Every Friday I'll be pausing to notice something from the week that has nourished my soul. * A special,
sacred-everyday moment captured on camera, or perhaps a snippet from a
book, a recipe still warm from the kitchen or something whimsical that
simply made me smile. * Here are a few simple things that have fed my soul this week.
What has inspired/fed/nourished your soul this week friends? *
Feel free to link up to your own soulful spaces either at the bottom of this post or in the comments.
How Wolves change rivers: A beautiful and moving short film illustrating the unique importance of primary predators such as wolves in the health of eco-systems.
We picked some wild quince, meddlers and apples last week. The taste of old variety English apples is the taste of Autumn. I miss it.
I told the girl's stories about when we used to pick apples from the orchards and roadside trees years ago. Some were green and irregular as cobbles, some were gold as an ovulating harvest moon, some were pink as fuchsias, many had a worm at the core :)
My favourite were the small, sharp pink ones, They burst inside your mouth and crunched like a piece of brittle bark on an untrod woodland path. The pink of their skins seeped like a sunset through to the core.
The fragrant scent of quince and the mustiness of meddlers spread through the house as they laid in the basket waiting to be made into crumbles, pies, chips and sauce.
I love the idea of guerrilla gardening, growing and gathering varieties of fruit and vegetable in places where people can pick them freely. Maybe it is a way of preserving heritage varieties of edible plant for future generations.
A poem painted on a defaced ‘no trespassing’ sign at Freeman’s Wood. Photograph: Bradley L GarrettThe Enclosures were a series of United Kingdom Acts of Parliament
which enclosed open fields and common land in the country, creating
legal property rights to land that was previously considered common.
Between 1604 and 1914, over 5,200 individual Enclosure Acts were put
into place, enclosing 6.8 million acres.
Prior to the enclosures in England, a portion of the land was categorized as “common”
or “waste”. “Common” land was under some kind of collective control.
Called the open field system, a single plot of land was divided among
groups, often a lord and employed or participating peasants. This
facilitated common grazing and crop rotation.”Waste” was the only land
not officially claimed by any group, often cultivated by landless
peasants.
* In her book about the wonder of childhood “Kith,” Jay Griffiths writes about the effects the Enclosures had on ordinary people.
“It is hard today to imagine what
children’s lives were like before the Enclosures and it is impossible to
overstate the terrible, lasting alteration which those Acts made to
childhood in Britain. Although it is not, in the great scheme of things, so very long ago, we today are effectively fenced off from even its memory.“…
” The commons was home for boy or bird
but the Enclosures stole the nests of both, bereaved children of the
site of their childhood, robbed them of animal- tutors and river-
mentors and stole their deep dream – shelter. The great outdoors was
fenced off and marked “TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED.“…
” Over the generations, as the outdoors shrank, the indoor world enlarged in importance.“…
* Before the Enclosures commons and heaths were essentially a shared resource where the poor could keep a cow, gather fallen branches for firewood, plant crops and hunt.
These were also the places of ancient carnival, traditional festival and
children’s free play. The enclosures transformed this cultural heritage
and had a deep, haunting effect on the psyche of the pastoral poet John
Clare.
*
” The Enclosures threw the peasantry into
that acute poverty which would scar Clare’s own life and mind so deeply.
His grief stricken madness, alcoholism and exile as a result of this
land – loss encapsulates in one indigenous life the experience of so
many indigenous cultures.“…
” By 1816, poachers, including children
of nine or ten, were given punishments of imprisonment or transportation
of offences against the Games Laws, enacted to protect the hunting
rights of the wealthy.”…” “The games of the gentry – hunting for fun –
were fiercely protect, while hunting for sheer starving necessity,
engaged in by children and adults was outlawed.”
…” The 1794 Report on Enclosures in
Shropshire states with nasty approval that a result of the Enclosures
would be that ” the labourers will work every day in the year, their
children will be put out to labour early.” Children’s hard labour would
become necessary for survival as families lost one right after another,
including gleaners rights to leaze after the harvest.”
Griffiths continues…. ” I have been
with Amazonian people when they have seen the searing brutality of their
lands being ripped apart for gold in today’s act of corporate
enclosure, and I have watched men weep while they say aghast, ” We are
the land,” a truth which John Clare would have effortlessly understood.”
* Governments often legislate in favour of corporations and private enterprises
giving them mandates to compromise the well being of the natural
environment and the local communities that work and live in them to make
a profit. From local battle grounds such as Freeman’s Wood to the contravening of treaty laws which allow the continuation of the Dakota pipeline, from fracking to the wholesale expulsion of tribal communities from the Amazon, there are many contemporary examples of this.
