Gratitude Can Come from Strange Places

...or thank a terrorist today

It doesn't happen terribly often anymore that my mind is so drawn to a thought that I crawl out of my warm bed, take to this blog and attempt to share it. Tonight is such a night when I have done so, and finding a chill in the air of a farmhouse with dwindling coals in the wood stove, have donned a pink corduroy jacket to sit and try to stir someone else's thoughts with words from my own simple heart.

In one minute, as I sit at this keyboard and screen, Thanksgiving 2015 will be behind us. By the time this actual posting, with all its meanderings, is seen on this page, Thanksgiving 2015 will be over, moving farther and farther into the collective past of our Nation, and soon will be referred to as last Thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving was pitted with concerns of terrorist threats in our country and abroad. On the heels of terrorist attacks in Beirut, France, and a shut down in Brussels, many of us wondered if we would make it through Thanksgiving Day without incident. At this writing I can say, so far, so good.

In the morning, the television news reporters will, no doubt, share stories of Black Friday shenanigans that have occurred while many or most of us slept (or sat at key boards in corduroy jackets typing). I can only pray, in moments of quiet solitude as I type, that our malls and stores will not be targets of those who are full of hatred for anyone who does not believe the same way these terrorists believe. And that thought, the thought that these terrorists do hate - that they hate with a violent hatred - is a part of the thought that drew me from my bed into this chill November farmhouse air.

I know terrorists won't want to hear this but terrorism inspires love and gratitude in the hearts of men.

In the same way "absence makes the heart grow fonder," terrorism inspires love and gratitude in the hearts of men. When we no longer have the same sense of security we had before, we miss that sense of security. When we are unsure of our safety as we congregate in malls or shopping centers, we miss that sense of safety. When we do not know that our loved ones are any more secure than Paris, France was two weeks ago today we cherish all the more every single moment we get to spend with that family, with those friends, with those neighbors. And, even though our heads will tell us we should never take any of those things for granted, that we should always treat each moment as if it will be the last, none of us do, we just don't, let's admit that we don't do as we should for once. We take for granted the things we have and we savor the things we suspect we are about to lose, or that are under threat of loss and we all acutely feel, whether we admit it or not, whether we allow our minds to go there or not, that we may lose our beyond-words-special way of life in America.

So this year, Thanksgiving 2015: The dinner tasted a little more delicious, the desserts a little more delectable. The company I shared was a little sweeter and more dear than I remembered it being before. Our freedoms and liberties, our very way of American life seems more valuable, our military service men and women seemed more precious as they served without benefit of spending the day with their families.

I don't know, maybe I'm just turning into a soft-hearted old woman but I don't think so, I think terrorism inspires love and gratitude in the hearts of men, and I think that is the exact opposite of what terrorists would like...they want us in fear, not grateful for the love we share and the lives we enjoy, not continuing to set aside days of gratitude for what God has given us, our "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7)

"...He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" (Matthew 8:26,27)

We do not marvel enough at the power of our Lord. We need to remember and pray to Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" (Matthew 8:25) He can deliver "great calm," we must ask.

Not a Single Whit

or, Released Into Freedom

So, I haven't been very good at checking in and writing much at my blog. It certainly isn't that there isn't plenty to write about these days. I certainly have plenty of material banging around in my mind constantly, but having as much work to do as I have and still finding time to write, well, there just isn't much time for it.

FOR EXAMPLE:

The other morning I was getting ready for the day, doing the kind of things ladies do before they like to be seen by other people. I had a Crowder CD playing. I was inspired by something in the lyric of the song I was listening to that caused me to connect things I'd heard discussed about people who use the social media platform of Facebook to represent their lives to be these picture perfect existences with the way God feels about people. It's true that most of the people I have as Facebook friends share all the beautiful pictures of their lives, and the impressive stories of their lives and the lives of their family members. Most, with a few exceptions, don't share the dirty details of all the things that go wrong in their lives, they set themselves up for the world to see them at their most glorious, with their perfect spouses, perfect children, fabulously groomed pets and dripping with flavor (and sometimes gravy) meals they have created in their really-ought-to-be-a-famous-chef kitchens. We're all Superman or Wonder Woman on Facebook it seems...

...but BAM, BATMAN! It hit me that for all the trying we muster, for all the narcissism those articles I'd read or stories I'd heard suggested people on Facebook share, no matter how great an atmosphere we try to whip up around ourselves in the world of social media, we will never comprehend the value God has placed upon each of His children. We can't make our lives look as incredibly, unimaginably special as we are to God. Let that sink into your spirit and heart. No matter how hard we try, or how many pictures we stage, we'll never make ourselves out to be quite the masterpieces that God knows we are. He made us. We can't, and others can't, comprehend how immensely precious we are to Him.

