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The Blessing of Increasing Order

Have you ever felt like you just can’t take it anymore? Things that need to be done, not done? Living with disorder when we know we crave it? Some call it impatience, but Adytum has taught me that virtue courtesy of a few unnamed contractors. But now I want completion. Yes, the 5 year plan done instantly, right now, thank you. In short; we need help with this land with a capitol H, white flag waving and flares firing off.

Can you imagine trying to create beauty and order out of raw land? An unruly field? A forest left to itself with all the attending brambles and thorny berry vines? Nature left to itself is rarely pretty. Taming has its virtues. The thought of a child’s room at the end of the week comes to mind….nature is really quite like an undisciplined child.

It may be hard to relate to these pleas if you have a city lot or a regular back yard. Those I’ve known in my past seem so “tame-able” now. This is like walking into the forest and asking for respect. In my world, we like beauty, less weeds, less in general. Less is more…In nature, anything goes. Packing it in, natural exuberance and one thing crawling over another fits right in.

Living in this realm of time and space and having to wait for what I need is hard. We know we can have it now, on some level. There is a part of us that knows “instantaneous results” exists. It is the stuff of miracles. We know that we are creative beings. We know that our word has great power; that is if we believe what the Bible says about using our words.

Do you know those statements? One in Proverbs 13:2 written by King Solomon says that “from the fruit of a man's mouth he enjoys good.” Words are seeds that produce fruit after their own kind. Good words spoken produce good fruit in our lives. Bad words spoken produce bad experiences in our lives. I am learning to use my speaking power to get the things that I need now. That statement might go by…do you realize what I just said? We have the creative power to bring into our experience what we desire with our word. Ponder that.

I’ve gotten in the habit since living here these last few years of walking the land of Adytum and praying aloud with each footstep that impresses the ground. It takes me almost half an hour to walk it. That is a lot of desire projected into the realm of God, who has the power to bring it to pass.

I’m saying what I desire, what I want. And if we know the Biblical formula, we will thank God in advance for giving us the desire of our heart. There is so much power in gratitude attached to the faith that what we’ve asked for will come.

So I ask for what is most pressing for us now,that would be “help”. There are two of us. Sixteen acres. No chemicals….No herbicides….Man against Nature- a popular theme. Only I like to think we’re aligned WITH nature. Still it is crushingly hard. Mostly getting out of bed the next day after a bout with her…

As I walk, I thank God in advance knowing that I’ve been heard. Coming back in after most of an hour walking in this form of anticipatory meditation to see that a call has come in my absence should be no surprise, but it is. Why is a part of me still “testing this out” even though it happens day after day?

The first day, an old request is fulfilled that we have someone come that will help take the dead maples, ghost trees that were hit with a fungus that kills ancient maples, off the land before they infect other healthy trees AND give us half the profits from timber sales. Since wood cutting isn’t our forte, is this a perfect situation or what? No more dead wood. No accidents cutting trees we don’t’ have the experience to tackle. Order created and space opened. Money coming in to offset all the outgo of running a large estate…How much better does it get?

The second call, however, is completely out of the blue. It is beyond what I ever would have dreamed which kind of proves “The Secret” a strange book. In other words, God keeps exceeding my desires….The Secret doesn’t talk about God doing that at all. It is limited by our own visualization and imagination and desire. God always takes that and essentially laughs.

The message reveals that a Boy Scout leader of half a dozen boys aged 15-17 can’t find camping availability at Lake Mayfield. They want to water-ski and have nowhere to stay- and he means NOW. No room at the Inn for them as it were. They’ve heard of our land, Adytum, overlooking the lake from a Miele Coffee Machine repairman that has come here- multiple times. “Can we stay? We are privately funded but would do a service project in return for the chance to ski Mayfield….”

I laugh to myself….a morning’s meditation brings an entire Boy Scout troop when I ask God for help (thinking “someone” or maybe a few good men), then thank Him that help is on its way. This is outrageous, I think to myself. “Of course you can come”, I say visualizing the 6 boys and 6 men that will accompany them. “Nothing would give me more pleasure than seeing you all enjoying yourselves here.” So much for the one or two… A guest found a new nest last week. We hope you can learn to see too…to love the land and respect her. And teach these young men…. “Of course, come!!”

I am before God again, at dawn walking the land with ancient Sasha – the Borzoi in her last years of traversing these trails with me. I am laughing now in His presence. “I ask for help and You send an entire Boy Scout Troop??” That is SO like you…..so over the top. So completely out of my realm of thinking…

”When”, I think to myself, “am I going to learn to enlarge my vision and thought process?” We have just shy of sixteen acres we are managing without chemicals and herbicides- the soil destructive “servant duo”. We are working our tails off and haven’t had a holiday in ages. God decides to send the literal “troops” in, a whole army of young men.