More and more of the natural world is being patented, privatized and
fenced off from children and adults alike. As a result birthrights such
as clean water, air and the freedom to roam are slowly becoming
commodities sold for profit. The poem below is by John Clare. To me it is a wild
cry of the land for its children and the children for their birthright,
the land. It rings with the call of the warbler for its secret nest
among the pines and the fox’s silent plea to the hunter’s horn. It
resonates with that deep longing we carry for re-connection with our
natural human and humane state,honest as the trees, animals and dark
skinned earth; our home. It is the yearning to live free of laws made to
enlarge the estates of an elite few as the many lose their access to
the land.
The Elm tree of the poem was felled during the Enclosures. From it a
carpenter friend of Clare’s, fashioned a wooden ruler as a keepsake and
symbol of the value of measured gain over incalculable loss. To a Fallen Elm
Old Elm that murmured in our chimney top
The sweetest anthem autumn ever made
And into mellow whispering calms would drop
When showers fell on thy many coloured shade
And when dark tempests mimic thunder made
While darkness came as it would strangle light
With the black tempest of a winter night
That rocked thee like a cradle to thy root
How did I love to hear the winds upbraid
Thy strength without while all within was mute
It seasoned comfort to our hearts desire
We felt thy kind protection like a friend
And pitched our chairs up closer to the fire
Enjoying comforts that was was never penned
Old favourite tree thoust seen times changes lower
But change till now did never come to thee
For time beheld thee as his sacred dower
And nature claimed thee her domestic tree
Storms came and shook thee with aliving power
Yet steadfast to thy home thy roots hath been
Summers of thirst parched round thy homely bower
Till earth grew iron – still thy leaves was green
The children sought thee in thy summer shade
And made their play house rings of sticks and stone
The mavis sang and felt himself alone
While in they leaves his early nest was made
And I did feel his happiness mine own
Nought heeding that our friendship was betrayed
Friend not inanimate- tho stocks and stones
There are and many cloathed in flesh and bones
Thou ownd a language by which hearts are stirred
Deeper than by the attribute of words
Thine spoke a feeling known in every tongue
Language of pity and the force of wrong
What cant assumes what hypocrites may dare
Speaks home to truth and shows it what they are
I see a picture that thy fate displays
And learn a lesson from thy destiny
Self interest saw thee stand in freedoms ways
So thy old shadow must a tyrant be
Thoust heard the knave abusing those in power
Bawl freedom loud and then oppress the free
Thoust sheltered hypocrites in many an hour
That when in power would never shelter thee
Thoust heard the knave supply his canting powers
With wrongs illusions when he wanted friends
That bawled for shelter when he lived in showers
And when clouds vanished made thy shade amends
With axe at root he felled thee to the ground
And barked of freedom – O I hate that sound
It grows the cant terms of enslaving tools
To wrong another by the name of right
It grows a licence with oer bearing fools
To cheat plain honesty by force of might
Thus came enclosure- ruin was her guide
But freedoms clapping hands enjoyed the sight
Tho comforts cottage soon was thrust aside
And workhouse prisons raised upon the site
Een natures dwelling far away from men
The common heath became the spoilers prey
The rabbit had not where to make his den
And labours only cow was drove away
No matter- wrong was right and right was wrong
And freedoms brawl was sanction to the song
Such was thy ruin music making Elm
The rights of freedom was to injure thine
As thou wert served so would they overwhelm
In freedoms name the little so would they over whelm
And these are knaves that brawl for better laws
And cant of tyranny in stronger powers
Who glut their vile unsatiated maws
And freedoms birthright from the weak devours.
These issues are really close to my heart, and I know so many other people's too.
The idea of localizing resources to create a more environmentally stable world is a really interesting idea to me.
I'm also interested in co -ops that build up local communities and bring people together on a level playing field; place where everyone's voice can be heard and appreciated.
I love the idea that we can thrive without an imposed system or hierarchy. We don't have to be dis-empowered, cogs in a wheel or passive consumers. We can all have a role that is valued and honored in our community.
We all have the right to meaningful work and a meaningful life.
Our children have a right to a warm, safe, loving community in which to grow, thrive and find their place.
One thing that really touched me about Hellena's story about her market was when she said "We were all accepted as we were,"
Reminds me a little of this wonderful speech by the wonderful and dear soul that was Mister Rogers.
This morning I watched a movie on TED called "This is Water".
It is a real contrast to the gentle, green, leafiness of Hellena's beautiful bamboo verandah isn't it :)
Do we go through the system to end up here?
... Really?
Do we see one another is such a callous way?
If so, surely something must be going somewhat wrong.
But, mostly, I'm left wondering why on earth we wouldn't question such an existence!
