Holiday Season Already!

I know that Halloween was only a few days ago and we still have three weeks till Thanksgiving, but here at the farm we are already gearing up for Christmas. Last year around this same time I wrote a blog about St. Nicholas. This year, while reflecting on the characters of the Christmas season, I thought I would tap into my Scandinavian roots. In Swedish folklore there is a creature called the tomte (in Norway and Denmark they call him nisse). A tomte is a very small gnome like creature that lives under the floor boards of farmer’s homes. It ranges in size from a few inches to half the height of a full grown man. He generally has a beard and wears the clothing of a typical farmer. However, some tales describe him as a shape shifter and in modern Denmark he is depicted as having a red cap and looking almost like a little Santa gnome.
The tomte was a great help on the farm. He had incredible strength and would often do work in secret to help benefit the farmer and his family. However, the tomte was often very irritable and easily offended. Santa Claus may have his naughty list and piles of coal give out to misbehaving children, but the stakes were a bit higher with the tomte. If he heard you cussing, being rude, or urinating in the barn he may have punched you in the face or even go as far has killing your livestock. Also, if you ever spilled something it was customary to warn the tomte dwelling beneath the floor boards. Over time the tomte evolved to replace the traditional Yule Goat as the bearer of Christmas presents. The more commercialized he gets the more he looks like Santa, but he still has his own unique place in Scandinavian history.
Here at the farm, to the best of my knowledge, we don’t have any tomtes. Although a few months ago we did find a gang of puppies underneath the floor boards on the staff house front porch! No, we have our own Christmas traditions here at the farm and my favorite is our annual Christmas party. Each December we take a break from home repair and focus on sharing the joy of the holiday season with our Doddridge county community. We visit all of the families that we have worked with over the course of the year and bring them gifts and cookies. Also, we send a thank you cookie package to all the wonderful businesses the work with us. It all culminates with a big party for the children of the area. We have music, games, face painting, crafts, and Santa has a toy and at least one book for every child.
The only way that we can do this is through the help and generosity of others (or until we get a tomte). For those of you who came here this year, maybe you want to sponsor a family that you worked with. Here are some things to think about. Maybe your family wants to sponsor a family. Maybe your church or youth group wants to sponsor a family. Maybe you want to pool some money with your work crew. If you do decide to sponsor someone you could set aside time to pray for them throughout the holiday season. If you haven’t been to the farm in a while and don’t remember anyone on this list feel free to pick at random, or you could donate to the general Christmas fund. Anything that you all are able to do is appreciated. If you do wish to sponsor a family let us know before Thanksgiving so we can plan accordingly. Thanks a million and Merry Christmas.

Staff Reflection: Gatorade? H20!!!!!!!!!!

Water is everywhere: in rivers, lakes, ponds, creeks and oceans; in rain, snow and fog; in the very air we breathe, the food we eat; in our bodies and in every living thing. Water is essential to life, and we hardly realize it. From a chemistry standpoint, water is as simple as it gets: as this post's title outlines, water is an oxygen atom with two hydrogen atoms attached on either side. It is beautifully simple, yet essential to all we hold dear.

Let's look at this staff member's daily use of water. Going to the bathroom. Drinking. Brushing teeth. Cooking. Eating. Face and hand washing. All simple acts of water usage. Others shower more, play among water, and partake in other activities that require water. Yet how often do we recognize this simple gift? When do we appreciate the full effect water has on our lives?

I was in the garden the other day and was picking vines off the metal fence that surrounds it. Some were green and tightly wound around the metal links, while others were dead and shriveled, easily picked off with a slight brush. The former were alive and the latter dead, but a defining characteristic differentiating the two was the presence or absence of water. Same thing goes with chopping wood: wet or recently cut wood won't split as well as dried wood, because the wetness allows the wood to hold onto the strength and resilience that it had before it was cut off from life. It is in these small instances that God shows me what water can do. He allows me a vehicle for considering what my life would be with significantly less water, or unclean water. I think of those who live in places around the world, and even in our own country, who go without what we take for granted. Water is an interesting way that God can call us to live in solidarity with our less fortunate brothers and sisters. I see God in its simple beauty, in the life it literally pours out in us, and the joy it can bring - did I mention I'm a surfer?

Staff Reflection: "We are Pilgrims on a Journey"

Last weekend, the word "pilgrim" was brought to the forefront of my mind in a few ways. First, I saw an individual walking along the highway on my commute home. He was hitchhiking to get where he was going, an out-dated practice typically viewed as unsafe and foolish. But I know personally two people who hitchhiked around the country only a couple of years ago and did so independently and without any great issue. To me such an endeavor seems an exciting journey, one filled with unknown adventures and sights. Perhaps a frightening and daunting idea, hitchhiking must offer some freedom, simplicity, and the opportunity to witness America or wherever at the grassroots level. When I think of a pilgrim, I visualize someone on a journey seeking intangible enlightenment from either the destination or the journey itself. Many times it is a spiritual endeavor, but others may embark on a pilgrimage to get away from life or to experience something new and exciting. I like to believe that all pilgrims are seeking and finding something beyond themselves, what I like to call God. Hitchhiking sounds like an appropriate means for such an endeavor.

