Whole tree architecture – photo by Paul Kelley for New York Times
I just could not resist posting this intriguing idea which I connected to at Inhabitat (not inhabit).
According to the Forest Products Laboratory, a whole, unmilled tree can support 50 percent more weight than the largest piece of lumber milled from the same tree. Putting this principle into practice, Whole Tree Architecture is dedicated to building with materials that lumber companies consider scrap – weed trees, also know as ‘managed forest thinnings.’ The resulting projects are beautiful displays of locally sourced and sustainably managed materials.
Not to be confused with a traditional log cabin, building with whole trees is a sustainable, affordable building philosophy Roald Gundersun has been refining for the past 16 years. As much a forest management process as it is a building technique, Gundersun uses only local, small diameter — 10-inches or less — trees culled from the client’s site, and larger trees already downed by disease or wind. Trees are selected based on forest stand density and invasive species management as well as structural integrity and aesthetics. There is no milling, transportation, or bulk curing.
The benefits are economic as well as ecological. According to WTA, “…whole tree construction invests a greater proportion of its costs into local jobs and materials than conventional construction and also promotes healthy forest management for local timber resources.” Gunderson’s philosophy is holistic; every aspect of a project — design, engineering, construction and craftsmanship — is considered in light of the local ecology and economy.
While Whole Tree Architecture is obviously not feasible for everyone, it is certainly a brilliantly forward-thinking solution for the small farming community in Wisconsin where WTA is based. In our opinion, their use of local labor and local, renewable, and sustainably-managed materials offers a prescient vision of a vibrant, green future.
This is taken from an article first published in the New York Times. You can find the original article here
I have been intrigued by the concept of rain gardens for quite a while and was delighted to see this article from my friends at Soulsby Farm – A Very Small Farm. It is the best article on rain gardens that I have come across.
How to Build a Rain Garden
Got rain on the brain?
It hasn’t been very rainy yet, but it sure will be again soon. Have you thought about where all that rain water is going to go? Rain gardens will capture the rain water and get into the ground where it belongs!
Every time it rains, we generate a ton of water. Every drop collected with all of our neighbors, every parking lot, every business, every hard surface, generates rain water. When we collect all that rain water together, it is usually too much for our local streams, creeks, and lakes to handle. When we pipe all that water to our local waterways, we create a lot of harm – we increase erosion and flooding, reduce native plant populations, and can even increase the spread of invasive species.
Rain gardens were developed as a way for a homeowner to do their part and beautify their property, while also trying to manage rain water at home and get it into the ground where it belongs.
What is a Rain Garden? Rain gardens are shallow depressions, usually six inches deep, that are hand-dug and planted with deep rooted, water-loving native plants. Essentially our rain water is directed from our roofs to a sited rain garden where water can be captured and temporarily stored it for one to three days in duration. Once there, the plants, soil and microbes in the soil work together to clean the water, while the deep rooted native plants create capillaries that help it to soak into the ground .
When these gardens are not soaking up rain water, they are looking great and enhancing our landscapes. Native plants have great leaf textures, a variety of flower colors and heights to create interesting and unique gardens for our homes.
How to Build a Rain Garden:
For more “how-to” information on rain gardens, please visit our resource page.
Rain Garden Plant Lists for sunny & shady sites available on our website.
This article was written by Soulsby Farm’s good friend John Gishnock of Formecology. John is the foremost authority in Rain Gardens in the Midwest and gives lectures throughout the US on subjects that include rain gardens, natural stone hardscape features, native landscape design, and sustainable landscape features. For information about John and his company please visit his website or click on the links above.
Making Peace with the Land
I have just started reading Making Peace with the Land: God’s Call to reconcile with creation by agriculturalist Fred Bahnson and theologian Norman Wirzba. This is the seventh book in the resources for Reconciliation series.
All I can say at this point is that this is a very profound book, one that I think is essential for all who are interested in a holistic view of faith. Even reading the prologue has turned some of my thinking on its head. And what time to do this than after Pentecost as we enter the season of Ordinary time or as some prefer to call it Kingdom time. Listen to this provokative beginning talking about the first couple of chapters of Genesis.