I can almost see Him with that smirk on His face while He wonders why I never asked for them, and had one or two in mind instead….He sends our angel to cut down the dead wood and bring light to the new Redwoods and Sequoias in that place that consequently the Boy Scouts will most likely pitch their half dozen tents or more if they sleep double.

Why would anyone choose not to use their word, gratitude and faith power? And watch for all the miracles? This is the most fun we’ve had in ages….We are being taught to expand. We are laughing inside this experience. God is laughing too at seeing us learn to grasp the simple things of living inside the Secret Kingdom where all things are possible and miracles are quite common place.

Who'd Imagine Concrete Would Be So Exciting?

 

 

 

 

GUARDIAN OF THE LAND

I heard the phrase – Guardian of the Land - while watching BBC’s series, Monarch of the Glen on Netflix. It completely caught my attention. They have 35,000 acres on the show which is based in lovely wild Scotland. It looks quite like the Pacific Northwest. We have 15 ¾ acres here on Adytum lands. The principle’s still the same, no matter if you have a city lot. That is,we have a responsibility to the land to oversee and manage it with respect, integrity and attention to detail that departs from popular ways and means of dealing with land and soil (i.e. weeds and the love affair with chemicals touted as harmless…).

Our lives and our health are tied to the soil. Being a guardian of the soil and keeping the millions of microbes and life-forms evident in good soil viable is part of the key to our health. Instead many people buy Round Up or worse - and proceed to sterilize soil and kill off earthworm populations in order to control weeds and pests.

Since when does control entail and embrace destruction? Since when is that a viable alternative to respecting life forms that are in residence? It’s hard to write about something that most people don’t give a second thought to. There are shelves of chemicals on every isle to do whatever we wish to accomplish, with complete disregard to the consequences to their lives and ours. But if we choose a different path, then we are aware that there is a better way; a way of mutual respect, concern, shepherding and care. We care for the land (mother earth) and it cares for us. We don’t end up with chemically mediated diseases like neurological diseases, Parkinson’s and breast cancer and more…Chemical use comes round to “bit us in the butt” as it were.

The land that comprises Adytum’s estate is kept with the principals stated above; no chemicals. Is it hard? Yes. Are my nails dirty despite gloves? Yes. It is time consuming? Yes? But what is that: hard and time consuming? It is exercise and it is meditation while laboring. It is joying in the sun, the earth, fresh air, the yield of integrous fruits, herbs and vegetables. Organic. Pure.

It is a moment of childhood again; being 12. Kneeling over a weed to remove it so that a beautiful garden can be born. Shoving rich soil around a root base so that the plant has all it needs to serve us. Is there meaning in that? Or is speed, results and the perfected appearance the only end? What soul work was accomplished in that path? Can we not be happy with an imperfectly appearing apple? Why is that really?

Biodynamic farming has taken hold especially in the wine community, farming grapes without chemicals but using natural plant teas and other means to create a healhier plant. A healthy plant will fend off pests. Some biodynamic preparations discourage insects. It is all based on integrity, however, and is worth looking into for those interested in becoming the best guardian of their land entrusted to them.

Our soil here is pure joy. Well, in most parts. Ancient maples and a hundred years of leaf mold makes for richness that doesn't come from commercial preparations. The Robins, excellent at leveraging the labor of others, wait til we’ve left an area and move in to take their spoil: earthworms. Sterile soil yields no worms, right? We’re impressed with their tactics… We can learn a thing or two if we’re humble enough.

The trees bear easily and naturally without help. The squirrels move in early to harvest hazelnuts that are not yet ripe; the front runners of their realm. We see the methodology of the creatures that work the land on a daily basis here. Even the lowly worms, which are the Robins’ delight, are engaged in soil that is living. Do you know that there are some that kill these worms to control the moles? In so doing, the soil is compromised.

Long story short: the land is a gift, a bequest, an inheritance of health to us or ill health due to our ignorant and arrogant depletion of it. Working it means working out things deep in our souls; not just the next meal. Each weed pulled tells a story of a thought gone astray and brought under control. Each garden planted in rich soil is a life blossoming under beneficial circumstances. Each flower a joy. A sweet success. Each vegetable pulled from the rich shelter of earth a gift from the earth itself. All ecosystems left intact, a choice for integrity and the wisdom to see the big picture.

We can work with the land, humbled to our knees in care of it. Or we can stand over it as master and Lord with our spray units full of foul chemicals we wouldn’t care to get on our own skin. We have been given this mastery, but not to the point of disrespect and blatant killing of life forms that are too small to seemingly “matter” muchless defend themselves against us.

This license is a mastery of guidance and governance. We have been misinformed lately, or just plain ignorant to accept that which appears as goods to be sold on the shelves of garden centers. Use your brain. No, use your heart first. Get some education for God’s sake. Do we know what we are doing? What power we wield? Well, we best know. Ultimately, our health depends on fertile, viable soil.

