**Special Message—followed by Wednesday Reflection** Dear Reader: Over the weekend, my wife, Sofia, sent a reflection on our journey with LifeCraft and announced some exciting plans for the future. If you aren’t subscribed to our emails or didn’t see it, you can read it here. With these new plans, there is a serious need for support. I humbly ask you to consider making a donation today to support LifeCraft in the year to come. We have an ambitious goal of raising $150,000 before the end of the year. If you are able, please consider making your tax-deductible gift by following this link. No matter what the future brings, LifeCraft will always remain free to those seeking timeless truths of human flourishing. If you are unable to financially support our work at this time, or ever, please know your participation in our programs will always be the most important way to support our mission. **Thank you for being a part of LifeCraft!**

Imagine living-in the conviction that every aspect of our every day is perfectly arranged for our good. The life-giving power of such a conviction would come from the simple fact that it is true. The heart of our daily challenge is to remember this truth.

Having the right images in our mind goes a long way in helping us really to remember. Boethius gives us perhaps the perfect image for this end. He says that we live in “so great a master’s perfectly appointed house.” (Consolation of Philosophy, IV) Let us consider for a moment the power and beauty of this image, in order that it might have great effect in our life.

A human parent seeks to arrange absolutely everything in his home for the happiness of his family. To the extent that it is in his power so to arrange things, his loved ones are encompassed by a sea of good. May our own homes be an astounding witness to this reality, in all its wonderful details.

Now imagine a Father who loves perfectly, sees all, and has all power. To ‘imagine’ this is not make-believe. It is to stretch to grasp what is actually there, though at times so hard to see: the greatest master, who perfectly appoints his house. In every detail.

St. Thomas Aquinas says that wise men of old were intent on conveying this point above all others: that a provident God oversees the entire course of our life. Again, at the center of the human drama is not only whether we come to grasp this truth, but also whether we really remember it. Boethius had certainly ‘known’ this truth before he suffered a change of fortune. But then when Job-like he came in for great suffering, he failed to ‘remember’ what he had known. This of course is a pattern all too familiar to us.

Yet it brings us face to face with the big picture and the whole point of life. The house of the ‘world’ in which we live is arranged—as every house should be—for the sake of relationships. And the foundation of every relationship is learning really to see, and to trust.

That it is difficult, then, to remember Divine providence is itself an integral part of how well-arranged the house is. For our very struggles here should grow our relationship, by bringing us to clearer vision, and deeper trust.

When we read or hear of someone who has undergone much and comes through it with deeper faith, stronger hope, and greater love than before, something deep within us is thrilled. “That can be me!” We feel this is our very own drama, at the center of who we are.

Truly, we were made for this. And so even if we have not yet really seen the glorious truth, when we do see it, it will strike us as something we have seen before. It will be like a remembering. Of a truth that is always being offered to us. And thus is ours.

No wonder Boethius says that when finally we see this truth, our heart will cry out:
“Now I remember my fatherland—
Here was I born, here shall I stand!” ~ ~ ~

SIGNUP FOR OUR LIVE ONLINE READING OF BELLOC’S “A Remaining Christmas” Wednesday December 17th. ALL ARE WELCOME. Information and registration HERE.

LATEST PODCAST! JOSEPH and THE HIDDEN LIFE IN OUR HOMES. Join Sofia and me in discussing the strikingly beautiful but at times quite painful hiddenness of life in the home, using the amazing lens of the life of Joseph of Nazareth.  ALSO, CHECKOUT SOFIA’S CORNER for all our RESOURCES TO HELP YOU PREPARE FOR AND CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS.

And here is just one of our classic Christmas Read-Alouds: The Gift of the Magi: (Access these as a Podcast HERE.)

John Cuddeback

Husband, father, and professor of Philosophy. LifeCraft springs from one conviction: there is an ancient wisdom about how to live the good life in our homes, with our families; and it is worth our time to hearken to it. Let’s rediscover it together. Learn more.