Category Archives: Earth Ministry

Care for the Earth – understanding the Creator’s design and Natural Law – Everyone’s Job!

Advent 2024

Advent

—> a season and a word not always comprehended! A penitential season – yep! – penance – many “oh not for me”!!!!

One only needs to look at the Cross with Jesus hanging there to begin to get a glimpse of penitential!
Yes to suffer for all others in spite of oh so many not aware!
Does anyone remember when sour wine was lifted up to touch His lips! Just before the objective of silencing the speaker of Truth! A reward???????
What did He say to us? Oh yea! Pick up your cross and come follow me!!!
A Penitential a season to be celebrated immediately before the time we give thanks and remember His birth in a stableChristmas!!
One who speaks the Truth in today’s world will soon receive “Sour Wine” lifted to touch one’s lips!
Hmmmm’. Brother and Sister — What’s that face???

Darkest Night – Preparation for New Life

December 25 the longest night. I put my homing pigeons together male and female with the knowledge this is the prerequisite to create the possibility of new life!
In ten (10) days eggs follow containing the necessary DNA for future champions!  17 or so days later the babies begin the work to peck to break out of the egg!
This pecking trigers Mom and dad to begin the process of developing pigeon milk in their crop.  Yes preparation for the arrival of hungry hatching babies!
All this works like clock work according to God’s design!
Only man thinks man can replace God’s design with LBGTQ and gender choice.  Yes real Moma’s begin developing human milk before a baby arrives! Truth – man is only creature – not God, yet man continues to imagine man can overcome and replace God’s design with selfie sin!

Walnuts:

Ten or more years ago I planted Walnut Trees on a new 34 acre property my wife and I purchased. This week October 3, 2022 I stopped by the property for a look see. As I drove by the Walnut Trees I noticed some had green walnuts hanging in the branches. Upon further investigation I found numerous Walnuts had fallen to the ground. I began to pick them up one or two at a time. Before I knew I had a bucket full.

I took them home and on the way I began to reflect upon the walnuts hidden inside the husks. Some still green and others had already turned black. What to do? How does one recover the nut hidden inside the husk? After watching a video I ventured into trying to de-husk the walnuts.

Oh woe is me!! I filled the bucket with water, began to stir the walnuts in hope the husks would fall apart. No such luck! So next I tried using a spoon handle to extract the husks from the nuts. Those that had already tuned black peeled rather easily. Those that were still green no suck luck. Before I knew it I had soaked my hands in the raw walnut soup I had created. Oh Oh!! I pulled my hands out for a moment! My Oh My – my hands are black!!

Quickly to the sink with warm water and soap! No luck, no luck, no such luck! Next to my handy computer – search “how clean walnut stain from skin” I pray – yes I pray!!

Stain stain go away – black hands I pray! I began to reflect upon my youth when my dad took me to a large house near the street. It had a huge walnut tree near the street. It was in the fall. My dad showed me all the walnuts – multiples of walnuts covered the ground. I still remember, I was just a kid 7 or 8. My dad told me the walnuts could stain things but that memory hit me just a little late at 80 years old.  Just a kid and I remember — Yikes I have black hands!

White Vinegar next, hydrogen peroxide next, vegetable oil next, warm water and soft scrub and brush! Lord have mercy the stain remains! I am a marked man and my wife will be home so very soon! Lord have mercy!

Ah sucks — Not going to be able to hide this stain!

Well! I surrendered! The good Lord had giving me a blessing to reflect upon – a stain that wouldn’t go away soon! What’s this all about Lord?

Nature and the Holy Spirit speak through the nature of a walnut! Yes I know how crazy “a Walnut”!! It has a hard husk to protect the growing nut inside as it grows and develops. Oh yes, as the walnut matures over time the walnut husk begins to turn black slowly and finally falls to the earth.

It lays patiently waiting for someone like me to find and pick it up – completely depending upon curiosity to investigate! Yes a hard husk to protect it as it matures and then begins to soften into a mush with a unique ability to stain one’s skin. Yet hidden inside a real treat – yes protected by the hard hard shell of the walnut as if to protect it’s heart!

The gift and treasure within in hiding! Nutrients with the potential to sustain life. Imagine two hard layers of protect the inner core – the heart of the Walnut. Given time the shell will soften and disintegrate back into the earth. To die and be transformed as nutrients so that future new life can be reborn again! And yes the gift to the taste buds – the walnut provides the needed nutrients to sustain there treasure of new life more abundant for those with eyes to see and mind willing to open to the potential hidden within a very hard husk!