To kill the soil is to kill our selves. Why not make peace with the dandelions and a few weeds? Who set perfection in our landscaping mind anyway, those Jones’ who are now in the hospital with Parkinson’s or breast cancer with their chemical escapades? Make peace with kneeling on the earth. How blessed we are to be fed at her breast. We will return there. We are earth, we all know; just a handful of minerals in the final analysis. How humbling is that? We are far, far more connected than we know….

A certain measure of humility is appropriate here. We were given dominion, yes. But not in the “Hitler” sense with senseless genocide. A study of the soil should take place in every grade school. It is the stuff we are made of and makes us, ultimately. Good or bad.

We have chosen to be a little bit wild here with our guardianship of these lands; to be at peace with being slightly out of control. To embrace the dandelion. To actually make a point of eating its bitter greens when young, next spring. Even that dastardly stinging nettle that causes me so much pain… good for allergies and prostate issues. Prostate cancer thrives in our area….and we treat so many ocular allergies… maybe the treatment is right under our noses…

We hope to be wise always and harm not the soil. Our life. We commit to being Guardian of Adytum. And by so doing, we commit to our health, our life, our spirit’s growth and our integrity. May you consider your land your bequest and charge also, your guardianship versus a bit of real estate.

Editing

Walking the familiar paths over the labyrinth of Adytum’s 15 ¾ acres that has come from patient pruning, mowing and carting away to the compost piles, I ask God how much longer until we are ready for guests at Adytum? He often speaks on top of my thoughts. I think He does this so that I know there are two of us communing in the temple of my spirit. I can’t think two thoughts at once. I know His voice. He says, “soon, very soon”.

All my thoughts seem to focus on one point lately as we are four and a half years into our project: when will it be done? We expect concrete in a week and called in a truckload of topsoil today to lay down a lawn that will snug up against it.

All the other lawns here laid themselves down, so this one is a planned event with rock removal and grading involved. Donn handles that and I begin to work with what has evolved into a jungle; the tree plantation and planted beds.

Pacific Northwest rains, nurtured by a few hot days and exponential growth explodes. Late spring has that effect of putting a bit of stress on me in the attempt to stay at least a tiny bit ahead of it. I mowed grass today that was over my head as I sat high up in the tractor seat…then came to prune a large area we’ve been shaping under ancient Fir and Maple.

Now we’re in after a day of work on Adytum. How many days will it take to get her there- ready to invite others into the experience we cherish every day? As the end of the tunnel begins to be slightly illuminated we grow impatient. This has been a very long labor of love with other’s appreciation of the gift we’ve created for them ever in view. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of the B&B aspect of this sacred space…

Earlier this week, we returned from the Huntington Library and Gardens in California with great inspiration from a classical Chinese Garden. I took the pruning shears to all of our Japanese maples, as they had done at the gardens. We learned how to train the branches with wire, almost like creating a bonsai. Cutting off the lovely red branches of the Coral Bark Maple seemed a bit wasteful and a bit scary, but the end result was pure light and freeing up air to move within. It revealed the essence of the lovely young tree and its promise. Suddenly there was a new maturity and beauty that comes with age and experience in the trees. A sense they’d endured wind and rain and could actually stand tall in much worse. The blessing of sun and warmth evident in luxuriant delicate lace leaves.

I thought as I worked on tree after tree how much editing benefits us all; how the tasks we perform are a metaphor for our own lives. Why do we feel compelled to carry so much “dead wood” or wood that is simply not really contributing to the trajectory of our life which should be our chief end and matrix that will form the nucleus of our days?

We practice editing. We are giving away things daily to whoever seems to need them; an oak file cabinet today to our son who is a businessman in Nicaragua. Today we edit our meal, deciding we are too tired after all that work to really make a dinner and have apricots and nuts instead. Hopefully that will edit a bit of weight off the mid section.

When I work to shape the tree, tidying up the excess, I see in my mind’s eye what the finished product will look like in ten years and it excites me and animates me to push on even though I am tired. The potential released by my loving care, concern and vision is noteworthy.

God has pruned us lately, forcing us to pare down and focus time and energy on what adds to our core values and goals. We refine our time and place our energy directly to the things that last or bless others. Moses captured the essence of editing well when he recorded, “teach me to number my days so that I may present to Thee a heart of wisdom.”

I know our God sees our potential and gets excited about how helping us to leave off “dead wood” and less than important tasks and thoughts will create the masterpiece of a life He is aiming for. He is the penultimate gardener of the soul…

We know that less is more. When I release something, the thing I need comes in to fill its place with remarkable speed. Nature abhors a vacuum and seeks to refill itself. Editing simply prepares the way for more benefits and abundance with things appropriate for my need today as I change and grow more toward the perfection I am intended for.

