Self-Sustainable Life

In just the past week and a half I have heard the language "global food crisis" uttered more than a few times. I know that part of this may be an attempt to get us worrying about food prices thus encouraging us to spend more since supply might become more and more limited. I find it interesting that our government provokes us with fear in order to get us to spend more money, in this case on food. I'm reminded of an ancient Hopi prophecy that speaks to our current circumstances in America and around the world. It comes from the book The Hopi Survival Kit by Thomas E. Mails:

Industrialized nations will become careless in getting more the resources out of the earth. Believing all these things will last forever, soon natural resources will be depleted. Fuel shortages will occur; industrial machinery will come to a standstill. The machinery used for planting, harvesting and transport will become useless. Supermarket shelves will become empty of farm produce. The farmers and those who grow their own food will not sell their produce. Money will become worthless. The white man with all his intelligence and technology will not be able to repair the damage. We will see extraordinary events in Nature and Earth, including humans.

This has also got me thinking more about living a self-sustainable life. My wife and I are interested in having a small organic farm at some point in the near future. By small organic farm, I mean having a few chickens and goats as well as a diverse garden for our use. If we could produce even 50% of our food then I think that would be a great goal to work towards.

I wonder how many other folks are thinking the same way as we are. Keep in mind we have been thinking about this for years not just as a reaction to the "global food crisis" though it certainly speeds up the possibility of that happening.

I actually have this vision of me spending my days working in the garden, on the farm and in my workshop building projects for my family as well as others. I believe that I am at a point in my life where I long for simplicity and sustainability.

Civilized Animals

Another story that I should have included in my earlier post about the way we walk. One question: When did human evolve from being more than animals?

The "Barefoot Bard" brings this basic hostility to a healthy human gait into clearer focus, as he describes the concern his walking left among friends and family, and one friend in particular who put that concern in very blunt and honest terms.

One of these concerned friends, a religious man, joined me in [the] forest for a walk. On the trail, he was in his boots, I was on my soles. He began to share his concerns about me. He remarked that I was "walking like an animal." Yes, he said, "You walk like a animal!" I stopped in my tracks.

He went on about how, "walking on your paws, is the way an animal walks, savages walk, primitives walk and we are no longer animals. We are highly evolved beings. We are civilized beings!" He walked along side me, landing on his heels, pounding on the path, stepping on a banana slugs, stomping on plants. The more he preached his concerns and marched on the path, the more I could see the difference in our walk. The less I trusted the talk, not him, but his talk. ...

Change Our Politics, Change America

My wife and I just got back from casting our early primary vote here in Indiana. The primary is on May 6th but she won't be here and I decided that since I was there to go ahead and vote as well. Right now, polls are indicating that Obama and Clinton are in a deadlock tie.

I am supporting Barack Obama because I believe that he can best lead the country from these past dismal years of the Bush administration. I personally only see Clinton continuing the Washington politics that we've come to know and despise. I could expound on other reasons for supporting Obama over Clinton but don't feel I need to wax politically on my blog... there are many other blogs to read if you want that. Simply put, for such a time as this, America needs such a leader!

We Walk Wrong

I get a daily dose of stuff in my inbox from Men's Health Magazine and today there was a whole section on the benefits of walking barefoot and why we've been walking wrong all these years. Click here to read this great article.

For the better part of my life I have preferred to walk barefoot. I love the feel of grass and the soil conforming beneath my feet as I walk. In the past two years, I have been practicing fox-walking more and more. When I was at Tracker School last year, there was a whole session on how to walk properly as our ancestors used to do. One of the instructors there even called modern footwear "coffins for our feet." Honestly, other than being barefoot, the only other shoes that I actually like wearing are the hybrid sandals that have become popular in the past few years.

At Tracker School, they offered this insight as to why we shifted from a slower pace to a more damaging one: when we moved from the hunter-gatherer mindset to an agricultural mindset, we needed to make trails/roads to our villages so our walk changed and became faster and in the process we end up damaging our bodies and the earth when we hit with our heel first. Read more by clicking here.

So seriously... take your shoes off and walk barefoot... in the house, the grass, the woods (etc...) you just might start feeling connected to the earth again.

Rest and Play

After nearly 3 months with out a day off, it was refreshing to my spirit to return to Camp Mack for a sabbath time. There were only 3 or 4 of us there which was different cause we usually have around 15 to 20 pastors there. It made for a really great and restful time, cuz so often when you put a bunch of pastors together all we do is talk. I spent far more time in the woods this time than I had before so that I could continue to work on my tracking, stalking and awareness techniques. I needed that. I sat at the edge of the lake Tuesday night and heard nothing! I mean I heard nothing remotely resembling traffic in the city or airplanes or just city noise/pollution. It truly was refreshing my soul. After a while, the geese took flight and the night sounds began to fill the air and for the first time in quite some time I was at peace.