We are right to believe that God loves you and me. But in these earliest pages of Scripture, we discover that God’s first love is the soil. This is how it has to be, because without healthy soil and the fertility and food it makes possible, there would be not terrestrial life of any kind. God’s love for us- described definitively in John 3:16 as God’s giving of his Son to us- only makes sense in terms of God’s love for the earth that sustains us. God daily cares for us by providing the nurture of food, as well as the the gifts of fiber and timber and energy, all of which find their origin in soil…. Genesis 2:15 is an invitation to know and share in God’s love for the whole creation. (pp16,18).
Over the next week or so I plan to post several articles about how we can steward God’s good earth in creative ways. If you know of examples of creative approaches to stewardship that you think need to be shared I would love to hear from you.
I posted this on facebook this morning and meant to post it to the blog as well – enjoy
Tomorrow is Pentecost – this prayer was written as I contemplated the Holy Spirit breathed into us by Jesus (Jn 20:22)
Spirit of God may we breathe in and hold your love within us
May we breathe out and share it with the world
Spirit of God may we breathe in and hold your peace within us
May we breathe out and share it with the world
Spirit of God may we breathe in and hold your life within us
May we breathe out and share it with the world.
finger labyrinth
Last year for my sixtieth birthday, someone gave me a finger labyrinth. I put it in my draw and promptly forgot about it. However, as I started to research various methods of prayer to incorporate in my new book Return to Our Senses: Reimagining How We Pray, I pulled it out again. To be honest this seemed a very strange way to pray especially when most of the articles I read suggested that the best way to trace out a finger labyrinth is with a finger from your non-dominant hand. Evidently, research suggests that our non-dominant hand has better access to our intuition.
Much to my surprise, when I experimented with my finger labyrinth, I found that it really did help me focus and often brought intuitive inspiration when I was grappling with challenging issues. This morning it inspired this prayer:
Walk with us Lord through all the twists and turns of life,
Walk with us when the clouds obscure the way,
when what seemed close is now so far away.
Walk with us Lord until we trust in you,
Lead us to the centre of your love.
Interestingly, some of the earliest labyrinths found in Christian churches are finger labyrinths, their circuits well worn over the centuries by the passage of innumerable fingers “walking” to the center and then out again.
In view of that you may like to try your own finger labyrinth experiment. Try this exercise from United Christ Church Ministries
Before you start any finger labyrinth “walk,” take time to breathe and relax. If you keep a journal, have it ready for recording any insights after your walk. Set an intention or question for the walk. Without an intention a finger labyrinth walk can become an exercise in hastily and mindlessly moving your finger along the circuits and wondering why at the end of the walk you even bothered. Say a prayer, if you like, for support, healing, and guidance.
Place a finger from your non-dominant hand at the entrance to the labyrinth. As you trace the circuit, stay open to whatever presents itself: feelings, sensations, memories, images, or just “knowings.” Pause at any time to breathe, be with a memory, work with an image, or simply relax into the labyrinth. At the center of the labyrinth, feel its connection to your own center. The center is a wonderful place to relax, pray, or sing. When you are ready, trace your way out, staying open to whatever comes up for you. When your walk is done, place both hands on the labyrinth and give thanks for whatever you learned and experienced.
Experiment and play with your labyrinth. Try using a favorite word or phrase that evokes the sacred for you. Repeat the mantra slowly in your heart as you “walk.” You may also walk with questions such as, “In what way do I most need to grow spiritually right now?” or “What most blocks me from fully receiving and living God’s love?” You can also walk the labyrinth in intercessory prayer for someone else, sending them the fruits of your walk.
If you are experiencing a difficult feeling-anger, grief, bitterness-have as your intention its healing and release (knowing, of course, that many deeper feelings may take more time than a walk).
If you are struggling with a problem, ask for insight and guidance: What must I release in order to allow healing? What am I not feeling or acknowledging that I must let into my conscious awareness to allow healing? Whom do I most need to forgive, and for what?