But, I didn't have time to write about it that day...I didn't have time to do all my homework for my Mt. Comfort Bible Study Class this week either so instead of going to the actual class this week, I opted to just stay home and catch up on all the homework I hadn't got done. Now I am caught up, ready to start this week's homework.

I have found it does no good to get frustrated over the things I'd like to do or say if I had the time to do or say them. I'd probably just make more messes out of things and say more wrong things if I had more time to spare.

It's probably a good thing I stay so busy. I like the place to which the Lord has led me. I like the simple life I have here at this farm, though sometimes my life seems anything but simple, when nothing seems to go the way I think it will or should but, I've resigned myself to that, resigned myself to just accepting this life I have as it is and being content in it. I like the flexibility of it and I try to preserve that flexibility. A writer (if I am one at all) or a creative person (which I know I am) needs some flexibility with which to play...flexible time is the clay of the potter. I still need that time. I have always needed to let my thoughts just sort of wander around in that wilderness river-running exerciseness Clarence taught so many of us in that creative writing class so very long ago. I need that time of meditation and reflection to draw what I learn from God's Word into the circle of understanding which shapes it into usefulness and structures it into life. The application of it, that is what we call it. Applying the Word to our lives. No Bible study is worth anything at all if it cannot be applied and used in every day life.

And, I need that flexible time to think about how my thinking doesn't matter one whit, not a single whit and that anything I could ever write doesn't add a single revelation to the universe full of wisdom God holds in one single, incomprehensible (to mankind) thought He holds.

John Piper says, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him." That is one of the most profoundly simple things I've ever heard in my life, and my spirit knows it is true. Hearing it has released me into freedom. With the realization that all. I. really. need. to. do. is find my satisfaction in God comes freedom, comes relaxation, comes a giving over of one's own will and want. I often remind us in our Bible study group that it doesn't matter what I think or what you think, it really only matters what God thinks. We need to align our minds to His because He will never bend His to ours - How could He?

Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts." -Isaiah 55:7-9

Groups Promote "Food Hubs"

Here a hub, there a hub, everywhere a food hub

In a recent article of the Springfield Business Journal (SBJ) one can read about the plans of the organizers of Farmers Market of the Ozarks to invest millions in building a "food hub." As more and more local schools and medical centers face the growing demand in the area for healthy, locally sourced fruits, vegetables and meat, small family farms must develop a plan to work together to meet that need.

Many people across our region and the country are clamoring for access to locally grown, non-GMO, (genetically modified organism) organic vegetables and fruits, and more humanely, locally grown meats which have not been produced through use of antibiotics, growth hormones and the feeding of GMO crops.

Farm Resettlement Congress, FRC, believes they have the answer to the lack of local food security and economic opportunity in our area. Their answer also involves locally-owned food hub creation. Specifically, FRC seeks to restore the soil, return the youth, and revive our heritage. Put another way, FRC wants to retain the land, resettle our youth and restore self-management, and while accomplishing these things, they also seek the creation of healthy community relationships.

On February 25, fifteen Farm Resettlement Congress activists, most of whom either are forming or will be forming their own watershed congresses, met outside and across the street from the Court Building in Jefferson City, MO. There, they met passers by and made and engaged in what they described as "a soft coming out," handing out literature to those who appeared to be interested. This event coincided with the public launching of their Web site, http://www.farmresettlementcongress.org, and the creation of a facebook group and a forum for comprehensive communication.

Through the use of FRC's "20-Year Plan for Food Security," they believe local communities within the Mississippi River, Missouri River, and White River Watershed boundaries can revive independently-owned, local food chains and return one million jobs to the region, preserving individual liberty by restoring food, energy security, and prosperity to the people.

Occasionally, someone will ask me, "What has become of the Well-Fed Neighbor Alliance?" Well, they are still around, you just need to know where to look. In the SBJ article, I noted the name of Well-Fed Neighbor Alliance founding member Aubree Sanders. Sanders, who now is a co-owner of Celestial Spring Herbs in Ava, supports the idea of a local food hub. As I visited with one of the co-founders of the Well-Fed Neighbor Alliance in my kitchen Monday morning, I was reminded of what a small planet we populate. If you are interested in more information about Farm Resettlement Congress or think you might be interested in joining give this number a ring: 417.712.3835 and Galen Chadwick will be glad to take your call.

