Wild Teasel

Found some evidence of Wild Teasel on a very cold day. You know what when something so spiky looks cozy that the weather is challenging. That day was full of hiking around and pushing through thickets of phragmites. I honestly couldn’t have been more pleased. There is something about pressing through the bramble and grabbing a hold of something a bit spiky that gives its own reward.

Wild Teasel is also called Fuller’s Teasel. It was used to clean freshly shorn wool. There is a cleansing aspect to it. The thickets and spiky stuff can pull the tangles from us. We need this. Don’t despair the uncleared path, find a way through and watch that which hinders fall away.

But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner ‘s fire and like fullers ‘ soap. Malachi 3:2

The Need for a Swamp Thing

This is an old post that I am finally getting around to publishing. The boys have grown up so much in the past couple of years. So much has happened.

Working with the boys this summer has been a particular joy. It is amazing to see them work through mud, thick brush, mosquito infested stream bottoms and woods that feel very jungle-like with humidity. I have seen them struggle with their emotions and attitudes and push on through to the other side. They return smiling. I have told them that every survey crew needs a ‘Swamp Thing’, or that one crew member that gets sucked into the muck, only to be barely extracted. This means that there will be a long ride home with soaked boots, smelling of mud and decaying vegetation. But, it also means that you did something that day. You met the challenges and pushed through. There is a need for this in every young man; the need to be pushed to a limit, to push up against something tough and unexpected. I very much appreciate being able to see them both do this and pull themselves, soaking and stinking, out of the muck. Smiling the whole time.

Part of the reason for the blog…

Over the past months, I have come to realize the detrimental affect social media was having on my heart. The idea and practice of digital solitude became something that I craved. But, I made excuses for continuing with social media platforms. Social media had come to be something that I hated yet still interacted with. It was like passing a bad car crash. I couldn’t look away despite the soul deadening images and “conversations”. I have certainly become aware that the usefulness of social media was long gone from my life. Kinda like a ornery dog that has slipped it’s collar and has no intentions of sticking around. That dog only shows up to wreck the trashcans and crap in the yard. I think I have had enough with that beast. I very much want to search out the good life in faith, devotion, family and vocation. I am no longer concerned that I will miss out on what is going on in social medial. It is far better for me to be here and not missing what is in front of my nose.

“minimalists don’t mind missing out on small things; what worries them much more is diminishing the large things they already know for sure make a good life good.” – Cal Newport, , Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World