Living things require stewards, not masters. Why? Because living things cannot be mastered wholly – and attempts that are semi-successful ruin their objects. It is time that we gave up the idea that we can be in complete control of that which lives. Land, animals, societies and ourselves – we are far too complex to…
The Need to be Known
The need to be known goes both ways. We need to know those around us, and we need them to know us. This need is social and emotional, it’s also extremely practical. Let me start with an example of the latter. The other day, as I was driving to the grocery store, I saw a…
Mearcstapas
I just finished reading a book by Makoto Fujimura, “Culture Care“. It’s one of those books chock full of things you were just about to say and hadn’t said yet. It’s also full of ideas and concepts that help shape how I think of myself and my role in the world. Fujimura is excellent at…
There Can Be Only One
We live in a culture where we focus our attention on a very few people, and only those people really “matter”. We gossip about their private lives, we envy their possessions, we sigh at their accomplishments, we strategize over their methodology, desperate to reproduce their success… and yet, they are strangers. They might as well…
Back to the Land
I grew up in the era of back to the land, and there was never a home that we rented when I was a child that didn’t end up with a greenhouse, extra tree (or three), and a garden space. As an adult, I stumbled upon the concepts of permaculture and regenerative agriculture and was…
New Ethics: Curiosity and the avoidance of Gossip
If we’re going to get back to being serious about community, we need to learn the lessons that have been taught – we need to learn about community killers and create new ethics. We’re going to need to make sure our communities have enough fresh air and sunlight, and we’re going to have to choke…
Man and Woman
Woman is the why for man, Man is the what for woman. In some social structures, this balance is seen within marriage, in others “woman” is family/mother/society and “father” is authority/order/god. In the Modern West, we see this primarily in the marriage relationship. What remains is that balance, the innate nature of each sex. We…
Hotel California
To love the land is to know the land. I was born here. Second generation Southern Californian. I have the salt, the surf, and the sage in my soul. This land has been badly damaged by the overpopulation and buildup that has come with its perfect weather. Southern California is not built to support the…
God was never meant to be used as a means to an end
I’ve been reading old books again… and it’s struck me that this thing that we think of as new, where Christianity is valued primarily as a civilizing force, is far from new. Because a relationship with Christ will make you a better person, and a nation full of better people will become a better place…
Piety vs. Propriety
Piety and propriety hang about together so much that they’re often confused for one another – but they are not the same, and while piety can produce propriety, the reverse is rarely true. The pious person, because of their relationship with the Holy Spirit, lives in such a state that none can put a law…