I look to nature more and more for instruction as God speaks so clearly through Adytum just now. These lovely delicate maples will be living art- sculptures one day soon – which all those intended to come here will enjoy. My work this afternoon is a gift and it is a lesson. A gift to others. A gift to me from my Creator.

Editing is a way of life here, represented in nature. The way of nature is to pare down and live lean and to the core. We arrived home from our California trip to massive maple limbs that had self pared in a windstorm. All my lessons from Adytum this week are on paring down for that is the secret to more, to plenty. That is what I continually pray for as I realize we are stewards of this land, trying hard to multiply what God has given us and to care for it exceedingly well.

Editing releases the land of carrying excess “dead weight” and it releases me so that I create space to receive what I need for today. Cutting activities out of my day, purging my drawers so that order is achieved and maintained, giving away something daily that might be better enjoyed by someone else, eliminating thoughts that don’t lead to what I want…these are the things that God wants me to practice editing daily.
It isn’t like I didn’t already know it; agreeing to put extra effort to implementing the lesson is the goal. It is the path to more, and as we see from the Psalms 68 verse 19 ~ Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits…

Empty, edit, and make space for these benefits….

The Extravagant Privacy of Adytum

The Ancient Ones dance this early morning, waving their limb arms in time with the wail of wind. Blasts of pure country air wash over the hill driving cherry blossoms before its power.

Late spring at Adytum is perfect. Most of us long for summer, but then complain about the heat. Today will hold the crispness of early autumn; perfect hiking or biking weather.

But today we have more plants to buy today from an evergreen nurseryman who shows at the local Farmer’s Market. Dwarf Hemlock is on our list for the new planter box near the entry. Things still move slower than I’d like. Getting soil to fill the planter will mean days off from the Vision Clinic spent driving into town and back. Two or three loads, then all that shoveling…

Nothing is quick, easy or convenient about living in the country it seems. But the payoff is extravagant privacy. I’ll take this unusual and rare brand of privacy any day over the convenience that city living provides.

We have ended this week without passing a car on our road or seeing neighbors in their yards. Our closest life is the multitudes of birds we feed every day. We had cultivated these feathered friends for a year before we began building on the first 5 acres so when we finally moved in, we stepped into a party in progress- a fully established community of lively friends and newfound family.

We enjoy utter peace on the hills of Adytum, and our extravagant privacy that is so coveted by others on hillsides in view spot locales all over the world. Privacy and deep peace defines these 15 ¾ acres now. After working with patients all day, we need the balance it provides.

So it’s strange to me, in this quiet place of solitude, to always “see” people in my mind having morning coffee on the patio overlooking the lake or walking two by two on the trail to the Sacred Spot for morning meditation. I “see” children playing croquet on the lawn and bocce ball or horseshoes near the house.

I “see” a whimsical tree house in the maple overlooking the tulip fields where young and old alike enjoy the secretive perch higher than the birds and indulge their imagination. I “see” lovers sipping wine at sunset in the hot tub that we’ve yet to bring over from the old house. I “see” small children playing streamside in the brooks we will create as Donn finishes water-scaping.

I feel such kinship with Walt Disney. He held fantasy in his heart, desiring to bring it to pass for the joy of others. He did in the form of Disneyland… We feel this same drive, to create a fantasy here that fuels the flight of the imagination in everyone, not just children. But it is a fantasy immersed in a rare and extravagant privacy meant to be enjoyed by a select few, not by many.

God has already done so much here supplying hundred year old trees and lovely bleeding hearts for groundcover…I know His heart held the same anticipation for the joy we would get from Adytum while He was busy planting seedlings and putting in all the plants and trees we both love.

Donn is such a huge vine maple fan. This parcel happens to have the most on the entire hill- and right outside the back of the house with views from every window for us to enjoy inside or out. We “see” these gifts that God prepared, and know them as such.

Adytum is our sanctuary and we revel in its extravagant privacy, but we also greatly anticipate the day when that privacy is opened to those that are drawn to share in it with us. We are quiet, private people yet we feel compelled – driven even- to invite others into this sacred space so we can watch their pleasure, feel their tension drain away and witness the rebirth of creativity surging through them. They will leave whole and renewed…

Adytum is a healer in her own right, and on the deepest levels. She is more than the house. She is land, the animals and the elements all conspiring together to renew us. We are working with this entire community here on the hill to bring a fantasy to pass that others will be blessed by.

It is an incredible feeling to be inside this moment, realizing that all our labors are for a bigger purpose. They are our form of service to those that need refreshing, a new perspective, healing, hope…We will all enjoy Adytum’s extravagant privacy….together, yet separately in our own space and in our own way.

2009 Late Spring at Adytum