Vision

Last summer I received a strong impression, like a revelation, where the peoples of the earth were separated into two groups, one with technology and the other without. It seems to me that machines are becoming the masters of humans instead of humans being served by machinery. Humanity is being crippled, being animalized, and though God does not need many generations to change the face of the earth, (he can do it instantly), in my vision this took place in a span of various generations.  Studying the various groups of people that are staying away from technology, it seems to also be two categories, those that do it out of tradition, indigenous cultures and alike, and those that consciously choose to stay away from technology even though it is readily available. The first one will eventually succumb to the environment, and if it chances to be an environment with technology it will change their traditional ways to that of modern ways, in one generation. We have seen it happen many times. The other group who consciously chooses to set themselves apart, do so out of convictions stemming from God, and will also see changes, as technology creeps in forcefully, the groups will experience division and purification. Some will not be able to stand the pressure of the world, and will start to compromise ( using computers for business only, watching TV programs that are acceptable, etc..) we all know where that compromise ends up, next generation does not have the limit and starts following the crowd. Now this seems to be rather extreme, yet it is the vision that was given, and though from the outside it may seem crazy, it was also looking rather crazy when I found my husband, yet it was God’s will.  I had been in relationships, every two years, with men that I always thought I would be married to. Finally my friend told me, do not keep on thinking that this is the one you will marry, you are always wrong! After my marriage I did change my romantic ideals from one level to another, and now I was looking for a church, one that would be the real church, the one that I would be married to. Every time we would find a church we would “fall in love” with it and think it was the ONE. Well, now I am ready, like my friend told me, to let go of that search too in the spiritual, and to let God decide which is the church I should commit to, the one which through thick and thin I will stand and never let go till death do us part. I was given  a vision, now I want to respond willing and accordingly.

The story goes that one time, tourists in Pensylvania asked their Amish guide, so, what is the difference between us English and you Amish? The Amish guide said,: Who is here thinking that TV is not good for children? All raised their hands. Who is here taking the TV out of their lives? Nobody raised their hand. This is the difference between them.

I have seen this also in many other circles, besides those tourists, educated people, godly people, waldorf people, conscientious people, Christian people, we all want to do what is right, but who has the strength? You need God for that AND society, you need a group of people that supports that vision, if you just have yourselves, sooner or later the wolf will come in. This last Christmas we went visiting relatives in Spain, my children were praised upon arrival, how good they behave, how thoughtful, how nice to be around with all day long, they are really different from the ones raised in this country, what do you do different? After two weeks of being there my children started to behave like the regulars, all their niceties were dwindling and at the end of our stay you could not have differentiated one from another! There is a lot of things going on in the culture one is living in, you need a society to uphold standards. You can see this clearly in language, my children never acquired my strong Spanish accent while learning English, though I was the main caregiver! The culture gives the language, and does also give many other things. Let me not be blind thinking we can be doing it alone just with God, God can surely bring strayed ones to his fold, but we also need to fellowship with one another regularly, and a society that upholds God’s will, though division may come in, though purifications may be sent, let me ask for God’s will, for God’s leadership in these matters, for God to show His bride to us.

We are doing songbooks this time, one it is full of Amish songs we have learned with our neighbors and we sing them at night together, the other is a compilation of our favorite songs and some new ones that go through the calendar of the year. For this season we are choosing  O Sacred Head Surrounded, and The Heartbeat of God.

Horizontal

Lately I have been thinking in terms of horizontal and vertical lines, and it appeared to me that many things can get explained this way.

For example, taking a look in our society, I would say that we have taken the horizontal more than before; in past days, babies were taken care at home, and even today some cultures have that privilege, but more often than less, babies are cared for in care centers, where the norm is to have them separate by ages, as to make it easier for schedules and needs of the baby, obviously there are different needs for a 6 month old, than for a one year old or two year old etc…, but in the days past, babies were together at home, the newborn, with the toddler, or the crawler with the 3 year old, etc….If we take a look at the school age children we see the same effect, except in few small parochial schools were the 8 grades are in the same classroom, or in large homeschooling families, we have the separating of children by ages, with the consequence of having a peer group of the same age that mainly interacts with each other and less and less with the other age groups. This continues in the work place and finally also in the golden age, a small amount of families can take care of an elderly now at home (with the father gone  to work outside home  and the mother following). This leaves the nursing homes full again of people of the same age that are in their last years of life.

 

This panorama seems to me to happen when one considers mainly the advantages or efficiency of grouping people in the same age together, it is an horizontal way of thought, yet it may be that there is missing the vertical line of thought, that line that considers another efficiency and does not group people by the same age but by nucleus of diverse ages, the old fashioned home with three generations or even four generations living together.

 

Besides the old fashioned home there are also some initiatives that recreate this form, I know  of  a farm setting that has children, elderly and middle age people together, working as a group, not related by blood, yet nowadays even families that would do this form naturally would be doing out of a conscious will, being that the tendencies in the regular society are so opposite.

Looking at the plant world we can gain some insight about these two lines:  the horizontal, the leaves formation is mainly to receive, it gets the nurturing from the sun and air, etc. The vertical line could be seen as the flower and seed formation, is the giving back, the sharing and bringing forth to the earth. If a plant would go on with horizontal forces but not vertical ones, its future would probably become close to extinction, whereas one that would just try to go on vertical lines, would not quite make it. So it is in life, that both things need consideration.