If you are working with an illness, either serious or insignificant, you may walk into the labyrinth simply asking to return to balance with yourself and life, no matter what the circumstances of your illness. You can also walk with the question: What part of my life (or me) am I neglecting that needs attention?
Illness may also be a teacher or an ally. If you are interested in exploring your illness as a teacher, you may walk asking, “How may I open to my illness as a teacher and ally?” or “What does my illness have to teach me at this point in my life?”
Pentecost by Chinese artist He Qi
Sunday May 27th is Pentecost. This is the day when we celebrate:.
- The coming of the Holy Spirit and the infilling of Jesus’ disciples with the power to go out and change the world
- The great multi cultural gathering that we catch a glimpse of as we watch the spirit fall and suddenly everyone is able to understand each other – not all speaking the same language but able to understand each other in their own languages. Acts 2:11.
- Pentecost is traditionally the time that many churches pray for the peace of our world in which at times there seems to be so little cross cultural understanding.
Each year I like to add to my resource list from the previous years so that this becomes a rich array of helpful suggests for everyone. So what kinds of resources do we need? First I think we need to provide our congregations with resources that help them to see Jesus from other cultural perspectives. In a visual society like ours art is one very powerful way to do this. Liturgy is another powerful tool because as we read the words aloud they resonate deep within our souls and take root.
Matt Stone at Glocal Christianity still has the best collection of art from different cultural contexts – not just European, Asian, African, South American, Middle Eastern, Australian and Celtic but also other more unusual perspectives – goth, alien, feminist and tattoo. We may not agree with all these perspectives – after all how many of us can relate to Jesus as a Cyclon – but it important for us to see the different ways that people perceive if we want to “understand them in their own language”.
The Text This Week has one of the best online collections of links to Christian art I have come across – all indexed according to Biblical/liturgical subjects. They also provide an interesting list of movie clips that correspond to biblically related themes as well as a rich array of other resources on Pentecost
Another great collection of pentecost art is available at Biblical Art on the WWW
In terms of Pentecost liturgies there are endless possibilities out there so please don’t expect this to be a comprehensive list. My own liturgies from past years are
Others that I have enjoyed browsing this year are:
The Worship Well with great resources mainly from Australia & New Zealand
Sacredise.com always provides wonderful liturgical resources for the seasons including these excellent Pentecost resources
re:Worship has a very rich array of resources available – make sure you take time to follow the links provided to songs, liturgies and videos.
If you are looking for alternative approaches to worship for this season I would heartily recommend Jonny Baker’s worship tricks
Steve Taylor a – sustain:if:able kiwi is another very creative worship leader. I love his Ascension Day suggestion – the footprints of Jesus
Earth touches heaver – photo by Coe Hutchison
My weekly roundup of facebook prayers posted at Light for the Journey
Peace O Lord to all whose lives entwine with ours,
Peace to all who walk this earth with us.
Peace to friend and to stranger, to neighbours near and far,
Peace to all who struggle,
Peace to the lost, the broken and the hurting.
Peace from the Christ who has redeemed and saved us,
Peace from the One who sits at the right hand of God,
An advocate for all God’s children,
May we follow him into the new creation and join him in making all things whole.
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Lord Jesus Christ may I live today centred in your presence
May I walk the path of your choosing
Through all its twists and turns may I sense your guidance,
Be embraced by your love and be filled with your compassion.
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God lead us home to your loving heart,
To the place where everything shines with your glory,
May all that we do move us forward
Help us see how to live so that your will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
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Lord Jesus Christ teach us to pray,
May we banish from our hearts all that does not reflect you,
And not occupy ourselves with the trifles of this world,
May we attune our thoughts to yours,
And look to you with the eyes of faith.
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Lord Jesus Christ may we remember today that you are always with us.
May we sense the closeness of your presence,
Think of you often and enjoy the wonder of your love.
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Lord Jesus Christ you are infinitely good,
Let us thank you for strength and patience in all things,
May we hope in you always and be encouraged by your love.
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