Feed the Hope…

I read this commentary on US politics.

Yup– republican & democratic presidents have been two wings of the same predatory bird…
AND hope exists. Another article I read the same day:

http://www.naturalnews.com/041849_consciousness_revolution_minds_human_civilization.html

I don’t know that I agree w/ anyone 100%. I do know that more and more people are thinking, learning, and growing. Some of them are even changing behaviors– something more difficult than the other 3 combined.
YHWH told me, “Find the good, green spaces. Touch it. Make it grow.”
It’s not just about plants. It’s people, too.
You can’t break up all the asphalt that covers an entire planet with a jack-hammer: your shoulders would give out before you could make much head-way.
You CAN plant seeds, and find the blackberry & ivy that have already found a crack to grow in. Those plants that grow up through the asphalt are strong. Help them grow.
Yes, there’s a horrible conspiracy going on somewhere… it’s even trace-able via corporate connections & ownership. Mathematically provable “conspiracy theory.”
AND the truth is that $ is *not* god. Only an idol. An idol whose hands and head are threatened.
“He has shown thee, O man, what is good, and what YHWH requires of you: but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy Elohim.”
If you’re given a jack-hammer, by all means, have at it! But when you’re spent, remember to plant the strong sprouting seeds in the wake.
Healthy plants produce seed after their own kind. Unhealthy plants will eventually die and become fertilizer for the next generation. Eventually, hybrids and GMO’s will die out. There will be a new generation to feed. Blackberries & ivy & “good, green spaces” may come in handy.

Oyster mushrooms break down petroleum & petrochemicals. Zeolite clay absorbs radioactive particles. The world is designed to regenerate. We can help, and it can help us to survive, and eventually thrive.

Behold, the hand of YHWH is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. –Isaiah 59:1

YHWH said to Moses, “Has YHWH’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.” –Numbers 11:23
The arm of YHWH is longer than “the long arm of the law.”
No less true today than it was for the Hebrew children in ancient times.

It’s still reality, even when the corporate monsters loom large. Eventually, it’s all just words on paper that say a corporation exists. Paper rots. Life is designed to continue.

Calling All Earth-Beings!

LOVE this Article!!! FOOD GARDENS EVERYWHERE!!!
“National Security” is in the “…plants yeilding seed after their kind…” –Genesis 1:12

Human Sacrifice on the altars of the military-industrial complex “gods-of-war”, or on the altar of the gmo “gods-of-prosperity” does not contribute to “National Security.” It’s time to transform our world, beginning with heirloom seeds in our own homes.

There’s an Ancient Instruction:
“Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce.” –Jeremiah 29:5
“…you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisified. You shall say before YHWH your God, “I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the alien, the orphan and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me: I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments.” –Deuteronomy 26:12-13
“He has told you, O earth-being*, what is good: and what does YHWH require of you, but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” –Micah 6:8

The word “earth-being” is often translated “man”, but is better-translated “earthen being,” in reference to the Genesis account of the human being made “from the dust of the ground,” and being called “Adam.” The word “adam” is related to the word “adamah,” meaning “ground” or “earth.”

Here’s the Ancient Hebrew Pictograph:

When we find the humility to embrace the fact  that we are built from the earth, and will one day return to it, we can find beautiful “grounding” in our original occupation as gardeners. The freedom to be the “earth-beings” we were designed to be is the most basic of human rights.

May we be blessed to build a world where that right is honored and exercised in profusion!

We All Want Peace*

Everybody’s running around with two fingers up– if they aren’t busy lifting just one finger at the driver that just cut ’em off. Even so, that driver really just wants peace. We want to know that we’re going to get to work on time, that rent will be paid, that our electricity won’t be shut off, and that we’ll be able to put gas in that car so we can do it again tomorrow. (I use “we” loosely, here– different folks have different struggles) At the core of our beings, we want to feel “secure,” knowing that we’re protected from hunger, cold, and loneliness.  We want peace.
What’s funny is that our language doesn’t tell us what peace is just by looking at the word. It’s kind of a nebulous “good thing” out there somewhere that nobody seems to have (unless they happen to smell like weed, and even then, it’s only for as long as the high lasts).

Shabbat Shalom!

A few thousand years ago, and still today in some places, the word for peace was a real, concrete picture of that nebulous thing we all want. Originally, the Scriptural, Hebrew word was “Shalom,” spelled “Shin-Lamed-Vav-Mem.” (second word in the pic)

The Shin is the picture of the two front Teeth. Lamed is a picture of the Shepherd’s Staff. Vav is the Tent Peg, and Mem is Water. The Teeth is an image of protection and defense. The Shepherd’s Staff provides guidance and direction, pointing the way out for the sheep to find everything they need. The Tent Peg is the picture of securing or “nailing down.” Water is our source of life. Shalom is defined in Jeff Benner’s Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible , word #2845, “Complete: Made whole or complete by adding or subtracting. ‘To be in a state of wholeness. Also to restore or make right through payment or restitution. ‘A state of being whole, complete, or full. Also an offering of restitution or payment. ‘A greeting as a desire for completeness to another.”
Shalom is “The protection of the Shepherd, nailing down the water.” We are at peace when we are protected and provided for by our Creator, and when we are made “complete.” In order to be “complete,” we need air, water, food, and shelter. Without land to grow food on, we are incomplete, and the land is incomplete without the humble people who care for it, watching over it with sensitivity to see that seeds sprout in it. Finding those humble people gives the rest of that picture of completeness– we’re no longer lonely 🙂

*Originally posted January 28, 2010 on my old blogsite

PRACTICAL FAITH: If It Don’ Work, Don’ Bother!

