time or energy to “take away” from mothering and give to books. What if we’re not taking anything away from our children when we read, when we become more humanly dense? Our kids learn so much more by who we are than by what we say. Perhaps our reading and contemplating, perhaps our time sharing with other women are some of the most profound acts we make as a mothers.
Read MoreBring Love into Your Home
As we begin The Year of the Family, Mother Teresa’s words encourage us: “It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. Bring love into your home, for this is where our love for each other must start.” Saint Mother Teresa How do we bring love…
Read MoreFORMING THE MORAL IMAGINATION
We are together in Well-Read Mom to awaken our moral imagination to a greater truth of reality. This awakening, we believe, can benefit our lives and the lives of our families as well as impact the broader culture.
Read MoreOn the Art of Walking Alone
by Jane Elizabeth Holman I’m an admittedly picky walker. I don’t like too much cold or heat, I don’t enjoy uphill stretches, and I prefer bucolic surroundings (which are in short supply in my suburban neighborhood). You might find me walking on a warm fall afternoon—if I’ve thoughtfully driven myself somewhere pretty with a mostly…
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