When my father told me he was taking me to see the power plant,1 I was very excited; and looked forward to seeing a plant that somehow produced significant amounts of electricity.
As it turned out, the “power plant” was a building near the river.
My main — and only — visual memory of the place is a large room dominated by a massive cylinder: rounded, with its axis parallel to and roughly even with the floor. I’m pretty sure it was painted a light green.
I also remember being disappointed. And trying to not show it. I don’t know what my age was at the time: probably around nine or ten, fourth or fifth grade.
I’d learned enough about plants to know that a plant producing significant amounts of electricity would be unusual. But I hadn’t yet learned that “plant” can mean something besides those green, growing things.
I sincerely hope I expressed adequate appreciation to my father, for showing me the place that helped keep the lights on in our town. I’ve never forgotten that visit.
Now that I’ve been, and still am, a husband, father, and now grandfather, I appreciate my father showing me important parts of our home even more. As I’ve told the kids, and my wife, my father’s a hard act to follow.
Not perfect. I’ve talked about that occasionally. But he set a pretty high bar.
Learning From the Past, Not Repeating It
The ‘good old days’ had their problems, too.
My father’s example, and what I learned from thinking about it, helped me when my wife and I were raising the kids.
So did having access to what the Catholic Church has been saying about being human.
Some of it parallels what my native culture says. Some — not so much.
I’ll touch on a few of the main points. Bear in mind that this isn’t even close to an exhaustive discussion
Human beings are people. Each human being is a person. Each of us matters. Not being just like each other is okay: we’re supposed to be different. Married couples and their kids matter. So do single adults. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1658, 1934-1938, 2201-2206, 2258-2317, for starters)
This is important: my wife and I didn’t have a “right to a child”. That’s because a child is a person, not property. (Catechism, 2378)
Again, married couples and their kids matter.
But sometimes couples can’t have children: what about them?
They’ve got options: including “adopting abandoned children or performing demanding services for others.” (Catechism, 2479)
Our children had a duty to obey us, while we were raising them. My wife and I had duties, too, which included remembering that each of our children was a person. Part of our job was educating them, showing them how to make good decisions. (Catechism, 2217, 2221-2230)
So far, that sounds old-fashioned.
But since we’re Catholic, our job as parents did not include telling them what sort of jobs they should have, who they should marry: or whether they should get married. (Catechism, 2230-2231)
Working With Real People in the Real World
Something I like about being Catholic is that our rules are simple. Take, for example, “love one another” and “honor your father and mother”.
Simple, right?
“I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”
(John 13:34)“Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD, your God, has commanded you, that you may have a long life and that you may prosper in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”
(Deuteronomy 5:16)“Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”
(Exodus 20:12)
But for the last two millennia, the Church has been working with people who aren’t perfect, living in a world that is far from ideal.
So we’ve got explanations and guidelines for how those simple rules should work in everyday life: and when life is less routine than usual.
Our current catechism discusses ‘love one another’ and ‘honor your parents’ in paragraphs 2196 through 2246, outlining how the ideas apply to social units from parents and children up to the societies we’re living in:
From Catechism of the Catholic Church, English, Table of Contents
I’ve talked about that sort of thing before, along with more-or-less related topics:
- Rules and principles
- “Family Matters” (December 20, 2025)
- “Holding Infants, Raising People” (November 1, 2025)
- Wounded people in a wounded world
- This season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving
- Sacred scripture and making sense
1 The power plant my father showed me was torn down a little over ten years ago. This brief article tells its story, and includes sources for more information:
- “Old Moorhead Power Plant”
Entry from North Dakota State University on PocketSights walking tours
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