Elephants and Men and Family

Beyond these Stone Walls:  Fr. Gordan MacRae:  Link: https://beyondthesestonewalls.com/

A Post in regard to the Modern World thought provoking reality of human kind’s best effort to solve Natures (God’s design) for the Elephant population:  Hmmm any relationship to Fathers and humanities mass incarceration reality – and just exactly what is the cause?

Any correlation?  Common Thread?

My Comments followed by link to Fr. Gordan Macre’s recent Post.

I have posted similar comments before. As a fact I visit a State prison weekly and have been doing so since before 2011.  I am a deacon and say I was called and sent!  From the very first day visiting prison I encountered a large number of juvenile inmates. The prison I visited has a boot camp program for juvenile young men.  The purpose and objective is to make a positive intervention /  goal to prevent these young men from committing more serious crimes in an effort to help them stay away from a life of crime resulting in long term prison incarceration.

No Sparkle?

As I walked through a room of about 70-80 young men I noticed these young men seemed to be missing something my grand kids had and other kids.  What was missing I usually I encountered with kids their age!  I call it a “sparkle” – kinda like a light that shines through coming from the spirit of the soul!  Could it be a lack of purpose, happiness and joy was missing!

Oh the Questions that poured out of my Soul!

My short trip through these young men in 2011 prompted me to begin asking many older inmates about these kids to me.

Some of the answer did not surprise me!  Missing dads was but a part of the cause!  What took my spiritual breath was the combo as in the beginning!  Not just dad – yes mom plus dad the relationship defined in scripture as the “One Flesh”!  Wow was my reaction – off to the spiritual inquiry races!

Questioning Who?  The Qualified?  Who are they?

Over the next several months my spirit took me on a journey of questioning??  Just exactly is this one flesh spiritual concept? vMom and dad two separate people with distinctively different outlooks based upon many complex human gender God created factors!  Kind like – we all know the difference!  Then what the heck is the “One Flesh” design for husband and wife?

First it is a United spiritual oneness woven together ever so tightly as a single threaded garment that Unites in a special relation of two distinctly different yet merged entities/words that complete the definition of the other – each joining the other thus creating a oneness from two.

What are the Two words that when Married become One?

So what are these two words? Love married to discipline = a spiritual relationship that unites and completes the ideal family!!!

These young juveniles I encountered were commonly described as mad as hell with their mom and dad!  Wow – not just one or the other – but bothWhat was missing in this formula I believe the good Lord sent me to encounter the symptoms of the breakdown of family in the prison I visited weekly! This did not happen over night!

Why why why?  Was my persistent prayer!

A Vision of a Life and Death Battling – A Spiritual War:

In 2011 God gave me a vision as well which took a long time for me to interpret!  This was a vision of the current spiritual war raging in the world against the “One Flesh” design for family!

The male elephant story and scenario demonstrates human kind’s willingness to work around God’s design – what has and is taking place on a world scale with God’s design for both the human family and elephants!  Do we not have the LBGTQ +++ agenda serving as a direct affront and indirect attack against God’s design for the human family?

I suggest we are watching the construction of a New Tower of Babble story!  Is not the LBGTQ  +++ agenda being erected to serve as a new form of government controlled religionIt operates under the radar of many clergyman and politicians!  Few – a relative minuscule number of leaders of various backgrounds speak out!  Are we humans now unable to discern truthModern man’s new trick to redefine Truth which never changes nor will it!  Seems to me we are watching a real time enactment of the story of man and the tree in the garden!

Fr Gordon MacRae’s post in regard to the modern day elephant reality demonstrates humanities lack of ability to put the pieces of God’s design together with any accuracy of anticipating or avoiding the consequences of humanities sinful nature as was communicated originally in the Beginning!

https://beyondthesestonewalls.com/posts/in-the-absence-of-fathers-a-story-of-elephants-and-men

The Stain – The Stain – the Spirit Hidden in the Stain Triggers a Pause to Reflect.

Hey all!  Took a ride to a property I purchased in 2005.  34 + beautiful acres resting on the side of Pine Mountain running east -west across Georgia.  As I drove up the grassy road I passed by Walnut Trees I planted about 15 years ago.  Behold I saw Walnuts hanging in a few trees.  My spiritual brain began immediately to digest the sight before my eyes!

