The Circle of Life ... ?

I've been wondering...

In the movie Lion King there is a scene where Mufasa is teaching a young Simba about the circle of life and the way of the world. He says that even though they (lions) eat the antelope while living, when they die their bodies become the grass and the antelope eat the grass, and such is the great circle of life.

But when we die, our remains are filled with chemicals, placed in a metal coffin, and buried in a concrete vault. We never really return to the earth from which we came.
Have we broken the circle of life?
How would our environment be different if we allowed dead bodies to return to the earth?
What if burials didn't include all of the packaging and bodies were just wrapped in a blanket and placed six feet under and buried simply?
Or we were all cremated and the ash returned to the earth?

I know it's a weird thought, but my brain wonders about such things.
I think we tend to upset nature by doing things in very unnatural ways.

What weird things work into your thoughts?

John

Monday Meditation

Last week I picked up my long awaited Ford Maverick hybrid pickup truck. It is the first new vehicle I've had in quite some time. I'm still getting used to it and it might be a little while before I have a good grasp on how everything works. It is probably a good thing that Ford has left off some features in order to keep the price point lower. I'm still a pretty low tech kind of guy.

The thing that I have most been looking forward to is the energy saving of the hybrid engine. It would certainly be more beneficial if we lived in a more urban setting. While driving around Central Illinois (where I took delivery) I was getting around 40-45 mpg. The 400+ mile drive home brought the average for the first full tank of gas down to just under 35 mpg.
The short drive to the convenience store (2 miles) on Saturday didn't use any gas at all as the electric motor managed the entire short, slower speed trip.

One of the interesting dash features shows when the truck is functioning as an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, and when the battery is charging (like going downhill, slowing, or braking).

I'm writing this today because I am contemplating ways to give back to the earth -- or at the very least, to take less. 
More flowers, more plants, and more trees are ways to give back to nature. 
I'll convert some of the 5 acres we own (and mow) to restored meadow land next spring. I'll begin at the treeline and move toward the house. 
I buried some apple cores in the soft, rich, leaf covered soil at the edge of the treeline a week or so ago. Perhaps there will be apples for the deer to enjoy in a few years. I may do that with more seeds and pits in the spring. 

It is impossible to separate myself from nature during my morning meditation time. The birds are chirping and flying around the house and back field. I can hear the neighbors chickens and roosters. The sun is warm and shining into the deck as it makes its way further south each passing day. It won't be long before I'll need to bring the deck plants in and find a place indoors to winter them.

How are you interacting with nature today?
How much are you taking?
How much are you giving back?
Think about the environment around you.
How are we living in harmony with nature?
How are we destroying it?
What can you do -- today -- to help the earth and her creatures have a better environment?

Think about it.

John 

Wednesday Wisdom

 

Monday Meditation

Some people come and go and are forgotten.
But there are other people that share a part in our destinies.
They come, they go, but even after they go ... they're still here.
They never really went anywhere.
--C. JoyBell C.

That was one of the thoughts shared on one of the blogs I follow. It's a great place to see beautiful pictures and read positive thoughts each day. Check it out. Tell her John sent you. Comfort Spiral

It seemed like a good thought to grab onto for my morning meditation. Thinking about people that have influenced my past and are still a part of who I am is a comforting way to spend a few moments. But I also wonder if I get to be that person in someone else's memory. 
There is also the realization that it's not too late to be that person for someone that I encounter today, or tomorrow, or anywhere along the way as life and encounters with others continue.

Who are your people?
...the ones that were a part of your past and yet are still a part of who you are?

Just something to ponder.

John

October

And so begins the final quarter of 2023.
Here in SWMO it will be another 90f (32c) degree day. It may be the last of the year, but it wouldn't surprise me to see another in the coming weeks. 
Fall makes me kind of sad. 

I do get some hope from the fall flowers that cling to summer and show off their colors for as long as they can. I feel that. I'll be wearing shorts and sandals well into winter. 

Each of the past few days I have seen an occasional hummingbird at the feeder, including one this morning. I don't recall seeing any this late last year. While the hummingbirds and Monarch butterflies are pretty much gone, the Canadian geese and other migratory water fowl are just beginning their journeys southward. I've seen a few flocks flying and a few that have stopped (sometimes in odd areas) for the evening. I wish I knew how to attract them. It would be cool to look out at a field full of geese for the night and watch them takeoff in the morning. 

Although I am not a fall/winter fan, I am a fan of beauty and will be looking to appreciate the cycle of things as the leaves turn colors and fall, the plants drop their blooms and go dormant for the season, and the nights get longer and show off the beauty of the winter stars. 
I'm going to try my hand at some indoor gardening to prepare for spring. I have the grow lights, but need to set up a space and decide what to start during the early winter months so that I am ready in late winter/early spring. I need a greenhouse, but don't think I'm ready for that project just yet.

One thing I'm thinking of for next year is to have a little pumpkin patch. I think it would be cool to grow enough pumpkins that every house and every kid on our street could have a pumpkin next October. 
Just a thought.

In the coming months I am counting on plant therapy and your good thoughts to keep me from falling prey to the dreaded Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD) feelings.

John

Friday

It is Friday, the 29th of September. 
Just before sunrise this morning the moon reached its full phase -- the Harvest Moon. 
The sun, the moon, the stars continue in their seasonal dance and we (in the Northern Hemisphere) move ever closer towards winter. 

