Random life in spring. . .

Yes i know i already mentioned all the cool things that spring brings with it, i am just so excited about warmth and grass and a garden . . .

 

The first of the baby birds are in - the chickens. The company forgot to ship the ducks and no turkeys till next month. Spreading things out is good though, otherwise we end up turning the house into an indoor aviary, and as it is we are collecting kids faster than can be imagined.

So the communal living (i'm just gonna call it a commune because it's shorter and i am an American. . .we like short) thing is going well. We are looking at houses now and there are some fantastic prospects. i confess that i am a bit nervous just because there is so much that i want to do on the current house before we try to sell it. . .or rent it, whatever.

The most entertaining part of living in community is watching how much it scares and inspires "normal" people. As i speak a couple of co-workers are trying to build the community a website. . .not sure we are ready or even wanting that, but it is entertaining these monkeys. They have openly admitted that they support what we are doing though they are scared to do it too. Just as well at the moment. i would much prefer people to be able to come and see, so that there is no crazy delusions of sunshine and daisies all the time. We are just regular disfunctional people with issues living together to encourage and love one another and hopefully grow up into the example that Jesus left.

 

Oh well . . . hopefully this whole thing doesn't scare the folks back home. . .

--
Reconciliation.tougas.net
Saturdaynightwalk.blogspot.com

Spring is wonderful

i can see grass!! Wow haven't i missed that. Yesterday i ordered seeds for the garden, the first of the chicks (baby chickens/turkeys/ducks) are in, my driveway is back. Oh, and the snow is receeding rapidly.

 

For all of my joy i have discovered this season how much these transitional seasons (Spring and Autumn) affect me. Even as i look forward to walking barefoot across my lawn again, i find that i am sad to see the snow go. Yes, i know that is a sick thought given the severity of this winter. Likewise last Autumn i was sad to see the grass go even as i was thinking about sledding and snow ball fights and cups of cocoa by the picture window as the snow falls. Maybe i am bipolar.

 

With a prospective move in the not too distant future (Lord willing) i am a bit ambiguous about the garden. Why plant if you can't reap. . . Likewise i have seventeen more birds on the way that wont be ready to butcher till at least September. What if i can't take them with me?

Who knows, i guess i wont worry about it now.

--
Reconciliation.tougas.net
Saturdaynightwalk.blogspot.com

All about the easter chicken. . .

Ugh, how civilization has confused our children. The candy makers are trying to convince our young ones that the cadbury bunny lays the Easter eggs. What the heck. . . .rabbits are mammals!!! Mammals don't lay eggs, that is part of what makes them mammals.

But we can help correct that. It's just before easter and our Americana's are laying colored eggs galore. Woohoo! No need to dye them, the birds do it for us. The real treat was while cleaning the turkey coop i was treated to a sweet little discovery - an egg! Our one turkey who avoided the chopping block because she was way too small decided to try her hand at mothering. There wont be any chicks by her (no husband) but it was a pleasant Easter treat and it reminded me of the renewal of life. We get to celebrate that again on Sunday, and really we should every day!

--
Reconciliation.tougas.net
Saturdaynightwalk.blogspot.com

The Church

This weekend i got to help make maple syrup. Not that store bought stuff that they pass off as maple syrup, but the real deal! We boiled sap down until it came out of the evaporator in the form of yummy, yummy syrup! i think i could get really used to that, just need to get an evaporator. . . and some maple trees.

 

We talked with our new friends Dave and Caren, and of course Clara. We talked about a lot, and maybe we were a bit too philosophical. i was very encouraged by their desire to live sustainably and to share a message with the Church as a whole to live in balance with God's creation rather than destroying it. i think that there is something to be said about the example and testimony that would be seen by those outside of the kingdom if all of Jesus disciples lived in obedience to God and in reverence of all that he has made - living sustainably. Selfishness is the crown prince of all sin, and our consumption, even and especially in the Church, is a billboard to the world that we speak one way, but live another.

 

We also talked a bit about the Church and different styles of meeting. It took a day or so to digest, but in retrospect i realize that we the church spend way too much time thinking about what the church is and how we should meet, and far too little time just living with one another. Even to those in the "house church" or "organic" church movements we still treat the Church as some social club that is separate from life, when in fact the Church is our life. Think less and live more - our lives together will intertwine, we will be built up and build up one another. Whether we live together or apart, the fact is that we should just live, no programs, no meeting agendas, no business models to help administrate the "organization". We should just live together and in Christ - being submissive to one another and faithful in prayer and allow God to impart his gifts on those who he will and allow God to lead. Perhaps if we try less to organize and structure our lives and stop trying to administer so much - God will have the freedom to guide and administer more.

 

"Be still and know that I am God"

- God

--
Reconciliation.tougas.net
Saturdaynightwalk.blogspot.com

Soverenity

A balm of words and fear

Mixed to salve the wound - doubt

We are born sans completion

Our lives are foreign

Unnaturally separated from eternity

The mind overlooks the obvious

But the soul writhes

It swells with angst

We mask it with the speed of life

The vortex spins faster as we

Fall toward the bottom

Calendars grow and blossom

We pack 'em like moving boxes

And eventually time has no room to move

Packed in tight until we can't breathe

Life's portrait seems staged
The pen on the page is replaced

The ink and it's life are lost

To space between the keyboard

And the pixels.

The words on the printed page

Somehow hollow like life stowed tightly away

Like man separate from eternity

In our youth we grapple toward progress

Forward, onward, one step ahead

In age we look back

Wonder at wisdom        

Long for quiet and simplicity

Glassy waters, a graveyard buried in snow

The prairie sky on a cloudless day

Arctic stratum.

Clean, clear, still

Staring into the eyes of God

With no sound

But the color reflected in a still gaze

Eternity still and clear

As the atmosphere on a clear winter night

--
Reconciliation.tougas.net
Saturdaynightwalk.blogspot.com

A walk comes one step at a time

It has been a long time since I have had a proper Saturday night walk. A stroll with old friends talking about our struggles or sharing the things that fill us with excitement – I do miss them. It's been a long time since the old Saturday Night Group got together. We all grew up, got busy, moved in different directions. I have learned a lot since those days.

For so long I have coveted community. Not living in a neighborhood, but community. Shared goods, shared lives – obedience to the life that Jesus led, and commanded us to lead. Living to feed and fill our brothers and sisters, neglecting ourselves knowing that our needs would be filled by those same people that we are pouring ourselves out for.

We have experienced it in short with Georg, Maida and Daniel. God has blessed us again with the Hogans.

The old Saturday night walks were a blessing and perhaps a stepping stone for something better. We all had different expectations. I am hoping that with the many  (and they seem to be more and more all the time) that are coming out of the wood work with a yearning for a life shared that those old strolls and conversations will be reborn fresh and new.

One day at a time. I would rather follow God and be obedient than lead with my own interests at heart.

--
Reconciliation.tougas.net
Saturdaynightwalk.blogspot.com