For this planet to begin the healing process we need to see one another, truly, deeply and with love.
It's not just our perspective that has to change.
The foundations for our perspective have to change too.
They need to be healthy, with healthy values and goals that protect our planet, our communities and our families.
I think this video illustrates that the way we are doing things now may not be conducive to that goal.
We need to start really seeing one another.
Because it's only when we really get up close, and make a real contact that we truly connect.
And it's when we connect that we can work together and truly be the change we want to see in the world.
" Inner brightness ends up being a much better and longer-lasting alternative to evil than any war, anger, violence or ideology could ever be. All you have to is meet one such shining person and you know that he or she is surely the goal of humanity and the delight of God."
"Falling Upward - Spirituality for the two halves of life" Richard Rohr
I have learnt so much from our beautiful 7 days away.
Seven days away from all technology and to do lists.
Seven days without convenience!
Washing machines!
Seven days away to breathe anew.
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Genisis 2.7
Over 7 days I learnt that all children (people) really need ... is trees, a stream, simple food, shelter, fire and loving company.
Our "cabin" was a tiny three bed bedsit.
Yet it didn't feel small.
Our "garden" was communal.
Families rambled through it.
Children rode their bikes.
Ducklings squabbled in puddles for breadcrumbs twice daily.
Squirrels scampered through the French doors fearlessly to steal sunflower seeds.
Even a hare gamboled by one morning.
Yet there was nothing but greenery and the freedom of the outdoors.
And it felt huge.
Expansive.
Immense.
Maybe the future for us humans is this small, natural, communal, localized, simplified way of living.
Maybe it has to be.
Maybe this is a good thing.
I learnt that I do not miss technology, washing machines, tumble dryers, concrete, convenience or cars when I am without them.
I learnt that, in fact I would happily trade them all in.
I learnt that children will never be bored if given a little bit of water, some woodland, a few sticks, stones, mud and the company of other children.
They do not need toys.
Nature is the ultimate playground.
I also learned that a week in nature teaches a child more about life than 100 lessons in a schoolroom ever could.
I learnt that it is far easier to commune with our Creator when in direct and constant contact with His creation.
I grieved how the world is beginning to divide up.
Poor driven to cities as rich corporations take up more and more land for mineral resources, logging and intensive farming.
I learnt that having an afternoon and evening to myself is necessary only within a modern life context.
When surrounded by the deep peace of nature all cravings for "space", "my own thing" "time away from it all" fall away.
There is an agenda behind all that advertising and lack of fulfillment in our everyday, systematic, mundane work.
It keeps us in a state of spiritual want that disguises itself as hunger for more stuff, more money, more food etc...
When what we really need is less.
I learnt that I would happily live in a small dwelling, much smaller even that the one we currently abide in.
So long as I had two things besides.
Nature and community.
I have learnt that nothing is worth having unless it is shared.
I have learnt that each child is a sacred teacher.
I have also learnt that who I am is far more important than what I say.
We are not what we say or do as much as we are the energy we emanate.
We can emanate a life energy or death energy.
I have learnt that if we don't make the changes we believe in as individuals then the world will never change.
We are reflections of the wider world and the wider world is a reflection of us as individuals.
The pure integrity and love of a single person can move mountains.
I believe this.
The truth is that abundant consuming has become a vicious addictive cycle in the modern world.
Connecting to nature is a really important factor in breaking the cycle.
Even spiritual things have become tainted with commercialism.
So little seems untouched these days. Everything has a market. Everyone is a "brand."
Everything we are resonates.
We can't resist evil externally, we have to go within.
Our own peace will become the world's peace.
Our world is such an incredibly beautiful place.
We need to love it like a Mother, a Father, a Child.
It is the skin of our Creator.
His dream realized.
Manifest.
I went out into the woods by our cabin with Emmy one still and silent evening.
There was a path of golden sunlight through the ferns and foxgloves.
I don't think I have seen anything more beautiful in my life.
I saw God there.
In the light that touched my skin.
The light that gave life to the living greenness and the aged bark of the pines.
From the earth.
I was blessed.
While walking home I thought of how I need to seek blessings daily.
But not just seek them.
The secret is I have to give them out as soon as they touch me.
The true blessing is not simply in the seeking or the receiving but the giving away.
As Hannah gave Samuel, Abraham gave Issac, Jesus gave Himself.
We cannot hoard, or store blessing.
We have to let it all go.
Or it becomes valueless.
Beauty to ashes.
God is all about resurrection, restoration, renewal.
Nature tells us this story every year. It whispers, "there can be no Spring without the "Fall" of Autumn"
Blessings only live in giving.
Giving and receiving both require and open hand and an open heart.
