The Values of Storytelling for the Family

Storytelling is one element that can preserve the family. It is an main element that can bind family members together.

The Devolution of the Forms of Entertainment

Entertainment in the modern world has been reduced to watching sports, playing video games, surfing online, chatting in social media and watching television.

It used to be that the main form of entertainment in the family is storytelling. Does mankind still value the art of storytelling?

An Anecdote That Shows the Importance of Telling Anecdotes

I once did an experiment with three nephews and a niece. I had the joy of "babysitting" them while my sister and brother-in-law spent some alone time. I was intent in not using the television as the surrogate baby-sitter.

Instead we spent the night taking turns telling stories. When we ran out of stories to tell I encouraged them to make up stories. We spent hours entertaining ourselves in mysteries, anecdotes, and because they were so young (5 - 8 years old), the occasional silliness. As one who takes the art of conversation as a necessary social requirement, I channeled their creativity in a healthy way.

Before long, they sister and brother-in-law returns and our night of storytelling was sadly over. Did we have fun? One point will answer that question. Not once they any of them suggested turning on the TV or playing video games.

It is my strong opinion that many families are at constant risk of falling apart or being torn apart by the modern world because of the absence of conversation. By conversation, we cannot limit it to the we-need-to-talk conversation about the dreaded subjects teenagers need to hear from their parents concerning drugs or romantic relationship. Conversations can be about every topic including storytelling. It is likewise my strong opinion that the families who have a solid conversational life are the most intact and the strongest to face the dangers the institution of the family faces today.

Here are some tips from an interesting article to help you restore the art of storytelling: 

If you like the tips, consider reading the whole article by clicking on the picture below or by following this link: https://americaneedsfatima.org/Family-Tips/the-transforming-art-of-catholic-storytelling.html

Marriage should be honorable and pure

Marriage should be honorable and pure.

Many times we forget marriage is not only about intercourse. There is a holy aspect to marriage that has nothing to do with intercourse.

We live in a world where everything seems to be a euphemism for sex like love, romance, intimacy, affection, dancing, etc.

Marriage is not about legal intercourse. It is, as a contract, a mutual agreement to raise a family, and, as a sacrament, to help each other attain sanctity. It is also a vocation, and, as such, a calling from God to a form of perfection. Honor and purity are part of that perfection.

Feminism At Its Worse

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/reverse-gendercide-feminist-boasts-i-aborted-my-baby-because-it-was-a-boy

One of the main movements that has contributed to the destruction of Holy Matrimony is the feminist movement.

This movement seeks to establish absolute equality between husband and wife, father and mother, male and female.

One thing is to advocate for equality. It's quite another to promote one over another to the point of selective breeding. This is a form of hatred that expresses the final stage of the feminist movement.

Let no man put asunder

What God has joined, let not man put asunder. Mk. 10:9

How permanent is marriage? How permanent should it be? Or, perhaps, the better question is how permanent did God intend it to be.

Modern man can try to redefine nature or the finality of nature. Despite all his efforts, he will never be able to change the limitations God has set upon creation. To each creature, its own finality has been determined by its very creator. 

There's no difference with marriage. As an institution established by God, its very nature and finality was defined already at its inception. The phrase "what God has joined" has a special meaning when we see that the word for "unite" in Greek is syzeúgnymi which actually means to be "jointly-yoked."

This denotes that marriage has the finality of joining man and woman under one common task, which is procreation and raising children. This yoke, in this sense, can synonymously be  called task, duty, obligation or finality. Once this yoke has been jointly taken, by its very nature, and, above all, by divine decree, the union must not be broken by man, neither by magistrate, king nor pope.

But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother; and shall cleave to his wife. And they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

And in the house again his disciples asked him concerning the same thing.And he saith to them: Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if the wife shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery. (Mk 10:6-12)

To defend holy matrimony, it's necessary to remind mankind of God's original intent for marriage. By knowing the creators intent, we can better understand the nature and finality of marriage and, in turn, attain its perfection.

Defending Innocence

To defend holy matrimony, it is also necessary to defend all the aspects of procreation and raising children. On top of that list is the main concern to preserve the innocence of children.

Innocence is above all expressed in the beatitude "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God." What is purity but not being stained. What is innocence but the absence of stain.

This co-relation between innocence and purity is of utmost importance in raising children and in helping them transition into adulthood without the modern drama of adolescence.

Innocence is best seen in the face of a child as they begin to see the world. There's nothing more precious than when the child is lost in contemplation of even the simplest of things. Innocence is also best seen in the eyes of a saint who never abandoned their childhood innocence mistaking childish infantilism with the childlike view of the God's creation.

"Unless you become as one of these little ones," referring to innocence rather than size or naivete, "you shall not enter the kingdom of Heaven.

Western and Christian man has sensed this importance. The modern world does everything to distract us from this simple truth--that innocence, which gave us indelible soul-shifting experiences and true happiness, naturally matures into wisdom. We can see the drive to destroy this innocence in children expressed in the homosexual and transgender agendas. What hardness of heart and darkness of intention would lead regulations and policies that would introduce the world of impurity to the hearts of the pure? Only God can say.

As for our part, we need to steel our resolve by reminding ourselves the happiness we experienced in our time of innocence and how this is important for a child to experience that he may start and end his life always seeing God in his creation, in society and in his Church.

If innocence were preserved in children and guided to grow into wisdom, how much superior society would be?

The many faces of love - sibling bonding

Many times the modern family becomes so bogged down by the allure of modern technology and entertainment that we have relied on them entirely to build familial bonds. Much to the chagrin of many parents, children end up preferring to spend more time with gadgets than the parents themselves, much less the rest of the family. Older siblings don't see the value of truly bonding with their younger siblings. Many parents have lost the art of captivating the attention of their children. 

Without a doubt this is one of the common symptoms of the modern family. Uncorrected, it will eventually contribute to the dissolution of familial bonds. 

How precious were those moments when children hung on every word of the stories being told. Now, instead, and sadly, they sit mesmerized by the TV, computer or game console. 

In defending Holy Matrimony, it's necessary not to lose this custom and if lost strive to restore it. Man is a creature of habit. Habits can always be formed or forgotten. Leisure time focused on something simple is important to form lasting familial bonds. 

The true union bonded by marriage

Modern man has transformed everything into a pure economic contact. In the family, it became a trend in some circles to pit husbands and wives in a Marxist class struggle.

In holy matrimony, what exists is not class struggle but a natural and mutual caring that issues from two individuals who have vowed to be as one flesh.