When I was in school, I was hardly much of a reader. I was that kid who would skim (I was
too lazy to even read) Spark Notes for the test or quickly review the chapters
that counted. I remember in
elementary school, to get the free Pan Pizza from Pizza Hut, I had to log 40
minutes of reading every day. I
counted the 15 minutes of reading the comics while I sat on the toilet in our
downstairs bathroom.
With
that said, I don’t know what’s gotten into me this year. I’m reading one, two, three, sometimes four
books at a time. This is mostly
because I probably have a little ADD and choose what I read on how I’m feeling
at the moment. Probably my
favorite thing I bought earlier this year is my book stand that I found in a
garage sale. This baby holds my books
up for me. This may seem like
another point of laziness, but it’s actually great for meal times. Since I was a kid, I always had to read
something at the breakfast table, and it started with the back of cereal
boxes. But after solving the
puzzles of Toucan Sam for the twentieth time, I would get bored, so it moved on
to the morning comics. Then soon
it was the sports page.
Now
today, because a lot of what I do is online, there’s only so much time I can
stare at a screen before I get an eye/head ache. Why would I want to look at another screen like the TV or
Facebook during my lunch break when I’m constantly online during the day? I need the break and I love how I have
my bookstand to hold my books and just be still for a moment with words on real
paper.
My dear book stand |
Now
I’m a slow reader, so I remember after several weeks (maybe months) of reading
both Point Man: How a Man Can Lead His
Family by Steve Farrar and Forming
Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus by Sherry
Weddell (both great reads by the way), I finished them at the same time, and I
didn’t know what to do. So I
picked up another book and another and another. I picked up Matthew Kelly’s The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic which has great insight but
there’s only so much Catholicism I can take at one time. So I picked up Blink: The Power of Thinking Without
Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell which is fascinating, but I also need some
humor candy so I re-picked up On Writing
by Stephen King, which is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read back in high
school. Finally, last night, still
unsettled, I picked up Rome Sweet Home
by Scott and Kimberly Hahn (all of these books just happen to be on my
bookshelf by the way, people just give me books to read) and before I knew it,
I read thirty pages in one sitting, which was a record for me.
Rome Sweet Home, which reads very fast,
is about Scott and Kimberly Hahn’s, both previously devout Protestants, and how
they converted to Catholicism by finding out about its truth in scripture. The part I read last night that caught
my attention was Kimberly’s decision to find out about the truth about
contraception.
She writes, “Being a
Protestant, I did not know any friends who did not practice birth control. I’d been counseled to practice birth
control as reasonable, responsible Christian behavior. In premarital counseling, we had been
asked what kind of birth control we were going to use, not whether or not we
were going to use it.”
I was shocked.
Actually, for someone who claims to know his faith, I’m ashamed to find
out that I didn’t know teachings on contraception were solely a Catholic thing.
Encouraged by his wife, Scott began to read up on it,
too. With lament he writes: “I grew disturbed. The Roman Catholic Church stood alone as the only
“denomination” in all the world with the courage and integrity to teach this
most unpopular truth.”
Now
I know here on Catholic Fried Rice I write a lot about manhood, pornography,
but I have yet to even scratch a topic I am also very passionate about:
contraception and contraceptive mentality. This is where I have to put my tact-goggles on because, if
I’m quite honest, I have been afraid to write about it knowing that many
people, even Catholics, even family, would disagree with me. I’ve been afraid to disrespect anyone’s
opinions. People argue that women should
be able to decide what to do with their bodies and who are old, non-married men
in Rome to tell us what or what not to do in our bedrooms. Well, I will tell you that I am a man
who used to use contraceptives all the time back in high school. I’m now married and experiencing the
real thing without them, and I have A LOT to say about the subject.
And that’s where I’ll cliff hang into tomorrow. My editor (i.e. the lovely Mimi Aujero)
and I would like to take some more
time on this next section that partly pertains to us and our decision to be a contraceptive-free home. Stay-tuned for
part-two tomorrow!
Amén.
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