Trees
Joel 1:19
"O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. "
We have been in a bit of a cold snap here in Pa. OK, more than a snap; how about a slap? On Saturday, Lina and I decided to stay inside and not venture out of the domicile. I thought that it would be an ideal day for a fire.
Back in the Fall of 2008 I bought a cord of wood, not sure of how much I needed for a winter, figuring it would be better to have more wood than not enough. Well, after stacking the wood (and restacking due to wife's requests and other factors), we now have wood on our brick porch (fifty feet from the house, to keep the termites from establishing a base for a home-eating offensive), wood in a plastic storage structure taller than me, and about a half-ton of wood in the wood shed at the back of our property. I even have an auxiliary pile for my neighbor, on the right side, for him to access when he wants. Wood R Us.
In my bachelor pad, I had a wood pellet stove where the process was so much easier and less labor intensive. To keep the fires burning now, it is constant attention. Though, I am no fan of natural gas fires either. No substance, no crackle, all gaseous hollowness.
With all of the wood in my possession, reminds me of when I was in college where I priced out the cost of chicken vs. turkey and decided that since turkey was so much less expensive, I would cook up a big bird and eat off of that for awhile. And, it become awhile. It got so bad that I was eating turkey at every meal and giving it away like gifts to guests. "Here, have some turkey." God sends quail, for sure. I had so much turkey, it was in-between my teeth (Numbers 11:32-33). See bottom of post for added musical bonus!
On Saturday, I came up with a new wood delivery system. Since it was so cold outside, I decided to get the wheelbarrow and put about 50 lbs of logs into it and then push the pile on wheels into to garage where it was about 25 degrees warmer.
In the past, I would either roll the wheelbarrow up to the back sliding doors with wood and then open such doors, to bring the wood in a portion at a time. Thus, letting a good amount of warm air out of the house. If it was raining, the strategy went from "C" work to a "F." The wood and wheelbarrow would get wet. Or, I would grab a log or two from the woodpile and hand carry it to its incineration.
This winter, after Lina bought a nifty wood hand-held toter, not sure of the official name, I would head out to the woodpile and stack this carrier with as much wood as possible, right up to the point where it would disjoint my shoulder. Then, I would transport the wood in. Going from the woodpile to the fireplace seemed to be the best way to conduct the process.
But then the cold hit Saturday and I didn't wanna go outside. Hence my solution. I know that to most people such insights are obvious, for me they are hard work. The mothership wheelbarrow now sits in a nice and dry and warmer location in the garage ready for the shuttle's pick-up. Voila.
It got me thinking about wood and trees (BTW, check out this cool painting of trees, thanks to Walt Mueller for posting). Wood is a picture of the past, present, and future
The Past: Before I could get the fire started on Saturday, I had to clean the ashes out of the bottom and below the fire rack. Air has to flow beneath the fire in order to feed it. Made me consider about ashes in a metaphorical manner. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, some things have to be left in the past. We must consciously move them away in order to start the fire of the present. Conversely, wood can be positive remembrance, tradition, and reflection. Just don't count on the past to provide for the future.
The Present: Wood is also a picture of the present. It is impossible to have a fire without wood or some other combustible matter or substance. Thinking about wood doesn't warm the house, Accomplishment takes a hands-on approach. Chopping, lugging, lighting, enjoying (repeat).
One of the reasons that Haiti has so many problems is that they do not steward their wood. They are caught in a terrible conundrum of needing wood to cook, but killing their forests to do so, which dismantles topsoil protection, oxygen replenishment, and destroys wood that could be used for more long-term projects than heating the stew. I am not going to be too hard on Haiti, especially since the earthquake. First, that would be despicable. Second, the U.S.A's dependence of fossil fuels has likewise been short-sighted, just at a much higher level of complexity.
The Future: If you want to look at the future of humanity, look at the trees. The Trees of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and of Life, were both in the Garden. The Tree of Life reappears in Revelation. Wood can be used for a lot of useful things and processes. Carefully consider how you would use your wood (time, money, other resources). "Measure twice, cut once" as my carpenter friends say. Careful planning is better than reaction and repairing. You only have so much wood potentiality.
Trees in a very real way mirror man's condition. Jesus being a Carpenter and dying on a wood cross, are not just interesting coincidences. Even in the carbon dioxide and oxygen interchange between trees/plants and all other things living and breathing, is a profound symmetry that shows God's design. The Lord of the Rings (and Pandora, in an LOR inspired theme) shows what happens when the trees are messed with; trees are defenders and protectors of God's goodness. Mess with them and beware...you are messing with yourself.
I would that all of us would use our wood wisely....
For the heck of it, I decided to link the 77's song "God Sends Quail" as an added bonus. For you neophytes, the 77's (prior emanation) was one of the best rock bands of all time, Christian or not.