Oh my – the journey that followed:

I stopped – got out of my truck and began picking up fallen walnuts .  Some were still green and as many where in the process of turning black.  Before long I had a bucket full of walnuts.  Time to head for home.  On the way my mind raced back to the days of my young when my father stopped in front an old house that had a huge Walnut Tree near the street.  There the ground was covered with fallen walnuts.  My dad loved walnuts and we quickly began collecting those fallen walnuts covered with green and black husks.

Again — My Oh My – much later (too late) I would recall my dad’s warning! Oh yes he did!

When I arrived home, I rushed into the house and to my trusty computer!  Search “Video – how to de husk walnuts”.  Remove that green and turning black shell within which the walnut is protected as it matures.  The video showed the walnuts being placed in water and rigorously stirred in a process to remove the husks.  Simple – I should have studied much more!!

You Guessed It – yes I did!  into a bucket of water went the newly fallen walnuts!

Let them soak a while – patients is called for!  But this day patients was in short supply!  Yes I did – you bet into the water went my hands to fetch and peel each walnut!  I discovered the ones turned black peeled the easiest.  The green ones no such luck.  After about 15 minutes I pulled my hands out of the water to BEHOLD!!!  Black fingers and palms!  Oh Oh – what does one do??  Oh yea – my dad’s ancient warning jumped into my mind!  Too Late??

Oh – Removal of husks multiplied by removal of stain with yet to come removal of the shell just to discover and encounter the treasure hidden within!

Back to the computer I raced!  My imagination was running wild thinking of what my wife would have to say!  You betcha!!   Vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, lemon juice, vegetable oil – all concoctions to rid the stain – yes the ingrained stain to my fingers and hands.  The trouble she is a brewing from the haste to discover and encounter the walnut nut – hidden inside the shell covered by by the husk which turns the water into a black stained soup – which is resistant to almost everything!  Yikes!  I am a goner!

The Stain the Pain:  Guaranteed Pause to Reflect on the Stain:

The Holy Spirit me wonders doth follow me around for the laughs I insight.   Looking at my stained hands I began to grasp and digest the spiritual secrets and treasures hidden in God’s creation of the Walnut tree and my story – a human nature story.  A walnut has two protective hard covers within which it can safely grow and mature!  Hmmm!  Kinds like us humans!  We too need a protective shell as we grow and mature.  But hey the Walnut has two protective layers.  You betcha!  Hmmm?  To get to the heart and treasure of the walnut hidden within one must find a method to remove two different protective covers!  One which by nature will deteriorate if left alone and the second not so easy to remove!  My oh my!  A new skill set!  Er!  Maybe – could it be an ancient skill set??

to be continued ……..

Staring and Contemplating the stain to my fingers and hands cause me to reflect upon the difficulties we humans have communicating.  It is as though there is a hidden protective cover to avoid an encounter with another who expresses themselves in a way that threatens our self image.

Care for the Earth — A Garden:

When I was a kid growing up in northern Indiana, all of my aunts and uncles had a small garden in their yard. Yes, even in depths of winter they figured out how to grow some crops. As a kid, I remember going to one of my uncle’s houses where there was a foot of snow on the ground. I still remember how they constructed the garden above ground held together with wooden beams and covered with what looked to me as an old window that covered the top.

Have you ever sat in a car on a sunny day with windows closed and doors shut?  Did it warm up inside the car? The Sun works – the Son works! It can save life that is threatened by cold and surround it with sufficient warmth life can be sustained and even grow!

We live in a new Modern day where people have been largely disconnected from nature and God! Climate Change is the chant! Amazing how MODERN Man can turn TRUTH Upside DOWN!  Heck, Climate Change is exactly God’s Design from the Beginning! Man’s challenge is to figure out how to cooperate with mother nature (God’s Design) and use what can be obvious – right in front of the noses of man. Yet perplex and real as it is – Modern man thinks self is smarter!  Open your eyes, ears, and spirit says the Lord! Be observant! Pay attention to God’s design – it offers the potential for new life in the midst of many traveling down the wrong path!

Lord Have Mercy!! There really is hope for humanity – if only – if only – if only!!!!

We have gone to the Dogs:

We have had at least 8 dogs that are and were not our dogs! Wolfgang was a black lab puppy my oldest son brought home when he was a freshman in college! Wolfgang would bite your feet (it hurt let me tell you) until you played with him – he did not run out of gas!!! Before we knew it he started running the neighborhood and – he was hit by a car breaking a hip and slowing him down! Nursed him back / he became my traveling pal! Hyper hyper hyper. Hip injury took it’s toll!