We continue to have nice days to close out September (90F today, 32C) and I'm sure October will be nice, as well. Although the hummingbirds have mostly gone (I see an occasional visitor at the feeder) and the Monarch butterflies are also migrating southward, I am enjoying the warm days while they last and getting some new flower beds ready for spring. I'm not sure which is more therapeutic -- the working in the dirt, the promise of the coming beauty, or the actual spring/summer flowers.
Because of the size of this particular flower bed, it is a crazy amount of work and the project has grown from its original plan. A neighbor was walking to get his mail the other day and asked if this is a "Honey do" project. 
Nope. It's pretty much because I like flowers.
To be fair, the growth of the project (about doubling the work) is Chris's part. The 100'+ (30m) flower bed will now include a picket fence. It's taking a long time because I'm an easy boss. I let myself start work late in the morning and quit early in the afternoon. I take frequent breaks and long lunches.
The same neighbor (day 3 of walking by) asked if I ever thought that I should have just hired someone to do the job. 
Not really. I have more time than money and more brawn than brains, so...

Well, I'd better get to work. The day is warming up and I hope to have the last of the post holes finished this morning. I probably should have posted before pics and documented the progress, but I am sure to post finished pics with plenty of spring summer blooms next year.

Dig in the dirt.
Walk, run, or paddle through nature.
Enjoy the weekend.

John

Monday Meditation

I was reading in the Bible -- Matthew's account of the Sermon on the Mount -- and I have some questions.

First of all -- a disclaimer or warning:
I am a follower of Jesus. Much of my life's philosophy and perspective is taken from the teachings of Jesus. I also read other perspectives and I am sure that those thoughts (and philosophical truths) will find their way into my Monday Meditations, but most thoughts will be based on my philosophies of life that were formed in my Christian upbringing.

Back to the Sermon on the Mount --
Towards the end of this story, Jesus says that not everyone that calls him Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one that does the will of the Father who is in heaven.

Later, in the 21st chapter, Matthew records Jesus's teaching of The Parable of Two Sons. Here, a father tells one son to go work in the vineyard and the son says, "No," but later goes and does his work. The father tells a second son to go work in the vineyard and the son agrees to do that, but never shows up.
Which one does the will of his father? 

What is Jesus teaching in these two lessons?
I would think that evangelicals would wrestle greatly with these passages. A simple, bare bones explanation of their teaching is to pray this magic prayer, ask Jesus into your heart, and be saved. But don't these teachings of Jesus contradict that?
What about that person that never walks an aisle, responds to an invitation, or prays the magic prayer yet does the things that Jesus teaches (the second son)?
What about the person that goes to church and professes to be a Christian, but doesn't take care of the oppressed, poor, sick, imprisoned, etc.?

I think these things are worth understanding -- but not to apply to others. We need to understand these things for ourselves.
Another teaching from the end of the Sermon on the Mount is that we don't judge others. Jesus says that the way we judge others is the way we will be judged, and the measure we use is the same that will be used for us.
It seems that most religious people want to use the Bible as a standard for others to measure up to, rather than as a guide to live by for themselves.

These are my thoughts in self examination today.
Am I living according to what I claim to believe?
Or do my actions show that I truly believe something other than the faith I profess?

What about you?
Are you who you claim to be?
What do your actions say about your true beliefs?

John

Sunday Morning Contemplation

The other morning (a week or so ago) it occurred to me that I really haven't had a good meditation session in quite some time. I suppose that such things need to be planned out and scheduled just like physical exercise. Planning and scheduling aren't listed in my strong suits.

I still have my daily quiet time, but it isn't very structured and purposeful meditation hasn't been a part of it for some time.  Most mornings are spent just listening to nature and watching the hummingbirds at the feeder. I make my connection to God through creation. It's not exactly prayer time, but it works for me.
I believe that mindfulness practices are beneficial -- both as physical and mental/spiritual practices. 

Some time ago I wrote about sharing meditative practices and haven't really done that. Maybe if I did a weekly post -- Monday Meditation -- or something, it would keep me more focused and also provide a mindfulness reminder for some others. 
I have no research to support this opinion, but I don't believe that mindfulness or regular meditative practices are very common in the western world. 

Do any of you have a regular (or even irregular) meditative practice?
It can be anything from dedicated prayer time to mental contemplation on a long distance run.
Where do you get your mental rest? ...your focus? 
Where do you find your peace?

John

So long, Summer!

This is it.
The last day of summer '23.
Shortly before 2am in the US Midwest the sun's path will reach the equator in the earth's annual orbit and fall will begin in the northern hemisphere, while spring begins in the southern hemisphere.

sigh

In order to offset the end of summer blues, I am working on building a flower bed for next spring/summer. It started out as a large flower bed across the front of the property (96' x 4') to a large flower bed with a picket fence running through the length of it, to a much larger flower bed (96' x 10') with a side panel of fencing at each end, and now is expected to be somewhere in between. (104' x 6' with additional 4' x 4' squares at each end for a corner turn for the fence)
Rain last night will mean no work this morning. I might get some work done this afternoon if it dries up enough. I really am looking forward to seeing it filled with flowers next year. I believe it will be well worth the work I'm putting into it.

I put my bird feeders out about a week ago. Today is the first time I've seen the birds eating from them. 
There are still a few hummingbirds at the hummingbird feeder, but far fewer than there have been and I haven't seen a ruby red throat for a couple of days. I wonder if they sense the season change from the temperature or more from the fewer hours of daylight. I would tend to believe it's the latter since that part is always consistent. 

On the subject of feeding birds, I'm thinking about feeding crows. I've been reading about crows and am pretty impressed with their abilities. There are many mornings when I see a few of them searching for food in the back yard or field and think it would be cool to get to know them. It seems that a regular time and place for feeding them is best and dry pet food or fresh nuts are good choices. Once they've found the feeding place and are used to the time, I may sit close by and eventually get to where I can hand feed them.
Just a thought for now. I'll let you know if that changes.

John 

Wednesday Wisdom