Love this. I have a special thing about trees. They are good people.
Thanks, GM, and I'm having to save up a bit more (again-- I had to replace my wiper blades). But I shall prevail and have that book. Looking forward to summer here in WA. A friend is coming to visit and we're going to go to the Olympic Natl Forest and the Nat'l Park where you can drive up a mountain and look at the Olympics from way up there... SO beautiful. I will whisker to the trees there that you say hello and hello from YOUR trees, too. Cheers! xo
A few weeks ago a beautiful grandfather was desecrated across the road and I don't know if it will recover. Others nearby have been chopped down because they were getting old and hollowed out and therefor 'dangerous' to passers by. I wonder why cars being so much more dangerous and killing many more each year than any falling branch aren't treated the same way?
"Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!" - Luke 12:24
Humans went down the wrong path. We do indeed have storehouses and zealously guard what we have "reaped", whether we have sown or simply gathered, willingly or not, from other sources. We call that "civilization".
It wasn't always that way. "First nations" or whichever tribes roamed the earth well before the events in the Bible (well, except for Genesis I guess lol) and did not store, nor even sowed for many centuries. The Earth is our bounty and we weren't satisfied with sharing it with all the other living species nor even one another.
People ask "why does God being us strife?" but the answer is that we bring strife upon ourselves. God gave us free will and a planet rife with everything we could ever need.
There is certainly wisdom to be gleaned from biblical verses like that which warn us of the dangers of greed, gluttony, hording and materialism, however, I personally do not apply parables like the one about the ravens in such a broad spectrum (universally applicable) way. I think it was a statement speaking to the power of faith and the abundance provided by the living Earth (which was designed by Creator) when those systems are intact, but I do not take it as a warning to avoid storing or preserving any amount of food.
Hording for profit or out of greed, want and selfishness is one thing, but preserving seasonal abundances with respect and humility, growing, taking/harvesting only what you need (and sharing the access abundance with your fellow man and non-human kin) is not ethically or spiritually problematic (in my opinion).
As I expressed in a recent comment elsewhere ( https://substack.com/@gavinmounsey/note/c-118272729 ), there are many widespread misconceptions and flat our fabrications pushed into the minds of modern people (via governments / imperialistic religious institutions) regarding how indigenous people lived. The generalizing idea of "nomadic hunter gatherers" is a fallacy. Even the tribes that were more seasonally migratory and hunted more than they farmed, they still foraged for seasonal nut and fruit abundances and preserved them along with meat in the form of Pemmican etc. It is also worth noting that before European Christians arrived here, those cultures did not have any concept like money, and so they only hunted and harvested what they needed, as their was no framework to incentivize greed and profiteering from exploiting nature. That of course quickly changed when the people describing themselves as Christian settlers began to offer alcohol, money and trickers for extra animal pelts provided by indigenous people.
Then there are others that actually cultivated entire forest ecosystems to produce them (and wild animals) food, and they did indeed collect and store that food (as well as share it with the non-human beings in their area. Some of those indigenous food forest creating cultures were engaging in that form of regenerative agroforestry and food cultivation/storage for thousands of years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth (and lived with a relatively balanced relationship with the ecosystems that supported them).
Also, it is worth noting that birds like Ravens actually do stash food away for the winter when they come across a seasonal abundance, and I think there is wisdom to be gleaned from observing beings like squirrels that have the foresight to plan ahead and gather food in safe places for the winter months ahead. There is also wisdom to be gleaned from watching birds (and other beings) that do not store any food for winter such as finches and sparrows (that reply on faith and the abundance of nature 100%. There is balance to be found in both ways of being, it does not have to be one or the other.
There is much truth in the bible, but it is only one cultural facet through which to perceive truth, of which there are many, some of which are much older than Christianity, and served to guide and shape societies that achieved a state of respect and balance within creation via animistic lenses of perception, as opposed to the androcentric lenses of perception which some distorted religious institutions have promoted (including the Roman Catholic Church).
For more info on pre-Christian animistic indigenous European cultures and how they guided their behavior and ethics, read:
RE: "People ask "why does God being us strife?" but the answer is that we bring strife upon ourselves."
