Edward Hicks – Peaceable Kingdom
Tomorrow is Memorial Day in the U.S. the equivalent of Anzac Day in Australia or Remembrance Day in the U.K. I don’t normally blog or write prayers for this day but for some reason it is very much on my mind this year.
I find it is not so much those who have died that are in my mind but those who have survived. There are so many ads on T.V. these days for organizations that try to help disabled vets. It makes my heart ache. A staggering 45 percent of the 1.6 million veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now seeking compensation for injuries they say are service-related. (read the article). And the plight of other victims of war – refugees, raped women, tortured and maimed civilians – confronts us in so many ongoing conflicts.
The cost of war is so high, and though I think it is important to remember those who have died, I think it is more important to remember and help those who have survived. And in keeping with that our focus needs to be on peace rather than war.
Peace rose
Yesterday at our garden day here at the Mustard Seed House I was showing off my new garden and tell the story of my favourite rose – the peace rose. This is a story that reminds me that God is a God of peace not war. It was developed in France during WWII and was smuggled out by the French resistance forces to the U.S. By accident or “coincidence” the celebration being held for the naming of this rose fell on the day that peace was declared with Germany. (Read the story here) I think that maybe God was at work in the midst of this story just as he is at work in our world today bringing about peace.
While reflecting on this yesterday I wrote this prayer:
God we remember and we grieve,
For those who have died fighting in wars in all places and all times.
For young lives cut short before their time.
For the atrocities they experienced and perpetrated.
God we remember and we grieve,
For those who were injured.
For veterans maimed, disfigured and homeless.
For sufferers of post traumatic stress syndrome.
God we remember and we grieve,
For civilian victims of war.
For refugees who have lost families and homes
For those who were raped and tortured.
God we remember and we grieve,
May they turn our thoughts to peace and not to war.
May they turn our actions to reconciliation and not to violence.
May they encourage us to restore not to destroy.
God we remember and we grieve,
May your peaceable kingdom come,
And your will for good be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Amen
A couple of days ago I watched a program on TV about the insects we should and could be eating from our gardens. It was fascinating. Evidently 2 billion people eat insects as their main protein source. They have a low carbon imprint. They are plentiful in most parts of the world and high in protein. In Vietnam Tarantulas and crickets are regarded as a delicacy. Snails are another possibility.
Many of us know about the nutritional value of weeds which I talked about in this post. Eating Weeds – Great Recipes to Try and most of us know that dandelions are probably the most nutritious plants in the garden. But snails? That’s something most of us draw the line at even though we might be willing to give escargot a try in a high class French restaurant. But as this author points out garden snails can taste better than the bought ones.
After years of battling snails in my garden while cooking up escargots purchased at a premium from a local import shop, I finally got wise. As long as I was gathering garden snails, why not harvest them for dinner? One bite told me I was onto something: those fresh snails from my garden, though smaller, tasted far superior to the pricey escargots from cans.
Read more:Escargot from your own backyard.
So how adventurous would you be willing to get? Crickets, grubs, snails, ants, spiders? What would you be willing to try or have you tried.? Maybe this is the time that all of us think it is good to be vegetarian. Perhaps rather than cursing those snails and slugs that devastate my new seedlings I should just be putting them in the pot of straight in my mouth. To be honest dandelions still sound much better than snails to me. How about you?
This year I lost 150 tomato starts. I was devastated. I love to plant new varieties. I love to watch them grow and I love that we can use this as a small fundraiser for MSA.
I just found out that the reason they died was because the soil I transplanted them into was contaminated with a herbicide, and considering this was meant to be organic soil this appalls me. We also used the soil in one of our new garden beds so that is contaminated too. Now we have to figure out what to do. The nursery will compensate us for the soil – not I suspect for our hard work and loss of income, but the soil is still contaminated and could be for years. In researching possible solutions I came across this article which I first posted a couple of years ago and thought it was a good time to repost it and guess what we are going to plant sunflowers in the contaminated area.
Beans climbing on sunflowers
Like most of my garden friends I love sunflowers, but I must confess I usually only plant them so that the beans have something to climb on when they grow beyond their bamboo teepees and the squirrels have something to eat at the end of summer. We love to watch them scampering up the tall stalks to hang upside down on the huge flower heads.
