3-R Thursday

Rumination

From The Household and the War for the Cosmos: Recovering a Christian Vision for the Family by C.R. Wiley (p. 96-97)

Reflection

In law, estate planning usually involves executing a will to ensure that a person’s property (house, car, books, knick-knacks, etc.) are properly distributed according to that person’s wishes. If a person does not have a will, then the law provides for certain default distributions (through “intestacy”). The law presumes—whether right or wrong—that when a husband dies, all his stuff goes to his wife. And when the wife dies, all their stuff goes to the their kids.

Yet we live in a fallen world, so what should be straightforward can quickly become “bent” (to use C.S. Lewis’ term from Out of the Silent Planet).

C.R. Wiley states that "in old-fashion households, property bound the generations together” such that “when you served [your parents] you served yourself—and hopefully your children would do the same.”

• What types of property do you expect to receive from your parents, whether in the past, present, or future?

  • Personal property?

  • Real property?

  • Intellectual property?

  • Spiritual property?

• What types of property do you anticipate bestowing to your children, whether now or upon your death?

  • Personal property?

  • Real property?

  • Intellectual property?

  • Spiritual property?

Reading

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

The Law of Christ: A Theological Proposal by A. Blake White (the only Blake White I know)