God, Arbor Day, and Ents

It was there in the beginning…
Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden ~ Genesis 2:9

And it will be there in the end…
On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ~ Revelation 22:2

Unless you live your life hanging out exclusively with Ultra-labeled fundamentalists, someone will be quick to tell you that the Tree of Life is allegorical. Convinced that no one tree could really give immortality, they will argue that for it to be a literal tree, it would require huge differences between the laws of nature that govern Eden and Heaven and those that govern Earth. They will claim a literal interpretation requires an equally vast difference in God's dealings with man.

To which I say, yes, that is the point, isn't it? Eden was and heaven is different than Earth.
But as it turns out, it really isn't all that much about the tree's genomes anyway. Its about the water.

And how does that work? Not a clue. … Well, maybe one clue. That clue is in Ezekiel 47:12
"By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing."

The fruit gains its healing properties because their water flows from the sanctuary, a consecrated place.

Ent-draught (to be continued)

Earth Day ~ A day late & a dollar short

It occurred to me that the way most people celebrate Earth Day, if indeed it's a celebration at all, is by dwelling on lack and shortages. That is a peculiar form of celebration; instead of rest, gifts and laughter, it is a day of work, sacrifice, and lecturing. It is sort of like an un-Thanksgiving.

And who is there to thank on Earth Day? Gaia? Hardly.

Earth Day is an event spawned from evolutionist thinking.


The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
sings the psalmist of №24.


The difference in perspective is substantial. Evolutionists serve the earth rooted in fear that it is running short, wearing out, and getting dirty. Creationists preserve the earth to honor the Creator.

April Fool's Day

It has been a rugged winter, but March finally went out like a lamb.

Remember how you are supposed to let sleeping dogs lie?
These sled dogs are provoking me to jealousy.

Spring Poetry

First a howling blizzard woke us,
Then the rain came down to soak us,
And now before the eye can focus -
Crocus.
~Lilja Rogers


Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!
~Thomas Blackburn, "An Easter Hymn"


So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth.
Hosea 6:3

Happy Pi Day

There is no compulsory education in Singapore, but their
school attendance is 98% and their aggregate literacy shames
America’s. Prior to compulsory education in America, 100
million sets of Noah Webster’s Speller were sold in the years
after 1783 (this was also a time when scholarships for the
poor were pervasive), and the six-volume Eclectic Readers by
W.H. McGuffey sold 120 million sets during the decades after
1836. These are astonishing numbers given the US population
during that era. Non-compulsory education once gave our
nation its highest literacy rates, as documented not only by
Alexis de Tocqueville, but also by the study Thomas Jefferson
commissioned DuPont to conduct in 1800, which showed
national literacy standing at 99.7% (compared to today’s 80%
figure for high school graduates, which doesn’t even include
the one million dropouts produced every year).

~ Martin G. Selbrede

Snow - a woods in grayscale

Georgia has a wonderful snow today, and by that, I mean that we had snow that left the woods looking full of wonder.

I have seen a lot of snow over the years. Today's snow was spectacular. My son who has lived all his life in the South does not understand. Oh, he is enthralled by it, but he assumes that this is commonplace in the north. It is not.

Today's snow was relatively warm—for snow, and had large flakes. It fell without wind. We have a 10# fishing line strung between two trees and the snow stacked a half-inch deep in it! On a twig with a 3/8 inch diameter, it stacked over an inch!

The sky was a pearl white. There were no shadows. It was as if the entire woods was lit with a photographer's reflective umbrella.

Spellbound.

Groundhog Day

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. ~Maori Proverb

...to be continued.