a story about how to use The Faith Kit based on the books of Robert J. Cormier (www.thefaithkit.org )
He would like to have stayed in bed. But that was nothing new. And this was still a workday, and more or less it was time to get up. As always, the first step was to roll over. Laying on his back would prevent him from falling back to sleep. Then, as almost always happened, his eye caught his cross, or rather Sunrise Through the Cross which was hanging on the wall opposite their bed. Seeing this sunrise helped him to get up, and better than that: The picture reminded him of his faith. It did this NOT with words, the words of several doctrines, but rather with a scene that brought together all the basics in a single beautiful visual statement.
Onto the bathroom! In the bathroom he kept a calendar. That's how he reminded himself of what day it was. It was also how he reminded himself of where in the year he was. He had learned to Love the Year , to pay attention to weather, and the sky, the seasons and the feasts, and to live more richly in many other ways as well.
Always he took notice of the No2C's pasted to the left of his mirror. This one was finely printed, and included an explanation, but he knew well what it meant: to practice the love of self he must resist comparing himself to others and criticizing himself for things he cannot change. He also knew that he needed to be reminded of this often, and so No2C's was also hand-lettered on several things he was sure to look at every day.
No2C's was reinforced by the Whence that was posted on the inside bathroom mirror.
(When the kids looked in their mirror, they saw their faces labeled D.O.R.K. They put up with this because some of their friends labeled themselves with inexpensive D.O.R.K. jewelry. The kid's bedroom featured posters. One was the Map of Life that they had not asked for but accepted because it was so colorful.)
Finishing in the bathroom, he walked down the stairs in the direction of the kitchen. By design, this took him past the "doctrine pictures": Heaven, Love, God's Plan, and We Were Made to Be a Family in order. He thought it was good that he was not asked to remind himself of the specifics of his faith until he was a little more awake.
Since he was now a little more awake, he said his morning prayers; actually he said his morning prayer, A Daily Prayer. This one he knew by heart, not like some of the others in the Dear God prayer book he read through once a week. The Dear God prayer book he kept for himself. The Little Book of Faith he often gave to others.
Breakfast was coffee. He always enjoyed it in quiet, and never failed to enjoy their neat, little kitchen decorated modestly with more reminders of our faith. Though he didn't always read it, he almost always smiled at the beautifully framed Jesus Prayer they had put in the kitchen as a daily reminder that Jesus didn't have Jesus to encourage him-but they did.
Also posted in the kitchen was A Preamble to the Life of Faith .
On the kitchen floor where it did not belong was the kids' Little Catechism . Since going through The Little Catechism was a daily exercise at school, it was sometimes an exercise at home. Often the kids forgot to put theirs away, and even more often they spilled something on it. (It was good that this wonderful dialog was only a piece of paper; and it was even better that it was so easy to make another).
Though the floor was a little messy, still it looked good. He was happy with the new floor they had put in, and especially their choice of the sacred Pentagon pattern that reminded them that Jesus rose.
Checking his wallet before walking out the door he noticed, as always, his Real ID Card and remembered his real ID.
He picked up his keys; they were held together on a keychain that featured the Four-Chambered Heart that reminded him to think about more than just the family that lived in his own house.
Getting in his car, he checked his mirror and the little Flag of Faith hanging from the mirror. This was a treasure. Not only did it help him keep his cool while driving-NOT ALWAYS EASY-but it turned out that every new person who ever got into his car asked him what it was and that's why he kept in the car a copy of the explanation.
Arriving at his office he went through his routine. As always, he stopped to see how he was feeling, and positioned his Triangle and Mood Indicator in a way that would help him. They were held in position by the little pockets on the blotter on his desk.
On the bulletin board above his desk was posted his TV Guide. It always made others laugh; and it always helped him to live his own life.
Work was work until he got a couple e-mails from friends in distress. To one, who had just lost his father, he sent A Letter from Heaven along with Death in 3-D . To another he attached A Letter from God to You and Faces. He himself loved the Letter from God, and he was also encouraged by the Waves that surrounded it; he had them on the family stationary, and they were stenciled on the cornice of the family rec room.
At noon, he said the Our Father and meant it . This was one of The Four Pillars that made concrete how we should live our faith, and therein made this doable.
At twelve-thirty, he had to go upstairs to see the director. He had to wait, and often when he was waiting for anything, he killed time and calmed himself by counting the gifts of faith on the right fingers. He had learned the right fingers from the American version of The Fingers of Faith and knowing the gifts of faith helped him to receive them.
Things turned out fine, the day ended well, the trip home was happily uneventful, and soon enough the family was gathered for supper. Supper was important to the family. A candle was always lit; and the Seven Symbolisms of the Candle were sometimes discussed. For the most part, supper was experienced as it was described in A Prayer of the Church for You and this prayer was hanging right there as a decoration in the dining room. (The Monogram that was repeated as a border around this prayer was the design of his only pair of cufflinks.)
The dining room was also home for The Stairway to Heaven that they always used in Advent and special occasions, and almost always when they had company.
It was a good supper, with good family conversation, and the clean-up went quickly because everyone helped, and then he settled down to his pleasure for the evening. For him this often meant reading. Sometimes he read the Bible, and he kept his place with his Bible Bookmark lest he get confused. Lately, however, he was working his way through a remarkable collection of stories that he had downloaded free from the internet at www.thefaithkit.org/panorama/.