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| This is a real rose, carefully preserved and edged in gold. |
Ranger Bob looked across the backyard and said, "This is a perfect place for e-wigs, ants, and insects..." And I added - "And birds and bees and butterflies and hummingbirds."
Bob hates e-wigs, also called earwigs. He suggested some chemicals so toxic that one had to be certified to buy them. I said, "I use birds and toads for that." His training as a landscaper has given him a mindset that is only dislodged when I ask, "How many roses do you have, Bob?"
He mutters, "You do have nice roses."
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| California Dreamin' |
All this chit-chat is meant to support the theory that a Creation Garden is built a little at a time. God does 99.9% of the work through His creatures while the gardener tilts the work in favor of the temporary owner. We lost track of the wood mulch, newspapers, and cardboard absorbed into the soil. I have looked for heavy logs in places, only to find them hollowed out by rot. These materials do not go away but support a larger biomass in the heavy, clay soil.
The biomass is symbolized by earthworms, but is really built upon the microbes - fungus, bacteria, protozoa, and nematodes. One example - earthworms have been praised and protected from the time of ancient Egypt, but how do those earth-movers work? They are "cows grazing on bacteria." And the bacteria digests the contents of the earthworm gut, which results in nitrogen products in castings (manure) and from its tiny kidneys.
Fungus is the network that delivers nutrition and water to the plant roots, and they must have carbon to grow. Plants trade carbon for water and nutrition - a network only recently discovered and appreciated.
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| Paradise Rose is why I said to Almost Eden - "You are Almost Eden? We are Eden." He was gracious. The Biblical Garden of Eden can be reproduced, though poorly, by letting God's Creation carry out the work it was designed to do. |
My additions of organic products to the soil feed all of these living things at once, providing a vibrant and energetic base for the plants, from the weeds to the roses, from the vines to the wild strawberries.
I cannot explain the complexities of a single living thing, nor can anyone else. The complexity and overlapping dependencies are too great for our minds to manage. The role of fungus was only recently discovered, though it was at work since Day One. The same could be said of cover crops on farms that flood and succumb to drought easily. When I am tempted to pull or prune a weed, I think, "What Would Gave Do?" His dictum is - "Leaving growing roots in the ground as long as possible."
I also think of the Lunatic Farmer, Salatin, who with his father showered tons of organic matter on their bare bones farm and kept organic matter on the soil until the farm became a paradise of production and nutrition.
Engineering at a Microscopic Level
This can only come from divine Creation, engineering, and management. Sometimes people stop at Creation, which is a marvel by itself, since everything began by working together perfectly. But I am also impressed by the perfect engineering of the tiniest creature, such as the fungus that can trap an enemy with a spring-like device. That is why evolution is a punch-line in our house.
Divine Management
Wait, there's more. We have all suffered from corrupt, poor, or bad management - and I do not mean just in the Lutheran synods. Business and higher education are no different. But look at what happens in Creation. Man ruins the land with toxic chemicals and fertilizer from the factory. The first thing to take over is the opportunistic weed. Given time, the weed will go roots down and leaves out to fertilize the parched soil. Once the initial repairs are made, other plants and animals will move in. Eventually, divine management will make the land fertile again.
This is how I let God manage the aphids. I grow plants loved by beneficial insects and I never use insecticide, which is also very efficient against the spider Spetsnaz troops. When plants are under attack, they give out chemical signals. The beneficials lay eggs near the pests, and the eggs hatch to eat the aphids and other parasites. These infants grow into adults who do the same thing for me. Just as the fire station is close to housing, so are the beneficial plants close to the roses. I like the mint family and daisies to host beneficials, and sunflower are also great.
Application to the Apostate Church Institutions
One person cannot mount a frontal attack on organizations (like WELS, ELS, LCMS) that are organized and funded to protect themselves and destroy dissent. Those who pretend they will fix things from the inside - as John Seifert indicated - are only campaigning for a better job and benefits.
The Lutherans proved this 100% apostasy at the leadership level - politicians and professors - by making the Reformation's 500th Anniversary an embarrassing spectacle of Luther-hating and Luther-ignoring. Bravo! Well done! Now everyone awake has their number and more are waking up.
I am waiting for the 501st so I can buy a railroad car full of Here I Stand socks for $10 - from CPH. Matt the Fatt reads Luther. No, really. He showed us a worn volume in a video.
What Can We Do?
The only effective things are to strengthen the family unit, especially among the clergy and teachers, and to strengthen the congregation.
Synodical meetings are a total waste of time. Attending only enhances their power. Objecting only helps the officials mark people for future extinction.
Having a meeting (even though supposedly secret) about what's wrong with the synod will accomplish nothing. They know how to extinguish brush fires. Probably the pastor most sympathetic and on the phone or email all the time - is working for a promotion from the DP, or maybe to become DP. Ask John Seifert how to work that gig.
Instead, make the family first - not "being busy", often confused with "working hard" for the church. Secondly, teach the family and congregation from the Scriptures Luther and the Book of Concord.
Time is fleeting, so the time spent with little ones - when they cannot learn fast enough - is quickly over. But the time spent in the early years gives credibility to the parents in later years.
