We are destined for another rain today, and I am very happy indeed. I planted the Shasta Daisies and two little Bee Balms yesterday. They were soaked, yea even immersed, in rainwater for a day before planting. I would rather risk fishing something out of the bottom of a rainbarrel (deep, cold, murky) than plant it dry.
I water plants before rain because those barrels are going to fill again. This keeps the barrels fresh and really grants a bonus to plants. Roses coming back from the winter appreciate the extra moisture and fertilizer in rain, and the soil life also gets a boost. Without the soil life of fungi, bacteria, protozoa, earthworms, and such, the roses would be dying. So I water the roses and hydrate other plants to boost the soil too.
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| My argument that Creation Gardening works well. |
Publishing
The Luther's Sermons project is going well. Some might ask, "But why start a new printing when anyone can buy or Google Luther's sermons?"
The reason is - this gets Luther's Sermons into a new group of people. I was thinking about Matt Harrison waving his copy of Luther's Sermons on a video. "He must be feeling the pain of those Here I Stand socks at CPH," I mused.
The project is only slightly connected with the anniversary of the Reformation. I just got angry that a good set of his sermons are priced so high, even on the used market. Publishing houses have the resources to print economy editions, but they do not. Look at a franchise bookstore. They sell economy editions of great literature for almost nothing because the books are open source and easily printed by the thousands. People will always buy Moby Dick, even if they do not read it.
So we are watering the roses. Lutherans have Luther's Sermons, but more copies will not hurt - and only help. I know the initial volunteer efforts have provoked cries of "I am learning so much!" - not a bad result.
One proof-reader, Virginia Roberts, named a new book unawares. She kept mentioning "gems" she found in Volume 1. I was going to put some best quotes in each volume. But no, I will call them "Gems from Luther's Sermons, Volume 1" and so forth. At the end, we will have a separate book called Gems from Luther's Sermons, about 100 pages.
Some other Luther projects are planned, but I will keep them secret for now, since secrets generate interest.
An essay that needs to be written is - Two Felons and a Christian Leader: A Critical History of the LCMS and the Synodical Conference. The felons are Stephan and Walther. The leader is Loehe. That could be 20 volumes, but instead it will be about 50 pages or so, just an indication of what could be done if the "conservative" Lutherans would get over their worship of Walther the Anti-Luther. That will be done in my normal irenic style.
Did I mean polemical instead? The false profits* of today say "peace, peace" where there is no peace. They only seek silence and abject obedience to their agenda, which is ever-shifting and never Luther. True peace comes from Justification by Faith, not from Stalinistic management efforts.
Work
My work situation is always changing, and I think a good solution is around the corner. As I mentioned to two social friends, the main thing is keeping the publishing going, which is fun and worthwhile. Thanks to various factors and Social Security, it only takes a little extra work to balance costs and income.
*Yes, I know how to spell, typos being no argument against my spelling skills.