I mentioned that pilgrims often embark on their journeys to get away from an old life. The word "pilgrim" was also brought up in my mind the next day when I watched an old film, "Jeremiah Johnson." It's about a Spanish-American war veteran who decides after his stint in the war that he wants to become a mountain man. I can relate to him in that I came from a very different place to live among mountains, although we have very different lifestyles both before and after our relocation. He met a man in the mountains of Colorado who took him under his wing and taught him ways to survive in the wilderness. His mentor called him "pilgrim," for that was what he was.

These two instances brought up ideas about the modern meaning of the word "pilgrim." Is it the hitchhiker on the road? Is it the ambitious traveler whose heart lies somewhere beyond his or her known constraints? Or are all who seek some enlightenment, spiritual or otherwise, and want to grow, learn and experience life more fully the "pilgrims" of today? I learned from the great novelist Stephen King that we are made of our experiences and journeys and it is those things, the events that happen to us, the people we meet, and the things we see along the way, that are more important than the final destination. I think the pilgrim knows this, or at least will learn it as he or she travels onward. My own personal journey is one through life that lies along the path that God has laid before me. I strive to search for that path and to know it, and I pray that I have the courage to live it.

Staff Reflection: Advice from American Poets

A friend of the Farm recently sent me an email with an excerpt from Walt Whitman's great work, Leaves of Grass. In it Whitman dispenses some good advice about how one should live and view the world. I'm inspired by these words of arguably our country's greatest poet.

You Shall Be A Great Poem (by Walt Whitman)
This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any one or number of persons, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body... The poet shall not spend time in unneeded work. He shall know that the ground is always ready plowed and manured... He shall go directly to creation.

A second literary work I've come across is a poem by a contemporary American poet, Wendell Berry. The poem is called "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" and it is another great source for advice, a wonderful point of view on how to approach many of the forces in our lives. But enough from me: I'm not the poet. See what you think.

"Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.

"And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.

"When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.

"Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

"Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.

"Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.

"Listen to carrion -- put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.

"Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

"Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.

"As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go.

"Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection."

Staff Reflection: Diggin' a Ditch

This week, I had the opportunity to dig a trench to bury a gas line for a couple of days during chores. I was accompanied by a few lucky individuals, and it was an enjoyable 10:10 minutes both times. It was the first thing I did that day and I was sweating after just 5 minutes of taking a pickax to the ground. It was hard work for sure. But God was in it, and here's a pair of reasons why.
While I was operating the pickax, I thought of all the people who have done similar work. I thought first about prisoners working on chain gangs. They were put to work to help repay their debt to society, and the image that comes to mind is of the movie "Cool Hand Luke," where Paul Newman and his cohorts are digging a ditch on the side of some road in the blazing summer heat. I only used the pickax for about 20 minutes in the cool morning, but afterward I was drenched in sweat and had gained a new respect for prisoners and laborers who worked in such a way for hours on end. I felt in solidarity with a group of people, even if for only a short period of time.
The other thing that came to mind while digging the trench occurred when we went to put the dirt back into the trench after we had placed the gas line in the bottom of it. The earth didn't settle back into the ground as well as it had originally, and all of the pounding with our feet couldn't create as hard a surface that we started out with. It was obvious that the dirt would settle more with time and precipitation, and the feeling that we disturbed something couldn't get out of my mind. I thought about mountaintop removal and the damage it brings to the mountain itself and the surrounding environment. Mountaintop removers are supposed to return the mountain to an area just as good if not better after the removal of coal. However, it is impossible to put back all the rocks, trees, wildlife and water formations that are uprooted and destroyed after such an aggressive destruction of the environment. What we were doing wasn't nearly at the same scale as mountaintop removal, but it made me realize that God's creation, a creation that is ever evolving and changing without our help, is a gift that is irreplaceable and precious. Nature is imperfect, but it is perfect in its imperfection. I gained a greater respect for what God has given us through this experience. I can now see beauty in dirt, why it's something worth preserving, and how God reveals profound truths to us through simple acts.

Dear Naz Farm: Reflection from a volunteer

Dear Naz Farm,

Thank you so much for all you've done the past week. It was probably one of my favorite trips I have ever been on. Usually I hate cold weather and get angry when I have to wake up before like 11am. But I didn't even mind.

From the moment we pulled into the little holler, I knew I'd have a good time. Mrs. Davis played the mountain song and then we started honking and you all were there to greet us and hug us and say "welcome home." I just felt really comfortable with where I was at.

Then through the week I got to see all the beautiful nature and snow and I met knew people and it was great. I am not really a big prayer person, but I really enjoyed it and I think prayer really changed me because now I even say little prayers of petition or thanksgiving every night.

I learned a lot while I was there, but the cornerstone I learned the most about was living simply. While I was there I realized that: 1.) I don't need to eat every hour like I do at home, and 2.) My mom cooks too much food that gets wasted, 3.) I use way too much water. Since I got home I've been trying to make changes like not washing my hair every day, turning off lights, unplugging chargers, and not wasting food or liquids. I also try to limit my electronics usage by not listening to my ipdod 24/7 and not spending all day on Facebook or t.v.

