Just when you think it couldn’t get worse, it does. Every aspect of government that I think should function, doesn’t. I’d like to wring collective necks, but that doesn’t jive with, “love your enemies.” And when did our enemies become “us”?
Where’s a Good Bomb Shelter When You need One?
I don’t mean to be flip, but I remember when the Cold War was hot, and we thought nuclear mutual assured destruction was around the corner. Bomb shelters, buried underground in backyards, weren’t uncommon. Thank God, we didn’t need them.
Today, there are voices predicting fuel shortages so great, if we don’t freeze to death in winter, we’ll long for food —vegetables we didn’t appreciate when we had them. We won’t have the fertilizer that comes from imports, enough water to irrigate crops, or the manpower to harvest them. Unfortunately, there is a dreadful logic behind some predictions. So, several very smart people are preparing now for a long haul of deprivation. There’s nothing wrong with being prepared. Isn’t that the Scout’s motto?
Home Grown Best grown?
My grandparents grew veggies in their backyard. But it goes beyond a simple love of gardening. I suspect if someone magically removed every food item containing unhealthy ingredients or pesticides from the grocery store, the shelves would be almost empty. Hydroponic gardening, a healthy alternative, is easy for me (as opposed to digging in contaminated soil and yanking out weeds).
The lettuce in the picture above is my second crop.
In the first crop, I used simple tap water. Over time, I noticed disgusting mold growing on the water’s surface; I threw out the lettuce and washed the system. Next, I filled the system with water from my reverse osmosis filtered tap and replanted lettuce. No mold has grown on the water. Was that because I used filtered water instead of contaminated, “clean” water? I don’t know, but I suspect we all carry a level of contamination in our bodies that our great-grandparents didn’t. We can try to reduce our exposure; and we should. Why subject ourselves to harmful chemicals if we can avoid them?
No getting around threats—from hostile forces or the environment. Mankind has always faced them; we just don’t need to deal with dinosaurs now. Perhaps if we can put off our mortality for a bit, keep our bodies functioning longer, maybe we can accomplish some good.
Ecclesiastes 1:2
“Meaningless, Meaningless!
says the Teacher
Utterly Meaningless!
Everything is meaningless!”
That verse is certainly open to interpretation, but I think I could make a case that no matter how much we prepare, how much we live “clean,” we will all die. Perhaps later, but death is unavoidable.
While I eat clean and stock up on coffee—I have a shirt that says “Coffee. Because murder is wrong.”— I know it’s just a matter of time until I draw my last breath. I need to be prepping for that moment—the event that really counts, because in the end, we will all die.
As I enter eternity, I’d like to leave my little corner of the world better for my having lived there. And that, friends, is the only prepping that has lasting value, that is worth doing. Prep all you want for this life. Nothing wrong with that. It may be wise, but the real wisdom is prepping for your eternity.