"O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. "
We have been in a bit of a cold snap here in Pa. OK, more than a snap; how about a slap? On Saturday, Lina and I decided to stay inside and not venture out of the domicile. I thought that it would be an ideal day for a fire.
Back in the Fall of 2008 I bought a cord of wood, not sure of how much I needed for a winter, figuring it would be better to have more wood than not enough. Well, after stacking the wood (and restacking due to wife's requests and other factors), we now have wood on our brick porch (fifty feet from the house, to keep the termites from establishing a base for a home-eating offensive), wood in a plastic storage structure taller than me, and about a half-ton of wood in the wood shed at the back of our property. I even have an auxiliary pile for my neighbor, on the right side, for him to access when he wants. Wood R Us.
In my bachelor pad, I had a wood pellet stove where the process was so much easier and less labor intensive. To keep the fires burning now, it is constant attention. Though, I am no fan of natural gas fires either. No substance, no crackle, all gaseous hollowness.
With all of the wood in my possession, reminds me of when I was in college where I priced out the cost of chicken vs. turkey and decided that since turkey was so much less expensive, I would cook up a big bird and eat off of that for awhile. And, it become awhile. It got so bad that I was eating turkey at every meal and giving it away like gifts to guests. "Here, have some turkey." God sends quail, for sure. I had so much turkey, it was in-between my teeth (Numbers 11:32-33). See bottom of post for added musical bonus!
On Saturday, I came up with a new wood delivery system. Since it was so cold outside, I decided to get the wheelbarrow and put about 50 lbs of logs into it and then push the pile on wheels into to garage where it was about 25 degrees warmer.
In the past, I would either roll the wheelbarrow up to the back sliding doors with wood and then open such doors, to bring the wood in a portion at a time. Thus, letting a good amount of warm air out of the house. If it was raining, the strategy went from "C" work to a "F." The wood and wheelbarrow would get wet. Or, I would grab a log or two from the woodpile and hand carry it to its incineration.
This winter, after Lina bought a nifty wood hand-held toter, not sure of the official name, I would head out to the woodpile and stack this carrier with as much wood as possible, right up to the point where it would disjoint my shoulder. Then, I would transport the wood in. Going from the woodpile to the fireplace seemed to be the best way to conduct the process.
But then the cold hit Saturday and I didn't wanna go outside. Hence my solution. I know that to most people such insights are obvious, for me they are hard work. The mothership wheelbarrow now sits in a nice and dry and warmer location in the garage ready for the shuttle's pick-up. Voila.
It got me thinking about wood and trees (BTW, check out this cool painting of trees, thanks to Walt Mueller for posting). Wood is a picture of the past, present, and future
The Past: Before I could get the fire started on Saturday, I had to clean the ashes out of the bottom and below the fire rack. Air has to flow beneath the fire in order to feed it. Made me consider about ashes in a metaphorical manner. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, some things have to be left in the past. We must consciously move them away in order to start the fire of the present. Conversely, wood can be positive remembrance, tradition, and reflection. Just don't count on the past to provide for the future.
The Present: Wood is also a picture of the present. It is impossible to have a fire without wood or some other combustible matter or substance. Thinking about wood doesn't warm the house, Accomplishment takes a hands-on approach. Chopping, lugging, lighting, enjoying (repeat).
One of the reasons that Haiti has so many problems is that they do not steward their wood. They are caught in a terrible conundrum of needing wood to cook, but killing their forests to do so, which dismantles topsoil protection, oxygen replenishment, and destroys wood that could be used for more long-term projects than heating the stew. I am not going to be too hard on Haiti, especially since the earthquake. First, that would be despicable. Second, the U.S.A's dependence of fossil fuels has likewise been short-sighted, just at a much higher level of complexity.
The Future: If you want to look at the future of humanity, look at the trees. The Trees of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and of Life, were both in the Garden. The Tree of Life reappears in Revelation. Wood can be used for a lot of useful things and processes. Carefully consider how you would use your wood (time, money, other resources). "Measure twice, cut once" as my carpenter friends say. Careful planning is better than reaction and repairing. You only have so much wood potentiality.
Trees in a very real way mirror man's condition. Jesus being a Carpenter and dying on a wood cross, are not just interesting coincidences. Even in the carbon dioxide and oxygen interchange between trees/plants and all other things living and breathing, is a profound symmetry that shows God's design. The Lord of the Rings (and Pandora, in an LOR inspired theme) shows what happens when the trees are messed with; trees are defenders and protectors of God's goodness. Mess with them and beware...you are messing with yourself.
I would that all of us would use our wood wisely....
For the heck of it, I decided to link the 77's song "God Sends Quail" as an added bonus. For you neophytes, the 77's (prior emanation) was one of the best rock bands of all time, Christian or not.
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