Welcome

this is a life goals and aesthetic blog focused on my journey to being a pastor with a church and a farm - this is a side blog of mine and my main is loverinstinct - I'm always free to talk whether you have questions for me or just want to chat :) Emma Rose 22 they/them

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Sermons

I've had a couple of ideas recently that I just wanted to jot down for future reference.

Mission Work and the Call to Make Disciples of All Nations

I think we often really misunderstand the 'go and make disciples of all nations' verse from the new testament. I mean, when Jesus chose his disciples and sent them out into the world, what did he tell them to do? He blessed them to cast out evil and heal the hurting. This is what made them able to carry out his wishes as disciples. Healing and casting out evil. That is what it means to be a disciple, not knowledge of God, but caring for others. Mission work should not be forcing others to believe in god, but caring for them. And maybe... We call it something other than mission work, because that's been used to talk about terrible things for a very long time. 

What does it actually mean to help other communities outside our own?

I think a lot of the time when we are asked to love and care for others, we think this means we should give them what helps us, what makes us happy. And I think often we are wrong. Unlike a parent forcing a two-year-old to eat vegetables because they’re good for her even if she doesn’t like them, we, as a helping community do not know what is best for another community. We must listen to what they say they need and do our best to provide that.

Anyway, just some ideas to add to the collection :] hopefully one day I’ll have a vast library of ideas to work from so I never find myself reusing my work.

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Okay in the same vein of keeping ideas for sermons:

Salvation is the joy of eating chocolate with a clear conscience.

I just reblogged a post to my main about slavery in chocolate production. And I just wanted to say:

Salvation and liberation are one and the same, because I cannot live free in the light of God while knowing that my neighbors do not.

This is absolutely necessary to me, that everyone be free from oppression. Because I know God, I know what it is to love the oppressed. Because I know God, I know the global need for liberation on the deepest and most intimate level.

The Kingdom of God has come among us, and I am called to defend it.

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I'm thinking a lot today about sermons.

(as a side note, I'm realizing I start a lot of stuff with "i'm thinking" which is quite accurate, I'd just never realized how much time I spend just... thinking before)

I think I'm going to try and start some collection of ideas for sermons, maybe I'll just post them here and keep them in a tag, I don't know. I just know that if I'm going to be giving sermons every week for the rest of my life, starting when I'm thirty or so, I'm gonna need a lot of ideas.

So here's one:

I talk a lot about God's love and salvation being a very active force for liberation in the world, about salvation being an act of community, about love being an energetic force that works against oppression.

But sometimes I think it's also important to stop and think about my personal relationship with God. What does God's love for me feel like? What does my love for God feel like? What does that shared love build and change within me?

Right now, where I am in my spiritual journey in October of 2020, I experience God's love like plant growth. Like sunlight filtering through leaves, God's love is radiant and warm against my soul. Just as sunlight initiates photosynthesis, when God reaches out to me I can feel my own heart begin to produce love, verdant and lively, to give to others.

There are many things in my life that give me energy and strength to give to others, but in all of them I can feel that sunlight of God feeding my soul.

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I've had this song stuck in my head for a while. I think it just really speaks to my love of orchards and tress that produce fruits and their connection to home, abundance and paradise.

There is a lot of art and poetry and philosophy on oranges and their representation of everything from Eve in the Garden to happiness to the return to nature in modern life.

I remember when I was twelve my mother took my sister and I to Greece and Israel. On Crete we stayed above a little breakfast cafe that had fresh orange juice every morning that tasted like real oranges. And on Naxos (I think) we drove past acres and acres of orange trees, limbs heavy with fruit. People would walk past the trees on the edge of the orchards and pick the oranges that hung over the walls. At the time, I was tempted to take some as well but I thought it would be stealing, although I recognized there were so many oranges that they were falling from the branches and rotting on the ground. Now, I am reminded of Leviticus 23:22

"When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God."

I wonder if this was the intention of the orange farmers on Naxos. If they had seen me walk by and look longingly on their harvest, would they have told me to take some? I hope so.

This is a practice I wish wholeheartedly to take up when my gardens are my own. To put up signs on the edges of my fields and gardens that say anyone may take from whatever they can reach.

But it's also something I feel I can practice without a farm. Whether here or at home or at school, when I see strangers pass in person or in my notes, I want to ask:

"Is there anything I can give to you? Here, I have more than I need, take some. Have an orange."

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Ground Cover Plants

I've been thinking about ground cover plants a lot. I saw some incredible photos of someone's gorgeous garden where they were building greenhouses. It was impeccably maintained, the grass was full and dense and perfectly trimmed and edged and it looked so tidy. 

It got me thinking about the type of ground cover plants I would want on my own land, and as much as I love the look of well maintained grass, it seems impractical to maintain in a larger area (like an orchard) and I also think there are less thirsty options that might also have more uses.

Obviously, what plants I use will depend on where I am, but here are some favorite ideas of mine (mostly for central Texas): 

Mistflower (this is Gregg’s Mistflower but there are others) is a really good one because its gorgeous and also draws butterflies like crazy for pollinating.

As for grasses, I’ve seen a couple good ones:

Switchgrass (top) and Indiangrass (bottom) are both native prarie grasses that actually get pretty tall, so maybe not best for orchards, but are great for grazing livestock like cattle and sheep.

Prairie Dropseed is probably my favorite grass option, just for its thick, vibrant look and low profile. Its also probably the most verdant looking drought-proof grass I’ve ever seen. I love the look of this stuff.

Anyway, those are my thoughts for now. I might come back and add to this post as I find more options that I like.

(If you’re looking for more information, this would be a good place to start)

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Today's morning was so beautiful and it made me think about berries a lot for some reason. Growing berries, harvesting berries, eating berries, cooking baking and jamming with them. I don't know, berries just seemed a little extra magical today.