I thought this story, about hospice for families of anencephalic babies, was very touching. I sent it to my mom, who always uses the births of these babies as a justification for abortion, and thanked her for her love for me.

The Old Oligarch has blogged a lot recently, in regard to theological matters, about the fact that the argumentative/defensive stance of the church with regard to Protestantism has eroded the Catholic understanding of aspects of the faith that don't assist in arguments. In a similar vein, I have been thinking about how to discuss issues about which I feel passionately with people who don't agree with me, given that the "fire off an angry zinger" doesn't win many hearts.
With my mom, (with whom I've never really employed that method) I try to just share with her things that are important to me, and why - without arguing that they should be important to her too, etc. She loves to tell me all her experiences and opinions (because she's a mega-extrovert) and always wants to hear mine. So why not use her desire for intimacy as a means of sharing my efforts at truthseeking?

(Apologies for the extremely long sentences in this post.)