Sophronismos
Friday, February 16, 2007
Thanks, Wendy, Sorlil, and Jae for your comments on my last post. I totally agree that it has to be a decision that a family comes to on their own. Yes Wendy, I'd love more info about your delayed vax schedule. Maybe it'll help me sort things out in my head. And I totally wasn't offended by any of the points you made - I'm always open to different points of view.......
......even though it probably didn't seem that way from my reaction to that anonymous commenter. LOL! :) It's not that I wasn't open to what they were saying, it was just the dumb tone of the comment that made momma-bear's hormonal claws come out. I'm actually thankful for the comment because it made me realize how strongly I feel about soaking in as much credible information as possible before DH and I make any decisions about vaccinations....and it was sort of fun to pretend that the commenter was every person I might come across in real life who looks at people that embrace non-mainstream parenting choices as irresponsible freak shows. Not that I have a huge abundance of people like that in my life...but it was cool to have a sort of "virtual punching bag", if you will.
I'm not going to let myself get overwhelmed with the choices. Afterall, this is just the beginning of a myriad of tough decisions that DH and I will have to make as parents. I might as well get used to it and go with the flow. I know that God will tell us what to do.....I'd better get accustomed to handing my child over to the Lord and trusting in His divine provision and protection, lest I be one of those nervous-wreck mommies who worry themselves sick over their children's safety. That would be no way to live.
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind"
-2 Tim 1:7
DH and I just read about how "sound mind" is sophronismos in Greek, which literally means "safe mind"....denoting safe thinking and clear understanding; the ability to make right decisions.
I'm just going to believe that the spirit of "sophronismos" reigns in our lives as parents......as opposed to the spirit of fear and doubt. Amen!
......even though it probably didn't seem that way from my reaction to that anonymous commenter. LOL! :) It's not that I wasn't open to what they were saying, it was just the dumb tone of the comment that made momma-bear's hormonal claws come out. I'm actually thankful for the comment because it made me realize how strongly I feel about soaking in as much credible information as possible before DH and I make any decisions about vaccinations....and it was sort of fun to pretend that the commenter was every person I might come across in real life who looks at people that embrace non-mainstream parenting choices as irresponsible freak shows. Not that I have a huge abundance of people like that in my life...but it was cool to have a sort of "virtual punching bag", if you will.
I'm not going to let myself get overwhelmed with the choices. Afterall, this is just the beginning of a myriad of tough decisions that DH and I will have to make as parents. I might as well get used to it and go with the flow. I know that God will tell us what to do.....I'd better get accustomed to handing my child over to the Lord and trusting in His divine provision and protection, lest I be one of those nervous-wreck mommies who worry themselves sick over their children's safety. That would be no way to live.
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind"
-2 Tim 1:7
DH and I just read about how "sound mind" is sophronismos in Greek, which literally means "safe mind"....denoting safe thinking and clear understanding; the ability to make right decisions.
I'm just going to believe that the spirit of "sophronismos" reigns in our lives as parents......as opposed to the spirit of fear and doubt. Amen!
Labels: controversial topics, health, spirituality
posted by Unkempt Mommy at 6:54 PM
5 Comments:
Hi! I've been lurking for months - since before you got your bfp! - but wanted to jump in here and wish you luck in making this tough decision.
People blame the "rise" in autism on so many things, vaxing, ultrasound, who knows what else... but the truth is, no-one knows for sure. There are so many factors during pregnancy, birth and beyond that we cannot control.
(book rec! Having Faith: An Ecologist's Journey to Motherhood - I think this is the title... very thoughtful look at environmental factors and more)
I think I should point out that the "autism spectrum" has broadened considerably in the last 20 years to include many kids who previously would have been called "normal" or "very slightly weird." (like ds, 12, who is extremely charming but does have Asperger's)
It is worth thinking long & hard about doing anything like this on our children's behalf. I'm happy to have the information so it is not something we do blindly.
For our family, in the end, we have decided that the diseases we vax against are too terrible to think about not protecting them the best way we know how. (even if it is flawed)
Back to lurking now...!!! :-)
Amen, sister! Just don't name your kid sophronismos... :o)
I agree totally with Jennifer in Toronto. My 11 year old Aspie daughter would have just been considered odd or weird if she had been born in a previous generation.
I also agree with Danielle-sophronisms would be a terrible name. :)
You guys are no fun! Sophronismos is currently at the top of our potential boy name list. LOL :)
Thanks for all the input, gals. I really appreciate it. Jennifer, thanks for the book recommendation - I will certainly check it out - I read the description on Amazon.com and it looks really interesting.
I watched this video on the dangers of vaccinations today. It's long and boring and the Australian dialect was a little hard for me to decipher at times, but it had a lot of good statistical info. The problem is, it's from one of those sources that I'm not sure I can trust to be objective, as they seem to be anti-vax-at-all-costs.
You better get used to Australian accents. You are having a baby, therefore there is a strong chance The Wiggles might be in your future.
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