Then came Winston – Australian Shepherd – same son – after college! Dog got on the back of someone’s truck and got lost. Winston had our name / number on Veterinarian rabbies tag! Someone called Vet – Bet called my wife. She wouldn’t let our son have the dog back! Winston became my pal too – walk – walk – bounce up walk walk walk – Just like herding sheep – bounce up to look over sheep = me! Winston just got old! Made me cry the day he died!

Well then there was Scarlet – bad habit Russel Terrier – loved chasing cars – found her in the street one morning – sad. With Scarlet came Mick – bull massive – big boy – my wife managed to find Mic a loving home with kids! Both from – you guessed it the same son whose mom set down the law!

Whew! Thought I was finally free! Neighbors sold home and left dog behind – wife fed him – another pal – Brownie was the name we gave her! Unknown to use a hound dog must have been watching – cause little by little he came closer and closer! Brownie’s pal. I called him Little Bit becuase he won’t get close enough to touch! But Inch by inch- day by day, week after week Little Bit moved in. Unfortunately, Little Bit also loved to chase cars – not good!

After a time the Vet discovered found Brownie had had heart worms for a very long time – oh my! A few more tears!

Let your hearts not weary! Bailey, the other neighbors dog had obviously been watching and found an opening – another pal! Bailey was already old and soon began having trouble getting those hind legs to follow! Lots of consulting with the neighbor and the day finally came!

The cold of winter is here – but the signs of new life surround hidden in the wet cold ground around! It’s kinda like some how I managed to learn I can smell nature cooking a brew of nutrients from what appears as all the dead stuff that surrounds!

Took my tractor for a ride in the cold! She fussed a bunch and blew smoke as I started her up! But you know she started to purr as she warmed up to the chore of pulling a harrow in toe! Magic all around if one just open eyes and ears to listen for sounds – new birth mixed into the earths brew! Hills and valleys lie ahead for sure and treasures await for those open to search! Wow! The wonders of the spirit of life – Not for a single second did I think I’ll of anyone – not once did I encounter a trace of ill or hate!

Get it together folks – we are called to be in one spirit = united! The dogs figured it out – just say hi – I wish you a blessed day even when all I can do is only negotiate an inch at a time!

Fire – Prescribed Burn – California?

Yesterday, I ordered pine trees to be planted in places clear cut last year. Yep earth ministry at work using the tools God provides unseen to many concrete dwellers. Many of them demand no trees be cut down! Go figure what happened In California where concrete heads scorched the earth killing every living thing and assured the birth of new life is delayed and the waters of new life create mud slides to extend misery far beyond eyes blinded by man’s power grab to replace the one who created it all.
I will be using fire 🔥 in the next few days to prepare the earth to receive the trees. Can you see? The ground is saturated with water. Most of fuel for fire removed and only dead trash covers the ground. Fire 🔥 consumes whats died and converts it to ash – a magic formula for replenishing nutrients needed for the birth of new life of every form! Trees and wild life will rejoice when the new garden leaps from the earth.

Oh did I forget to tell you I must wait for the right wind so the fire battles itself until it extinguishes itself! Yep it’s kinda the breath of dying in preparation for a new rising! Lord have mercy on those who seek to replace God’s plan with pride, sin and self!

When these human sins thrive the land is covered with dead fuel of sin and if repentance (a controlled burn) doesn’t occur soon a scorched earth not capable of sustaining life will bring a muddy mess when the waters come to renew life!

Man oh man do I have a lot of work to do! I am just an old man hoping some how my children and grand children will encounter the breath of new life more abundant that arises from the ashes of dreams unfulfilled so when the design God dreams for them appears they can enter the garden prepared they discover the true gift they are and love embraces them so tightly it radiates where even the blind can see!!

Playing with Fire

Playing with Fire! Well actually this is a prescribed burn and what it looks like. Use fire to extinguish fire. The dead wood and brush of the earth are converted to ash! Catholics should know except maybe they haven’t figured out ash contains nutrients that serve as fertilizer for new life!! Kinda like confession to rid the soul of death in exchange for the essential grace that sustains the rebirth of new life! I am gonna smell like smoke when I get home! Thank God I have a laundry woman! Don’t step a foot in this house until you Give me them clothes!!!