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)

Perfection Disorders

I grew up trying to be perfect & do things perfectly.  I wonder how many other people  did. Eventually I gave up. It’s like getting into a spaceship and starting out for a planet located an infinite distance away. No matter how far you travel, you never get any closer. It’s not about becoming perfect. It’s about the journey.
2 original words / Ancient Hebrew pictographs for you:

Break or Keep:
Trample or Guard

1. Break– “to open the head” (as in a head of grain). It’s the picture of throwing the Teaching and Instruction down on the threshing floor and trampling it.
2. Keep– “to guard and protect” It’s the picture of the shepherd building a corral out in the wilderness where there aren’t any 2×4’s. He makes a short wall of rocks and then surrounds the top with thorn bushes, and then stays there, protecting his sheep from the wild animals.

The word “Break”  (in red) is taken from Psalm 119:126, as an example. It corresponds to Strong’s # 6565, and to the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible’s # 1388-B. There it is translated, “To open the head” and “To throw something on the ground and break by trampling”. You can see the open mouth (the letter Peh) with the two guys’ heads (the letter Resh).
The word “Keep” (in blue) is taken from a few verses later as an opposite: verses 134 and 136. They correspond to Strong’s # 8104, and to the AHLB’s # 2853 (V). The AHLB translates it, “To guard” and “To watch over or guard in the sense of preserving or protecting.” You can see the two front teeth (symbolizing protection, biting, or tearing) protecting the water (sustenance for life) and the head.  Another meaning for the Mem (water symbol) is blood (life source), so it could be “the teeth protecting the blood and the head.” This picture used in correlation with “keeping the Teaching and Instruction” or mistranslated, “keeping the law” is a vivid one, demonstrating the life-guarding properties of Scripture.
“Keeping or Breaking the Law” isn’t the terror we were taught. It’s a real, do-able, rich lifestyle. Rather than “Obey perfectly”, we “walk in it”, so as not to “trample it.”
There’s space for things not being perfect. YHWH isn’t that naive 🙂 The Creator just wants us to love living, and gave us Instructions on how to make that happen.  “Peace be the journey.”

As always, I’m not the expert: for more info, see the American Center for Ancient Hebrew Research:

http://ancient-hebrew.org/

or their youtube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ancienthebreworg

Find Healing NOW: For Ourselves, and For Our Children, and the Generations After Them!

 

I’ve been offline for a bit. Internet access has been sketchy, but I had to post this:

I’ve seen miracles.

Touching the Good, Green Spaces

Yesterday, I went for a walk to “decompress” a bit. Walked through “The Big, Grassy Field.” The Big, Grassy Field is a vacant lot ’round the corner from us, where nobody sprays anything, and all the wild herbs grow, each in their season… and where everyone dumps whatever trash is in their hands along the path through it. The kids don’t seem to notice the garbage, though. They’re too busy LOVING the grass and herbs and free space to run and play. Their world is right whenever we take a break, or have a reward and go to The Big, Grassy Field.

At any rate, I was walking said path through said Big, Grassy Field, and I registered being “on the edge”– like I could get angry about the smog and asphalt and fast food smells and society in general and all, or I could focus on something good. I felt YHWH telling me, “Focus on the good, green things.” I found all the plants with their colors and flowers… “Touch the good, green things.” I touched the herbs. Normally, I’m more a “use the herbs” type, rather than a “touch the herbs” type LOL!  Found some to bring home & show the kids– different stages of development of horsetail (which one of my kiddos promptly ID’d when I got home, and from the most difficult sample, first :-D). I felt more “grounded.” I felt YHWH saying, “When you can, touch the good, green things, and make them grow.”  It wasn’t just about plants. I could see the vision of strong, healthy plants, breaking up pavement and tearing down the mess we’ve made… but it’s not just nature. It’s building the “good, green things” in people, where I find them, and “making the good, green things grow, when I can.” …in difficult relationships… and not-so-difficult ones… in whoever I happen to meet and “touch.” My job is to nurture the “good, green spaces.” …in the children, and in their parents, through my book…(s), blog(s) & what-not. “Find the good, green spaces. Touch it. Make it grow.”
May YHWH richly and abundantly bless you and yours, and may He touch the good, green spaces in all of you, and make it grow.

Money and Underwear

I read an article or two the other day, and decided that I just had to write a bit about underwear. 🙂

OK, so undies aren’t usually within the fields of the health-nutty thing, or the Ancient Hebrew Pictographs thing, or connections between the two.  I guess, maybe it has more to do with the self-sustaining / sustainable thing, though… which does relate back to those in a round-about way…

I was scooting around online, checking my mail in between loads of laundry, dishes, diapers, and schoolwork, and my attention was caught by a video claiming to connect the status of the economy with mens’ underwear sales. Methinks, “YUP– been there! When we’re broke, and it’s a choice between buying food and…” OK, we’ll not go there. Then, I got off on a tangent, looking into the manufacture of those undies, and the outsourcing that “affordable” undies have done… I was sickened by not only the twistedness of the “money gods” who wouldn’t provide functional conditions or compensation to these people, but who further bought off congress to oppress an entire country, disallowing their government to raise their own minimum wage (and we wonder why we can’t compete with outsourcing and why we’re losing our jobs here???!!!) and the death threats???!!!

OK, so… breathing a bit… I’m not one to have very many dollars in “voting power,” but one thing we do buy new is undies. We’ve long since quit buying anything made by slave children in China. The kiddos check the labels carefully now. There are things that just don’t get replaced very often, but it makes for taking better care of what we have, anyhow.  Beyond that, it’s built a confidence that we can make things for ourselves a lot of the time, or function without some the “necesseties” that we “had to have” for survival. Now we’re independent of some of those things, and it’s empowering. Fruit of the Loom will not be getting any more blood from this one little turnip, even if I have to sew our family’s undies myself!

He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself
Or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

–Proverbs 22:16

YHWH, in the original sense of the word, please, Judge!

YHWH, Judge, and grant Peace!

Non-Dairy, Sugar-Free Hot Cocoa, Sans Chem Lab ;-)

I LOVE hot cocoa. Can’t do most forms of dairy, or sugar. What’s a girl to do???!!!

2 Heaping Tbsp Organic* Cocoa Powder

Pinch Cinnamon (or not)

12 ozs boiling water

1/4 cup Organic* Coconut milk

Stir together in a 16-oz coffee mug.

Enjoy!!!

**Note: the Organic Coacoa Powder may be replaced w/ regular if you can’t get the organic, but don’t skimp on the coconut milk: it tastes metallic if you get the regular kind.

Old Mid-Eastern remedy for diarrhea is cocoa– without sweeteners. Sweeteners can exacerbate it. This is a nice way to get it down! Pleasant medicine, if you’re running to the bathroom a bit too regularly 😉 Go easy on the coconut milk, though, in that event.

Standard Disclaimer:

I’m  no doc, and don’t pretend to be one. I am therefore not legally licensed to diagnose, cure, treat, prevent, or otherwise mitigate any disease, and neither is the stuff I generally choose for healing… but then, I’ve not been educated indoctrinated by boards with big pharma reps on them, either   so do your own research and find what works for you