I found this article in the Hard Working Beauty of Sunflowers recently that I thought was well worth a read.
The statement: “They’re a really iconic way to make people notice that you’re trying to make a change in the community,” really caught my imagination. I also found it very interesting that sunflowers are probably the second-oldest domesticated seed crop in eastern North America. (squash is the oldest). Evidently they originated in Mexico at least as far back as 2600 BC.
Another interesting fact I came across is that sunflower oil became popular in Europe in the 18th century, particularly with members of the Russian Orthodox Church, because sunflower oil was one of the few oils that was not prohibited during Lent.
I was also impressed to hear that recent research suggests sunflowers can pull heavy metal contaminants from polluted soil. They were used after the Chernobyl disaster, and more recently in response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Koyu Abe, chief monk at the Buddhist Joenji temple has planted 200,000 flowers at the temple and distributed many more seeds. Read the story here
Then I came across this beautiful poem
Aztec Flower Song (anonymous, pre-Columbian)
Be indomitable, Oh my heart!
Love only the sunflower;
It is the flower of the Giver-of-Life!
What can my heart do?
Have we come, have we sojourned here on earth in vain?
As the flowers wither, I shall go.
Will there be nothing of my glory ever?
Will there be nothing of my fame on earth?
At most songs, at most flowers,
What can my heart do?
Have we come, have we sojourned on earth in vain?
So next time you see a sunflower in a bouquet of flowers or smiling over your neighbour’s fence remember that this is one of God’s long beloved flower and offer a prayer of thanks.
Walking is the fastest pace for noticing – go out and have a good walk today, notice your neighbourhood, enjoy its sounds and smells and sights. Anchor yourself and find where you belong. Refresh your spirit and your soul.
I posted this suggestion on Facebook and twitter yesterday and have been thinking about it ever since.
All of us know that walking has benefits for our physical health. Just 30 minutes, 5 times a week reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, reduces the risk of colon cancer, helps control body weight, increases bone density and helps prevent osteoporosis. And thats only part of the list.
Walking is one of the best things we can do for our spiritual well being too. Not walking as in stair climber or gym, not running either, though they can have benefits, but walking as in getting out to explore our neighbourhoods.
Walking is fun, relaxing and for most of us, easy to do. It also the best way to notice what goes on in us and around us. It is the only pace at which we really do see and hear and smell all that is happening around us.
I love to walk around the garden each morning to see how much my vegetable plants have grown overnight. It is also a great time to commune with God and draw closer to the One who has created all that I see around me. Each moment and thing has the potential to become a vehicle for revelation. Walking can open us up to new ways to experience God and the world around us. Each step contributes to the rhythm of our life and its revelation can overflow into the whole of our life. It is a gift that draws us towards God and towards others.
Walking is also one of the best way to get to know our neighbourhoods, our neighbours and our friends. I love to walk the dog around the neighbourhood, noticing who is working on their garden, which yards look neglected and who else is out there enjoying the local park. People often stop to say hello. They share stories about themselves, their gardens and their pets. And I love to walk around the city noticing the urban lots transformed into p-patches, the new skyscrapers rising into the sky, and the homeless people asleep in the doorways.
Interestingly, the best speed for walking according to coolwalking is “as fast as you can without losing the ability to hold a conversation.” Walking is not meant to be done alone, it is meant to be done in company with others. As I think of that I am reminded of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. (Luke 24:14,15). So often when we walk and talk with others it is as though Jesus walks with us, explaining the scriptures and the ways in which they reveal who he is.
Walking is for noticing not just sights sounds and smells but God and neighbours and friends.
What will you notice today?
Here is another very popular prayer from the Light for the Journey Facebook page
I posted this prayer on the Light for the Journey Facebook page this week. It has gained a lot of attention and so thought I should share it here too. Enjoy!
We are moving forward with the pole barn at the Mustard Seed Village and are looking for barn wood that we can upcycle to use as the finishing layer on the walls. Any leads or offers of wood are welcome – especially if you live in the Camano/Stanwood area.
Check out the village slide show of this first building going up… and become part of the show – we’ll feature your old barn resurrected for new purposes!
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