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I dunno. Every so often, a day–or series of days–comes along that just drags at a person. It’s been that way lately. My summer schedule is full to bursting. I’ve had to opt out of some paying work, and I feel like the family-and-community to-do lineup is a thousand miles long.

I suspect I’m turning into my mother. As I write this, my first inclination is to make a list. Take it all down to size, prioritize, tackle. I’m not the list person. She is. Problem is, listing it sometimes just clarifies the problems, not the solutions.

A long list of disappointments lately–a list that’s very clear in my mind–doesn’t help. I got a solid dose of the flaws in some of my family relationships. There’s the ongoing internal conflict in our church. We also just received a “no” from a potential pastor who had seemed to be all “yes” up till now. It was a financially costly “no” to the church, and we’re going to have to answer some angry questions. At times like this, the responsibilities of our young family, jobs, and even little things like home maintenance just get to be a weight, rather than the privilege they should be to the two of us.

So, what do you do with a “downer” day? Make a list? Stay in bed? Go into denial and eat chocolate? Tackle the future with both hands and feet?

I’m sure there’s an interesting range out there. Gimme your thoughts.

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…No, I don’t mean what you might find up the nose of a Christian with a cold.

TheBereanCall.org’s radio program, Search the Scriptures Daily, quotes an Orlando Sentinel article from Feb 22/08 on evangelicals and global warming:

“Global warming is an offense against God….America needs our biblical outrage….we as a nation will face a judgment from God if we don’t do this.”

– Rev. Richard Cizik, National Association of Evangelicals’ vice-president of governmental affairs

Cizik has been covered by enviro mag Grist, the Washington Post, PBS’s Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and Christianity Today for his opinions on global warming. Other major evangelical leaders, including James Dobson, have called for him to be silenced or fired for his stance on the climate change controversy. According to a quote referenced by Christianity Today, Jerry Falwell brands it “be[ing] duped by these ‘earthism’ worshippers.” (more…)

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Yesterday, I had an idea for a topic. Today, I just can’t remember it. Today, I am reminded that the days of life are going by. I have heard people say that time flies for them; I still don’t know what time is. That is more rhetorical than actual. No, I don’t always intentionally pun. Well, let me not waste that which I don’t know and get to the topic. “Soul Bling.” Soul bling has been flashing through my mind lately, in particular “Christian t-shirts.” (more…)

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Getting back to the land, owning an acreage or a small farm, is a really cool fad these days. Everyone’s doing it, you know.

For one, it seems to mesh with a certain portion of the Christian homeschooling community, so well that conservative Christian businessfolk Paul and Gena Suarez expanded their online business to cater to Christian homesteaders. What began as The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and HomeschoolBlogger.com now includes HomesteadBlogger.com, which amounts to an online small town in both size and culture.

What’s the deal? Well, the rhetoric about good management of the earth comes from a couple of directions—one, it comes from within the churches. What amounts to campaign materials are handed out to churches and denominations. These even include sermon suggestions for incorporating concern for the earth. [1]

Two, like those campaign materials, the rhetoric comes from secular sources. Accusations link Christianity to male domination and exploitation of, like, everything—women, children, and dolphins. (I had no idea my church’s deacons had so much spare time on their hands.) Homesteading and ecological awareness is one response from the Christian community.

Most of all, though, there is realistic motivation for individuals as they pick up on the realities of our food distribution system. People aren’t satisfied with blueberries that have been sitting on the boat from Chile for a month. [2] Folks are absorbing a perennial flow of news items about environmental concerns, and an ever-expanding grassroots buzz about better living.

The sustainability movement has links to globalism, and also contains plenty of pagan philosophy. Are Christians aware of everything they’re adopting? And what about pagans? I’ve seen several pagans try to integrate into the HomesteadBlogger community, only to end up leaving or limiting their participation, for various reasons. Do Christians handle these interactions wisely?

Lemme know what you think. [3]

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[1] Forcing Change Magazine, Issue 6, Volume 1, www.forcingchange.org

[2] See http://lazycreek.net/TYDOS/2007/04/seasonal-produce-and-winter-eating.html for more information.

[3] Author’s note: The uploading of this post was fraught with homesteading peril, so I appeal to the record for grounds that my frazzled nerves deserve the contribution of your opinion, dear reader.

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As of last Monday, we now know that soil management is one major point in the organic rationale, and it’s not actually cow doo-doo. A couple of years back, CTV (one of Canada’s national television networks) aired a comparison of the nutrient value of a potato today and fifty years ago.

I didn’t know potatoes used to contain Vitamin C. Apparently they basically don’t anymore, so I guess I wasn’t missing anything. At least in one sense. Also, potatoes now have only about half the Vitamin A they used to. There’s also genetic selection by growers to blame, but we’ll tackle that one another time.

Ultimately, the organic concept is not just about how food is grown, or whether it makes better food, but whether it makes a better life overall. In order to be a certified organic grower, for instance, the entire growing chain must be organic, not just the final product. The soil must be chemical-free for a certain period (length of time depends on the certifying body), the seed must be organically sourced, the greenhouse seedlings must be chemical-free, and of course, we don’t use synthetic chemical controls on the food.

Soil management is the core of organic growing. Soil depletion provides one possible rationale for why organic foods don’t weigh in better than synthetically-produced ones in nutrient value, when you look at the long-term changes in food nutrition. So, here’s to dirt. Oh, and cow doo-doo. But sustainability is not just a practice; it’s a cultural movement, one that a lot of Christians have joined. What are the implications?

Lemme know what you think.

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