In  our society I think too much emphasis  is put on the horizontal line, in the management of things of a material outlook, and we forget the things of the spirit. I think that people of different ages living together is the best setting for learning and living, and it is where we can really stretch our soul, and also give it proper life.

It is obvious to see  that aged people thrive by seeing the little ones, their faces bright up, their eyes shine again, and also it is obvious  to see the small ones nurtured by the elderly, that old time story repeated, that constant presence in the rocking chair, etc…Now what about the middle aged?  I know that to be with the elderly is draining  the etheric of some people, while others get drained by the children company. How we can learn which is our form and how to make adaptations? Well one thing to consider again, is to have the three together, one would balance the other, the strong etheric forces of the first years, and the strong forces that have worked through  the etheric on the last years, can  balance themselves, with the middle aged person, the one in between, who by being in the presence of both, gets too a balanced rhythm of forces.

 

That farm that I mentioned is  very inspiring to me, I myself would like to age in a family setting, either by blood or not, but who knows! On the other hand I want to look for an elderly in need, maybe somebody  needs  a home now. Good is a society that cares for their elders and their young!

There is some of the woolwork we are doing these winter days, the middle child has done a hat for her cousin’ baby and the oldest child is embroidering in wool bags, the small child is finger knitting and making pom-poms.

By their fruits

“By their fruits you shall know them”

Some years ago I gave up my discernment, I saw that my mind is not always right and that my capacities to know the truth are limited, especially as a woman I could see my proneness to be deceived, moreover in things of the spirit. Is in this light that I wear also a head covering, as my commitment to acknowledge this limitation that I have and also to protect from the spiritual world.

 

So then the guidelight that I could follow is a practical one, theories and doctrine may sound good, but I could be deceived, whereas how people walk in the spirit, the showing of the fruits of the spirit is very clear.

 

In my path I was attracted to the plain life long ago, but it was a romantic notion that I had about it, yet this year we found ourselves in the midst of plain people and this is part of what I have seen in them:

They are more ready to crucify their flesh daily, as a conscious act, not as a tradition “that is the way we do things” but as a conscious exertion of the will to put the flesh away, they wake up early 4:30 am, they have long morning devotionals, they work as a means to put their fleshly desires away, that is one reason why they do things more manually, the flesh wants to rest but the spirit can go onward.

They strive to really get to know the other person, they do not chat with you just for a politeness or for any other reason than to get to know you better, as it is a very difficult task to really show an eager  interest in the other person. They ask questions and take time to get to know you.  This summer we had an exchange student in our farm, and quietly I observed how people around us interacted with him, we had opportunities to see people from all walks in life and the ones that took more time and effort to know him were the Amish.

I think these two things weave together one feeding the other, as we put away our flesh, our spirit is more willing, and the fruits will show, starting for real love for each other.

On another hand their uniform also serves a very important function, that is to put away pride. Pride creeps in our lives so easily, but the vestment is an outside mark of our willingness to put away pride. I made the experiment of dressing plain for a while ( which by the way means the same dress for the whole week, unless it is soiled), and then going back to choosing dresses and attire for each day, what a difference!, my thoughts were so different, even if I was dressed modestly, the thought of a flowery pattern or a form or a lace was in my mind as a form of pride. I think that we modern people have been desensitized also, so if you do not do the experiment you may think I am not right, but then again, it may work different for everybody, I leave room for that.

The monks and nuns have their habits which are a form of what the Amish also wear, the important thing is that you submit your desires of outward appearance to the group, as means of your willingness to submit to Christ. It is not about being sameness or being  annulled of your individuality,  yet is bringing this individuality to serve the group, is about a conscious work of the will and mind life to serve Christ. For that reason I would uphold this kind of uniform instead of every family choosing their own, after all, if we choose our own, is still prideful. I know that in the past lay people did not have these uniforms, and there was a reason why: the peasant life was ordered by the spirit, and the families grew in the fear of the Lord in such a way, that their dresses were not interfering in their religious life. In city places you could see how these principles started to decay, and the dress was more a matter of show instead of a matter of service. On the other hand nowadays, the wordly mind set is so close to us, and the spirit so far, that I think it would be a good thing that lay people of a same parish or locality would dress with uniforms again, to combat the pride in a higher scale.

Finally, though not at all thoroughly, another thing I observed with the Amish is their joy, a joy that comes only when you give up your needs and work for the needs of the others. It is true that we are bestowed  with responsibilities in life, some with families to raise, some with other endevours, but if you keep the focus on those responsibilities you may loose the whole point of it,” it is in loosing your life that you shall live”. I remember in Little Women how the mother did not hesitate to bring the breakfast to the poor family on Christmas day, if she had been thinking about her own children all along, the thought of sharing would not have had any opportunity to even come to her mind, and I think that is the problem with some of us, we have our focus on the wrong place, and then the spirit cannot talk to us.  Just this past Christmas I had the opportunity to invite someone to our home, yet my fears of fleas made me do otherwise, since then I have been with remorse in my heart and asking God to help me overcome my fear of “ little creatures!”. Well, now we are dealing with lyce in my own children, and I hope this will make me strong to invite my neighbor in spite of fleas. Fear is lack of Love, and God is Love.

Obviously not all the Amish I have seen live up to this ideal, neither any group or church in the new testament was perfect, yet we all are called to perfection in Christ, so it is that I want to walk closer to the light and to people that show the fruits of the Spirit. If it was just for me I would start baptism instruction with the Amish this spring, yet it is not in my hands, so I have to surrender also this wish to God and know that he is perfect in his ways, I just need to follow.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin” I John 1-7