MO Supreme Court Hears "Right-to-Farm" Ballot Language Challenge

Can the Court Legally Consider it?

On February 25, the Missouri Supreme Court heard a challenge to the "Right-to-Farm" amendment (Amendment 1 on the August 2014 ballot). Missouri voters passed the amendment by a slim margin. 50.12 percent of voters said "yes," while 49.88 percent of voters said "no" to the amendment. There was an immediate call for a recount but the recount only confirmed Amendment 1's passage.

The challenge, brought forward by Wes Shoemyer, et al., (Shoemyer) pertains to whether the ballot language was deceptive or confusing to the average voter.

There are questions as to whether the court can legally even consider the case. The questions appear to revolve around whether Shoemyer has any standing to bring suit challenging the language post election. At the minute mark of 7:30 minutes in, the MP3 records the Court asking the attorney for Shoemyer, "Counsel, if you're concerned that voters have been misled by this language, why wasn't suit brought prior to the election because there's no question of insufficient time to do so here?" The attorney for Shoemyer responded, "You are absolutely correct, your honor...I think that's exactly right, I think there is a huge issue here with regard to whether or not we should have challenged it within the first ten days." He then points out, "You are talking about Missouri citizens who are not lawyers, they're not linguists, they're not semanticists. They don't get a copy of this on the day that it's certified, although they probably can download it, probably, from the Missouri State Legislature's Web site. You're essentially asking people who may have no training in the law to look at this and determine whether or not it's deceptive, go find a lawyer who can, within ten days, get a case on file. How many of those are out there and who have expertise in this area? That's a pretty narrow window."

Shoemyer wants a three pronged remedy. They want the election to be set aside. They want the ballot language to be rewritten, and they want to have another election with the new ballot language.

The "contestee" in the case, Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kandor, et al., in their response brief claims, "Shoemyer had a year to litigate the Right-to-Farm ballot title before the election," going on to claim that "he did not, preferring instead to sit on his hands."

Governor Jay Nixon announced about 75 days before the August 5, 2014 election that he would put Amendment 1 on the ballot.

The Politics of Food

BREAKING: Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, Green Party members and all other voters eat food!  GASP!

Wow, folks!  It's been a long road back to here!  I'm glad to be back.  This is going to be my new landing spot for posting about all sorts of things.

Shortly I'll be sharing information about the Farm Resettlement Congress...the public surely will want to know all about it. It's the only organization I know of that actually has a plan to deal with creating an adequate local food supply!

The food movement in our local area is still going strong though the focus seems to have shifted now and again, and of late, seems to have even gotten a bit political, at least in some quarters. We still all need to work at keeping political zealotry out of the food supply in my, yes humble, opinion. You see folks, we all still have to eat, whatever our political persuasion. There might be a silver lining to the fact that all political animals have to eat, as Galen Chadwick (remember him?!?) often pointed out, we all vote three times a day...with our forks. We get to choose what we eat and where we buy it. Regarding politics, however, there are not many things more divisive than a good dose of that, I'd rate it's divisive properties right up there with serving G(enetically) M(odified) O(rganism)s at an organic picnic. That would separate the ants from the ant-eaters! I think the last food related meeting I attended was in a downtown facility which happens to have been owned by a Democrat.  Why do I even know that? Because this Democrat owner went so far as to suggest, when there was an inquiry about the price of reserving the facility for an event, that depending upon the political persuasion of the potential client there might be a discount involved, and I don't think the potential client was going to qualify for any discounts there. Anyway, I'm getting lost in the pompous (sic) grass here.

Another great food activist in our local area is Ruell Chappell. Ruell continues to foot bang the drum slowly, literally when he plays music at McSalty's Pizza Cafe on East Sunshine every Thursday night from 7-9 PM, and figuratively when he reminds just about everyone he comes into contact with to buy local, eat local, and shop locally owned businesses. Ruell has also been fighting in opposition of the Right to Farm Amendment which passed in the last election. A group, sorry the name escapes me at the moment, including Ruell has challenged the ballot language as not having actually given a fair and accurate representation of what the amendment actually would, in affect, do.  So, I think maybe tomorrow, Ruell is going to be sharing more news about that.

Well, I hope someone in the area finds this here food topicky stuff more interesting that an old, dry, boring City Council meeting report, and will drop in to see what I might be blogging about occasionally. Needless to say, my past readership of City Council nerds was rather numerically limited - I know it's really hard for City Council nerds to understand that the majority of people find City Council reporting on the dry and boring side, but, hey, I can't help that, it's the reality, believe or not.