Yesterday evening I shared some time with a bunch of 4th graders from a nearby school district that as part of it's school curriculum incorporates nature education. I was invited by Camp Mack staff to come and demonstrate for the kids how to make fire using the bow drill. I had two sharing and demonstration times with them. The first time I was able to get a good coal but it didn't quite take once it was in my tinder bundle. The second group only got to see me working at getting a coal but no fire. It was still an important lesson to be learned because they understood that to make fire it requires some knowledge and work. We gathered in a tipi and talked about bow and arrows, stone tools, brain tanning and shared some Native American lore/folk stories. The kids loved it! I wonder if I could somehow do that on my own and begin teaching those skills once we get settled into Illinois? If I want to do something bad enough I will find a way to do it! The rest of the evening was spent around a campfire singing songs and popping popcorn in a kettle over the fire. Good times! I see possibilities for me to be involved in those settings but again it might be more teaching those wilderness skills... we'll see.

Go West Young Man

My wife and I are going to be moving west to her home area in Illinois. She accepted a position working with a local housing authority. As for me... well we'll see. There are some options there for me too, we'll just have to wait until we get out there. We are planning to make the move in a little over 3 weeks. She is going to be out there working during the week then coming back for the weekends until we pack everything up for the big move. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we begin this big transition.

24 Days and 3 Sundays

I'm more than halfway through my desert time away from the church. Here are some brief reflections of my time in the wilderness thus far...

My mind has become the enemy. I can't turn off my thoughts. I've come to realize that my thoughts have taken over my life and have kept me from being aware. My mind has been dulling my senses. Trust me, that gets me nowhere in the forest. Maybe that is what the church and what culture is consistently whispering in our ear. Keep thinking, keep processing and for God sakes don't stop! In my time away, I've discovered that the church and the culture have overloaded us with stimulation and in the meantime have done the opposite of what is preached (descent, humility, self-denial) by encouraging ascension, supremacy and self-importance... funny how these are actually viewed as xian characteristics today.

It has been hard to reteach my mind to shut off because I am a thinker, I'm a contemplater. I learned quickly as I began going over to the woods that impaired my ability to meditate, track, stalk, sing, read, journal and worship. I am doing it though. I noticed the first week in the woods, I saw very little out of the animals. I think it was because I had so much stuff going on inside of me that the animals picked up on it. Now in my time has been more fruitful, I've seen more activity since I've cleared my mind of all the stuff that weighed me down. I've seen groundhogs, fox, deer, raccoons, squirrel and lots of birds. Not to mention fox tracks.

It has also created an atmosphere for me to listen for the voice of God and an opportunity to worship in my own way that speaks to my being. The scriptures have began to come alive again as I've cleared my mind.

My tracking and stalking (animals not people) abilities have improved as well. This is happening because I've opened myself up to the spiritual dimensions of those disciplines. Stalking is more about stillness than movement. How interesting that it has paralleled the meditative aspect of my time away. I'm learning more about my fragmentation as I stalk and track. It's a fragmentation that I often don't address in my spiritual life. It's not bad... it's just not recognized often.

I think that is why the Lenten season was so empty (not the good kind) for me. I was walking in a daze not really aware as to where I was half the time. The mind tricks you into thinking that you are seeing when you are really not. I've started to see again and though I'm only halfway through this time, I know that it has already awakened my soul in such a way that the church hasn't recently.

I'll close with a quote from J. Krishnamurti:

So long as you are compelled to do something because it is your duty you don't love what you are doing. When there is love there is no duty...

Maybe after I'm done with this time away, it might be good to remember that it isn't my duty to be in the church... rather to love it.

Punched in the Face with Love!

I've been getting re-acquainted with an old friend the past day or so. Richard Rohr's writings and ideas have continued to provoke, challenge, inspire and shape my own understanding of spirituality. It has been a voice that has gotten lost in the midst of all my struggles of late. One of his sayings has consistently been a mantra of my own: We don't think ourselves into a new way of living, we live ourselves into a new way of thinking.

I am discovering again the importance of that notion as it relates to my life, faith, marriage etc...

Why Prosperity is Counter to the Gospel

Mark Driscoll discusses an issue that infuriates me... gospel of prosperity. Mark brings something to his preaching that reminds me of my own style. I always preached that being a xian doesn't mean that life will get better rather it might become more of a challenge. I hope this gets you thinking.