I really hope to come back again with a group of friends or family in the future, because i had such a great time. I want everyone I know to experience it so, I'd like to say thank you so much for this week! It has changed who I am, and has helped me make memories that I will (hopefully) never forget.

-Hannah Phillips
Assumption High School
2/8 - 2/13 2010

Non-Violent Christians

Following is a speech given by Fr. Zabelka at Pax Christi about war. He was the priest who blessed the bombers who dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. He soon after resigned from the military and became a staunch opponent of war. When he left the military he lived out his priesthood in Michigan.

Feel free to leave any comments you have on his speech. :)

Father Zabelka – August 1985
Speech at Pax Christi

“As a Catholic chaplain I watched as the Boxcar, piloted by a good Irish Catholic pilot, dropped the bomb on Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, the center of Catholicism in Japan.

I never preached a single sermon against killing civilians to the men who were doing it. It never entered my mind to protest publicly the consequences of these massive air raids. I was told it was necessary. Told openly by the military and told implicitly by my Church’s leadership.

I struggled. I argued. But yes, there it was in the Sermon on the Mount, very clear: “Love your enemies. Return good for evil.” I went through a crisis of faith. Either accept what Christ said, as unpassable and silly as it may seem, or deny him completely.

For the last 1700 years the church has not only been making war respectable: It has been inducing people to believe it is an honorable profession an honorable Christian profession. This is a lie.

For the 300 years immediately following Jesus’ resurrection, the Church universally saw Christ and his teachings as non-violent. Remember that the Church taught this ethic in the face of at least three serious attempts by the state to liquidate her. It was subject to horrendous and ongoing torture and death. If ever there was an occasion for justified retaliation and defensive slaughter, with in the form of a just war or a just revolution, this was it. The economic and political elite of the Roman state and their military had turned citizens of the state against Christians and were embarked on a murderous public policy of exterminating the Christian Community.

Yet, the Church, in the face of the heinous crimes committed against her members, insisted without reservation that when Christ disarmed Peter he disarmed all Christians.

Christians continued to believe that Christ was, to use the words of an ancient liturgy, their fortress, their refuge, and their strength, and that if Christ was all they needed for security and defense, then Christ was all they should have. Indeed, this was a new security ethic. Christians understood that if they would only follow Christ and his teaching, they couldn’t fail. When opportunities were given for Christians to appease the state by joining the fighting Roman army, these opportunities were rejected, because the early Church saw a complete and an obvious incompatibility between loving as Christ loved and killing. It was Christ, not Mars, who gave security and peace.

Today the world is on the brink of ruin because the church refuses to be the church, because we Christians have been deceiving ourselves and the non-Christian world about the truth of Christ. There is no way to follow Christ, to love as Christ loved, and simultaneously to kill other people. It is a lie to say that the Spirit that moves the trigger of a flame thrower is the Holy Spirit. It is a lie to say that learning to kill is learning to be Christ-like. It is a lie to say that learning to drive a bayonet into the heart of another is motivated from having put on the mind of Christ. Militarized Christianity is a lie. It is radically out of conformity with the teaching, life and spirit of Jesus.

Now brothers and sisters on the anniversary of this terrible atrocity carried out by Christians, I must be the first to say that I made a terrible mistake. I was had by the father of lies. I participated in the big ecumenical lie of the Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Churches. I wore the uniform. I was part of the system. When I said mass over there I put on those beautifull vestments over my uniform. When Fr. Dave Becker left the Tridant submarine base in 1982 and resigned as Catholic Chaplain there, he said “every time I went to mass in my uniform and put the vestments on over my uniform, I couldn’t help but think of the words of Christ applying to me; beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing.

As an air force chaplain I painted a machine gun in the loving hands of the non-violent Jesus, and then handed this perverse picture to the world as truth. I sang praise the Lord and passed ammunition. As a Catholic Chaplain for the 509th composite group, I was the final channel the communicated this fraudulent image of Christ to the crews of the Enola Gay and the Boxcar.

All I can say today is that I was wrong. Christ would not be the instrument to unleash such horror on his people. Therefore, no follower of Christ can legitimately unleash the horror of war on Gods people. Excuses and self justifying explanations are without merit. All I can say is; I was wrong! But, if that is all I can say this I must do, feeble as it is. For to do otherwise would be to bypass the first and absolutely essential step in the process of repentance and reconciliation; admission of error, admission of guilt.

Thank God I am able to stand here today and speak out against war, all war. The province of the old testament spoke out against all false Gods of gold, silver, and metal. Today we are worshiping the gods of medal. The Bomb. We are putting our trust in physical power, militarism and nationalism. The Bomb, not god, is our security and our strength. The prophets of the old testament said simply; do not put your trust in chariots and weapons, but put your trust in God. Their message was simple and so is mine.

We must all become prophets. I really mean that. We must all do something for peace. We must stop this insanity of worshiping the Gods of metal. We must take a stand against evil and idolatry. This is our destiny at the most critical time of human history. But it is also the greatest opportunity ever offered to any group of people in the history of the world- to save our world from complete annihilation.