Bugs Never Bugged Me, Because I Was Raised Right

Ladybugs are named after the Virgin Mary.
They are voracious pest eaters in all stages of life,
but vulnerable to sprays and "safe" oils.

I was trying to figure out how long it would take to catch up with my mother's knowledge of insects and wildflowers. She published articles on butterflies and moths, with expert photos included. When I read a gardening book about beneficial insects, I recalled her constant advice - "Leave the bugs alone. The beneficial insects will take care of the bad ones." We would be outdoors and she would find an interesting one, hold it in her hand, and demonstrate how safe it was.

One of the biggest mistakes in gardening is to resort to insecticides and oils to take care of a pest. That will work temporarily, but those measures are even more effective against beneficial insects and spiders. Almost all bugs are beneficial, so a bugspray will wipe out the whole population in one area and allow the worst pests to come back before the beneficial insects recover.

An edible oil is not toxic by itself, but when used to get rid of pests, the oil will also suffocate the eggs of good insects, like the ladybug.

People seem content to view weeds, bugs, and certain birds as bad, but God created them all for specific purposes. Our helper continues to worry about the crabgrass in the sunny garden, where tomatoes are forming and ripening. I see the tangle of crabgrass and vines as green manure. They will provide the carbohydrates for the soil creatures below, where the richness of their chemistry will be locked into the top layer of soil for next year's garden. If a tomato is damaged and not good to bring indoors, I smash it into the soil so it the seeds will volunteer new plants next year.

I also want trashy areas for bugs and birds. The lawn is in great shape, simply from the mulching mower, but a grassy area limits life above ground. There is nothing like a wild patch for spiders and birds to find their food. Across the street is a maple filled with one type of bird each night. I am not sure which species, but they want to eat in the morning and evening. I want our yard to be a spa for birds, so they stop by to bathe, to drink, and to feed on pests.

The invention of labor in gardening continues to fascinate me. Every time I mention roses, someone responds "Work! All the work! The spraying, the pruning..." The gardening books are no help. They outline big projects that make me tired when I read about them. Why build condos for compost when a little chicken wire works?

Asparagus is a good example. As farm boys know, it is often found along fences, where birds rested and deposited the seed - with fertilizer.

Now read a gardening book. Dig a big trench and fill it with compost hauled from the three-stage compost condominium complex that you built with your carpenter friend. Put the mature plants in deep. Cover with soil, then wait, and cover with more soil or compost. And again. And again. But I ask, "The birds just sit on a fence. Why?"

The key to asparagus is time and rich soil. I have chosen an area where I will plant asparagus in mushroom compost and cover with organic material, including newspaper, mulch, and compost. Earthworms will distribute the organic matter and fungi will feed the roots. The overhead soaker hose will keep them watered. The thick spears will be harvested and the rest will fern out to feed the enormous roots. I will buy praying mantis eggs cases to populate the area with the nemesis of the asparagus beetle.

Alcoholism in WELS

The atmosphere is familiar but not exactly inviting.

The latest post in The Shattered Pulpit blog concerns the pastor, his wife, and the blogger all drinking in excess together.

The post explains why WELS is so accommodating for pastors like Ski and Glende, who sacrificially began a bar ministry, calling it a coffee house ministry, and got themselves into a pile of trouble - even by WELS standards.

Alcoholism is an addiction carefully nurtured by alcoholic WELS leaders, beginning in college. Although one argument for closing NWC was the student alcoholism there, Martin Luther College is no different. The best way to become student body president and GA pope is becoming a falling down drunk before graduation and after.

Alcoholic addiction is legal and well supported by a giant legal apparatus in Wisconsin. No other state is more tolerant of drunk drivers. No other synod is so understanding - with DPs and seminary professors and missionaries running to the bar association after getting loaded and wrecked by another type of bar.

Alcoholism is a physical addiction. Drunks get withdrawal symptoms when they go without liquor, and withdrawal is considered a medical emergency.

Alcoholism develops slowly, over the years. The person who can drink the most without showing it will be a good candidate for total addiction in 20 years. When the habits are developed and encouraged in college, the ministry is bound to continue the pattern - since clergy socials are often lubricated with liquor.

Non-drinking denominations are likely to have plenty of alcoholics, but the ones openly welcoming the cash bar at all events are going to be the best places for a drunk to hide. "George had a little bit too much to drink last night." I witnessed one LCA pastor offer to pay for everyone's drinks if his new pals stayed at the bar with him. They didn't. In another case, a younger woman offered to stay with the older drunk pastor and drive him back to the hotel. Everyone was leaving, but those were staying for another round. That reminded me of Roman Catholic events - like the conferences that began with a cash bar.

An Episcopalian priest told our group that the first thing on the grocery store list each week was liquor, both for him and his wife. Their children suffered terribly until both of them sobered up. He became an effective counselor because he had been there.

The WELS leaders are willfully blind because it is not cool for them to frown on their fellow drunks. "Let him who is without DTs cast the first detox center assignment." When one DP was arrested for a DUI, the synod transferred him to another place. Many know but officially know nothing and see nothing. It is best not to even think about it, as one WELS minder said in the discussion group.

Nick Brander Having been through a negative situation with a previous pastor of the WELS, I don't believe it is our job to have thoughts on this at all. I believe this should have stayed within the affected people, the church leadership and the district leadership. Let me stress that we do not know the full story and we cannot know the full story. For us to form any thoughts would be counter-intuitive and serve no beneficial purpose.

Many tragedies have already happened because of alcoholism, but the attitude remains. DP Buchholz knew about all of Ski's problems long before everything erupted in the Fox Valley WELS circuit and the Anything Goes District. Buchholz laughed about it. That reminded me of another official, Paul Kuske, laughing in the same way about Floyd Stolzenburg.

How long will everyone remain in the Great Cloaca of WELS, simply because it is home to them?