I do agree with this part, the ugliness we perceive around us today is of our own making, and not part of God's design for the Earth, yet I may have a slightly different perspective on how we got here and what human choices are responsible.
In any case, I appreciate the comment and I thank you for apparently wanting to share the abundance of the Earth with our non-human kin.
Agreed - the parable was designed to quell the fears of Jesus’ apostles, who were told to go far and wide to spread the word and to live a nomadic life.
The bigger lesson was to eschew greed, hoarding and profiteering, as he told even those who followed the word that “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven”. As you surmised, my comment referred mostly to our demand for ‘things” - I often tell my friends that “the more things that you own, the more things will own you”.
As far as the church goes - I’m a recovered Catholic. I wonder what Jesus would have thought of the idolatry and hierarchy that characterises most western organised religions. My disappointment led me to walk away from the idea of God or a creator entirely, but I then learned that there exists an absolute evil and therefore an absolute good must also exist. I chose Jesus but there are certainly myriad ways to express the same idea that life is something beyond the abilities of man to create.
I just happened to live in a beautiful valley on top of a hill…where when I looked out my living room window…could see…”The Old Man of the Valley!”…a great and tall very old redwood amongst other trees…in the shape of an old man…with eyes…nose..and a slight smile! Oh…the stories he could tell I’m sure! It’s like he was the chief of the valley! He pointed up to God reminding me that it was on a tree…that had been made into an Instrument of execution…that my Lord and Savior…gave His life…that I might have eternal life! He is magnificent…and he’s still standing in that valley today!
In many pre - Christian Western & non - Western traditions, seemingly inanimate objects have spirits, particularly Japanese Shinto, Native American / First American, Polynesian, Australian native, etc. Whether you consciously intended to or not, that was what I came away with. Kudos !
Love this. I have a special thing about trees. They are good people.
Thanks, GM, and I'm having to save up a bit more (again-- I had to replace my wiper blades). But I shall prevail and have that book. Looking forward to summer here in WA. A friend is coming to visit and we're going to go to the Olympic Natl Forest and the Nat'l Park where you can drive up a mountain and look at the Olympics from way up there... SO beautiful. I will whisker to the trees there that you say hello and hello from YOUR trees, too. Cheers! xo
Thank you for this beautiful story, Gavin. Captivating and important.
They speak to me too...
A few weeks ago a beautiful grandfather was desecrated across the road and I don't know if it will recover. Others nearby have been chopped down because they were getting old and hollowed out and therefor 'dangerous' to passers by. I wonder why cars being so much more dangerous and killing many more each year than any falling branch aren't treated the same way?
"Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!" - Luke 12:24
Humans went down the wrong path. We do indeed have storehouses and zealously guard what we have "reaped", whether we have sown or simply gathered, willingly or not, from other sources. We call that "civilization".
It wasn't always that way. "First nations" or whichever tribes roamed the earth well before the events in the Bible (well, except for Genesis I guess lol) and did not store, nor even sowed for many centuries. The Earth is our bounty and we weren't satisfied with sharing it with all the other living species nor even one another.
People ask "why does God being us strife?" but the answer is that we bring strife upon ourselves. God gave us free will and a planet rife with everything we could ever need.
There is certainly wisdom to be gleaned from biblical verses like that which warn us of the dangers of greed, gluttony, hording and materialism, however, I personally do not apply parables like the one about the ravens in such a broad spectrum (universally applicable) way. I think it was a statement speaking to the power of faith and the abundance provided by the living Earth (which was designed by Creator) when those systems are intact, but I do not take it as a warning to avoid storing or preserving any amount of food.
Hording for profit or out of greed, want and selfishness is one thing, but preserving seasonal abundances with respect and humility, growing, taking/harvesting only what you need (and sharing the access abundance with your fellow man and non-human kin) is not ethically or spiritually problematic (in my opinion).
