Well, it has been a month since my last post to the blog so I figure I'll post again whether it needs it or not. Things have been going along pretty well. Sheri's morning sickness (which she had pretty much all the time) is beginning to abate some. We went to the nurse/midwife last week and got to see the baby. We had heard the heartbeat the time before but this time Sheri mentioned that she has a history of twins in her family. She asked if Anita, the very cool nurse midwife, could tell if there were two in there just by listening for a heartbeat. She wasn't sure so she said the best way to tell would be to take a look so she brought in the ultrasound machine. So we got to see little Asa/Lucy moving around in there. Way too soon to be able to tell the sex but it was pretty amazing to see that little life that Sheri and I have created. Makes me excited and a little scared too. Gotta start thinking about car seats and strollers before too long now.

I've been re-reading Scott Russell Sanders Hunting for Hope recently. He's an Enlish professor at the U of Indiana who has a very thoughtful take on raising kids with a social and environmental justice ethic without making them feel hopeless about the problems that are facing their generation. This really resonates with me right now. How do I maintain my hope for the future and try to instill it in my child when the world seems to have lost its mind? Politically, we have an administration that tells outright lies to justify a war we shouldn't have waged, an administration that passes tax cuts for millionaires while cutting programs that feed the hungry, an administration that says that it is morally wrong for gay folks to marry but has no problem with condoning torture. Economically, we have a culture that encourages us to consume more stuff, bigger stuff, new and improved stuff; despite the costs to our peace of mind, our families and our planet. Crassness pervades our culture, Paris Hilton's utterly banal existence fascinates the media, shallowness and narcissism seem to be the only requirements for stardom and both young women and young mens bodies become commoditites that are used to sell more product.

Sanders admits that he is much too likely to focus on the negative which is a dangerous tendency in a father. I must admit that I'm guilty of this as well. Sanders finds reasons for hope though; fidelity, to people, to places, to principles; nature, its resiliency and the peace it can provide; good work done with pride; the divine, Sanders is not dogmatic at all about faith but he does firmly believe that there is a creative force of some kind that is good. I tend to agree. When I think about living mindfully and raising a child in this environment, I find that my thoughts seem to settle close to home. I want to teach Asa/Lucy to garden and to share our vegetables with our neighbors. I want her to get to know the elderly Japanese American man who lives across the street and loves to tell stories about our neighborhood 50 years ago. I want him to spend time with his Aunt Boo and Aunt Lori who will show him that God doesn't care who we love only that we love wholeheartedly. In the summer I want her to walk to the public pool down the street and make friends with kids of all colors. I want him to know that the money we spend on groceries at the locally owned grocery store helps support our neighbors better than more than what we might spend at Target.

I don't have any particular parenting philosophy. I'm not sure that I'd agree with any one way to do it anyhow. What I do know, and what I want my child to know is that the world is good, that we are called to care for our neighbors, and that grace abounds.