Over dinner a couple months ago, some friends regaled us with the tale of a “renaissance” of reading aloud in their family. With details that left us doubled over with laughter, our friend and father of six shared how he had just discovered Anne of Green Gables. He declared her incomparably special, the summit and epitome of girlhood, and he couldn’t wait to read the next chapter to his youngest children each night.

He became particularly impassioned when the subject of Anne’s future husband came up. To the women at the table who had read all the books as children, he declared. “No, no, don’t tell me.” Fingers in his ears, he went on, “Anne should never marry, and it better not be the kid from the first book!”

Fast forward to one evening last week in our full, noisy, messy house. Our oldest, a recent college grad, announced over dinner that she was 50 pages in to Abraham Lincoln: 1809-1858 (Vol. 1), a biography she had picked up off our dining room shelves, where we keep some of our nicer-looking old books. Published in 1928, and written by the Pulitzer prize-winning Senator Albert Beveridge, this is one of many books we’ve picked up at thrift shops … but never read.

Her hilarious descriptions of the tales of Lincoln’s boyhood were intriguing, and before long, the whole family was listening to Soren read aloud. The smell of sugar cookies and toffee in the air, Christmas music in the background, and a fire crackling, he dove into the lavish prose. Reading aloud for the first time in … well, too long … was like riding a bike. The first few paragraphs were wobbly, but then it came back.

Beveridge is quite the storyteller. Maybe he had some of Abe’s “quip and quiddity” himself.  Within a couple of paragraphs, we were ROFL, each family member making cracks and asking questions about the arcane language. “Hudibrastic,” anyone? The elevated 1920s prose—Lincoln was a “geyser of loquacity”—clashed with tales of the rough frontier a hundred years prior. In a backwoods brawl, Lincoln was the “big buck of the lick,” and that was just one of his many manly exploits!

The “Lincoln fireside readings” have continued, and remind us of just how unpredictable and wondrous the 4^th level of a Trinity House (Family Culture, where you celebrate your family’s communion) can be. Now, with Christmas, the Christmas Octave, and the “12 days of Christmas” extending to the Jan. 4^th Epiphany, every family has an expanse of time that can arguably be the setting—the backdrop, the canvas, the stage—on which your own utterly unique (and yes, maybe oddball) family culture can unfold.

In the days ahead, what if your own family culture could be re-enchanted by screen-free moments of:  

·      Singing together

·      Doing a puzzle or board game

·      Reading aloud

·      Lingering over meals and telling old family stories

·      Acting out the Nativity scene

·      Cooking or baking family recipes

·      Calling a beloved relative on speaker and catching up all together

·      Praying the Rosary together as a family

When we wrapped up the first few Lincoln readings, the effect was otherworldly. It was head-and-shoulders above the feeling we have after watching a movie together (although we’re also fans of family movie night). We had bonded and laughed as a family. We shared new memories and jokes about antiquated phrases and our forefather’s heroic adventures. Our appreciation of U.S. history grew.

Family Culture is like this. It can be intensely specific. Particular. Unusual (yes, we are likely the only family in America currently reading Beveridge’s biography aloud). Unrepeatable. God-given. Bonding, in a way that deepens our experience of communion. May this Christmas season bring many such moments to your family!

And with the celebration of Christ’s birth, may we turn our hearts anew to the source of our beloved communion: to the One who, by His life, death, and resurrection, restored us to communion with our Heavenly Father. Come, Lord Jesus!

Our Heaven in Your Home Letters will resume on Jan. 13th. In the meantime, we wish you and your family a blessed Christmas, Feast of the Holy Family, Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, New Year, and Epiphany!