As I expressed in a recent comment elsewhere ( https://substack.com/@gavinmounsey/note/c-118272729 ), there are many widespread misconceptions and flat our fabrications pushed into the minds of modern people (via governments / imperialistic religious institutions) regarding how indigenous people lived. The generalizing idea of "nomadic hunter gatherers" is a fallacy. Even the tribes that were more seasonally migratory and hunted more than they farmed, they still foraged for seasonal nut and fruit abundances and preserved them along with meat in the form of Pemmican etc. It is also worth noting that before European Christians arrived here, those cultures did not have any concept like money, and so they only hunted and harvested what they needed, as their was no framework to incentivize greed and profiteering from exploiting nature. That of course quickly changed when the people describing themselves as Christian settlers began to offer alcohol, money and trickers for extra animal pelts provided by indigenous people.
Then there are others that actually cultivated entire forest ecosystems to produce them (and wild animals) food, and they did indeed collect and store that food (as well as share it with the non-human beings in their area. Some of those indigenous food forest creating cultures were engaging in that form of regenerative agroforestry and food cultivation/storage for thousands of years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth (and lived with a relatively balanced relationship with the ecosystems that supported them).
Also, it is worth noting that birds like Ravens actually do stash food away for the winter when they come across a seasonal abundance, and I think there is wisdom to be gleaned from observing beings like squirrels that have the foresight to plan ahead and gather food in safe places for the winter months ahead. There is also wisdom to be gleaned from watching birds (and other beings) that do not store any food for winter such as finches and sparrows (that reply on faith and the abundance of nature 100%. There is balance to be found in both ways of being, it does not have to be one or the other.
There is much truth in the bible, but it is only one cultural facet through which to perceive truth, of which there are many, some of which are much older than Christianity, and served to guide and shape societies that achieved a state of respect and balance within creation via animistic lenses of perception, as opposed to the androcentric lenses of perception which some distorted religious institutions have promoted (including the Roman Catholic Church).
For more info on pre-Christian animistic indigenous European cultures and how they guided their behavior and ethics, read:
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/retracing-the-footsteps-of-my-indigenous
For more on the impacts of anthropocentrism, read:
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-anthropocentrism-bright
RE: "People ask "why does God being us strife?" but the answer is that we bring strife upon ourselves."
I do agree with this part, the ugliness we perceive around us today is of our own making, and not part of God's design for the Earth, yet I may have a slightly different perspective on how we got here and what human choices are responsible.
In any case, I appreciate the comment and I thank you for apparently wanting to share the abundance of the Earth with our non-human kin.
Agreed - the parable was designed to quell the fears of Jesus’ apostles, who were told to go far and wide to spread the word and to live a nomadic life.
The bigger lesson was to eschew greed, hoarding and profiteering, as he told even those who followed the word that “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven”. As you surmised, my comment referred mostly to our demand for ‘things” - I often tell my friends that “the more things that you own, the more things will own you”.
As far as the church goes - I’m a recovered Catholic. I wonder what Jesus would have thought of the idolatry and hierarchy that characterises most western organised religions. My disappointment led me to walk away from the idea of God or a creator entirely, but I then learned that there exists an absolute evil and therefore an absolute good must also exist. I chose Jesus but there are certainly myriad ways to express the same idea that life is something beyond the abilities of man to create.
I just happened to live in a beautiful valley on top of a hill…where when I looked out my living room window…could see…”The Old Man of the Valley!”…a great and tall very old redwood amongst other trees…in the shape of an old man…with eyes…nose..and a slight smile! Oh…the stories he could tell I’m sure! It’s like he was the chief of the valley! He pointed up to God reminding me that it was on a tree…that had been made into an Instrument of execution…that my Lord and Savior…gave His life…that I might have eternal life! He is magnificent…and he’s still standing in that valley today!
Beautiful, Gavin. Please say m hello from Barbara to the south if you see him again! 🧚 🌳 💚
May we find our way
to paths of humility.
Or humans’ time’s up!
...
Beyond-human kin
speak loud, clear, convincingly.
May we hear, heed call.
Thank you from this two-legged being who longs for renewed kinship among all beings.
Sharing this with others who will appreciate your beautiful writing.
Thank you for a meaningful, sweet moment of serenity.
In many pre - Christian Western & non - Western traditions, seemingly inanimate objects have spirits, particularly Japanese Shinto, Native American / First American, Polynesian, Australian native, etc. Whether you consciously intended to or not, that was what I came away with. Kudos !