Life is rich with natural, functional, healthy systems that really do work. Chemicals, Smog and sundry other nuisances obscure our view of the beauty around and within us that works well. That beauty exudes its richness through “Faith.”
The original word for “faith” in Scripture was “emunah”, and it had a lot more to it than the nebulous “belief” I was once taught.

Aleph-Mem-Vav-Nun-Hey: (read the opposite direction in Hebrew)
-Bull’s Head (Strength, First, Authority)
-Moving Water / Blood
-Tent Peg (Nail Down, Secure)
-Sprouting Seed (Offspring, Continuing)
-Man Standing in Awe (Wow, LOOK!)

Faith without works really is dead. The picture of Emunah (Original Faith) is Strength Watering and Securing the Sprouting Seed and Standing in Awe, Looking at the results.
Real Faith is real work, implementing the Natural Laws given in Torah, and seeing the results of working within those tangible, functional, “Good” Rules.  Emunah is really better-translated “Faithfulness.” When we are faithful to YHWH’s Teaching and Instruction, we experience the results of real, active, living faith.
If faith produces the Tov (Functionality / Goodness) described in Torah, it’s real faith, and you can hang your hat on it. Just like we invest strength in following the Natural Laws, planting a seed and watering it and watching it sprout and grow into food, there are a multitude of rich laws that can feed, heal, teach, and guide us if we’ll implement them. Faith that implements the Teaching and Instruction of YHWH is recognizable in the Tov it produces.

(Originally published March 3, 2010 here)

Ain’t Life Traumatic?!

Life hurts. Whether you’ve been in a car wreck, in an abusive relationship, through emotional trauma, took a few too many hits in sporting events, poisoned yourself with city air pollution, toxic houses, pharmaceutical medications, or what-have-you, it hurts like the dickens.
There are a lot of traumatic events I’ve been spared, and I’m SO thankful for that!
I have experienced all of the above, and, due to the amount of toxins I’ve been exposed to, I can’t use pharmaceutical medications AT ALL anymore– they only make me feel worse now.
SO– there’s a bright side to all of that 😀
I don’t have to live in incessant pain!
I have a list of natural tools that I keep in my medicine cabinet that keep my body nice and happy and healing– without drugs.
Top of that list is Arnica. It’s a beautiful little flower Designed to work great as a homeopathic remedy for trauma of all kinds.
I use potencies as follows:
For minor boo-boo’s, 30X or 6C… or let the kid shake it off– no biggie.
For something that’s ‘gonna leave a mark, 30C
For something that’s ‘gonna leave a mark for a week or more, 200C
For something that’s likely to send us to the ER if it doesn’t look better fast (or if we just got out of the ER), 1M. So far, we’ve been well-blessed, and the Arnica 1M has worked beautifully on every major injury we’ve had, and, with 4 kids, we haven’t been there in about 8 years. The 1M is also good if  having flash-backs or insomnia or other psychological repercussions from trauma, or if the trauma is very old– great for that broken bone or torn ligament that never felt right again after it “healed.”
It’s a homeopathic medicine, which means it doesn’t operate on a substance basis, but rather on patterns left over in the water into which it was dissolved. That means two things:
A. It doesn’t interact with any kind of medication, which is great for people who are dependent on pharmaceutical medications.
B. We can’t use coffee or strong mint or tea tree oil or camphor or other strong smells when you use it, we can’t touch the medicine itself before you put it in our mouth, and we can’t store it at high temperatures or near electrical equipment or magnets. Any of these things can render the medicine ineffective– it messes up those patterns.
Arnica also comes in topical, gel form to put on bruises & help them to heal faster– a friend says it’s great for if you’re headed to Jamaica for your honeymoon and just banged your leg on the car door. I haven’t used it for that  specifically, but I have watched bruises disappear much more quickly than I’d expected using it… or sometimes not appear at all, if I got it on there fast enough 🙂
The key with this remedy is to take AS NEEDED. We use the LOWEST effective potency, and only take it when the symptoms come up. If the pain is getting better, we don’t take any more. If it starts to get worse or hits a stand-still at healing, we take another dose.
It’s the perfect “shell-shocked soldier” remedy. If I had my way, 1M Arnica would be standard-issue at the VA… But who am I?

Arnica isn’t the only tool in my basket, but it has been a vital one. For more on things that have been helpful for me personally, see my other posts. Arnica also doesn’t fit everyone’s trauma picture. Some people are better served by Aconitum or another remedy. Finding the remedy picture that fits the symptoms set is crucial. There are thousands of different homeopathic remedies made from natural substances, each of which has a unique “personality” for helping “fine tune” different aspects of health that can be “knocked off-course.” I’ve loved “fine tuning” in my own home to find the beautiful people inside those “rough spots” in life.

As with all of my “non-medical, non-advice”, I’m no doctor or pharmacist, which means that I’m not licensed to treat, cure, prevent, heal, or otherwise mitigate any disease. It also means that nobody paid off the FDA to approve the stuff I use. So do your own research, and find what works for you 🙂

For folks interested in more info on the history of homeopathic medicine, here’s a link to more info:
http://www.homeopathic.com/Articles/History