The Ethics of Beauty (Free Webinar Link)

This free online event has me thinking!

"... interview with author and Orthodox Christian theologian Dr. Timothy Patitsas to discuss his book The Ethics of Beauty for an evening to rediscover the older Beauty-first response to moral questions, the integrity of the soul, and the best possible human life." January 26th, 8:00EST

Ethics of Beauty When Dealing with Children

This topic (focusing on Beauty first to help you figure out what to do in a situation) makes me think of a scene from Hard Times by Charles Dickins. Dickins clearly contrasts two opposite ways of thinking about a thing. In the passage, Mr. Gradgrind is trying to teach a little girl (whose father rides, raises, heals, and trains horses for the circus) about horses. 

I imagine that little Sissy, who has grown up with horses, had a more beautiful answer inside of her, but Mr. Gradgrind squashed it.)

Artist: Joseph Clayton Clark

‘Girl number twenty, ...Give me your definition of a horse.’

(Sissy Jupe thrown into the greatest alarm by this demand.)

‘Girl number twenty unable to define a horse!’ said Mr. Gradgrind, for the general behoof of all the little pitchers.  ‘Girl number twenty possessed of no facts, in reference to one of the commonest of animals!  Some boy’s definition of a horse...

‘Bitzer,’ said Thomas Gradgrind.  ‘Your definition of a horse.’

‘Quadruped.  Graminivorous.  Forty teeth, namely twenty-four grinders, four eye-teeth, and twelve incisive.  Sheds coat in the spring; in marshy countries, sheds hoofs, too.  Hoofs hard, but requiring to be shod with iron.  Age known by marks in mouth.’  Thus (and much more) Bitzer.

‘Now girl number twenty,’ said Mr. Gradgrind.  ‘You know what a horse is.’

She curtseyed again, and would have blushed deeper, if she could have blushed deeper than she had blushed all this time. 

The Ethics of Beauty

If Mr. Gradgrind had even considered the beauty of a horse, or the beauty of the bond between a person and his horse, then he might not have totally alienated poor Sissy. Instead he saw the horse through a lens of science, facts, figures.

Photo courtesy FreePik

It makes me wonder, do I ever see my children or the things they care about through a lens that belittles them? 

Thanks be to God for the prayer At the Beginning of the Day by Metropolitan Philaret, which includes these wise words:

 "Bless my dealings with all who surround me... Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others."

Metropolitan Philaret

Last October, I was able to attend our Diocesan Assembly and hear Eugenia Constantinou talk about how an Orthodox way of thinking differs from a modern Western way of thinking. 

Listening to her speak, I realized that often, much of my thinking does not line up with the Orthodox φρονιμα (way of thinking, way of seeing the world, way of approaching life - one of those hard words to translate). I'm not talking about my thinking about church that doesn't line up. It's my secular thinking: situations that I don't realize that I'm seeing wrongly, in a non-orthodox way. 

Thinking Orthodox

First, I want to read this book by Presvytera Eugenia. I'm also considering registering for the free interview with Timothy Patitsas. (Thursday morning or evening? I need to ask the event organizers and I'll update this post when I find out!)

Make Your Own Free Icon Coloring Page

I made this one year for our annual pilgrimage for our beloved Saint Raphael of Brooklyn

We have enjoyed free icon coloring pages like these in the past, but sometimes I can't find the saint I want.  

No worries - it's easy to make your own!

I was raised in the 80's on the TV show MacGyver, and his name became a verb for us, any time we needed to cobble something together we didn't have.

MacGyver rigs up a lie detector.

It seems that this idea of "macgyvering" seeped into my bones, because it has been my default response many times in my life.

My high school drama program couldn't afford scripts and royalties? We macgyvered plays ourselves.

My pantry didn't have the ingredients for a recipe? I macgyvered a substitution.

I couldn't find an icon coloring page for my children? I made one.

And you can make one for the children in your life, too!

How to Make a Free Icon Coloring Page

Step 1 - Icon and Clear plastic 

You need a container with a lid slightly larger than the size of the icon you want to use. I save clear plastic fruit & bakery containers for this purpose.

I've scored some very large ones at Coffee Hour - when someone brings muffins or mini-cinnamon buns from Sam's Club. 

This is a small berry carton for a small icon.

Cut the lid off, so you can place it over your icon.

I decided to make a coloring page of the icon of Saint Monica instead, since she is my patron saint, and we already have a lot of St. Herman materials.

Step 2 - Permanent Marker

Trace the major lines of the icon onto the clear plastic. You may want a back-up plastic lid, in case you mess up the first one.

Keep taking it off and putting it back on to see what you still need to trace. The goal is not to trace every detail - just the major lines. Sometimes, instead of coloring pages, these are called Black Line Drawings. That name might help you make choices about what to trace.

Step 3 - Cut out your Flat Template

My icon is St. Monica asking the Lord Jesus to help her son. 

I didn't like how the image of Jesus turned out on my plastic rendition, so I decided to cut it out. I can tell the story of St. Monica to children and explain that she is gesturing to Christ in prayer.

Step 4 - Make a Copy onto white paper 

Our home printer makes copies, but you could also ask your local priest if you could borrow the church's copy machine. Or you could take it to Fed Ex or Kinkos.

After the original copy, I decided to enlarge it 160% so the icon coloring page would indeed fill a whole page. 

Step 5 - Revise your Icon Coloring Page

I made a couple of copies, so that I could play with it. I eventually decided NOT to include the pattern on the dalmatica. 

I did use correction tape ($1 at Dollar General) to remove the faint line of the original plastic.

I also took my permanent marker and went back over some lines that looked faded.

Finally, I printed her name using Algerian font and made another copy. 

If you can, scan the image as a pdf, to save it to your computer for future use. 

Also, I put the tracing pages and plastic in our "Holy Burn Can" - which is just where we keep things like that to burn later. If your family doesn't regularly burn holy trash, your priest probably does. If you have a son who serves in the alter ask him about it - it might even be his job!

And that, my friends, is how you macgyver a free icon coloring page.