Our Door is Open ~ Philip Britts

"One of the best contributions of the school of organic farming to agriculture is this call for a genuine love of the land.......  But just as we do not believe that organic farming can find its full meaning outside the context of the whole of life, neither do we believe that an organic society can exist for itself, or have its only significance for the small group of people who are living it.

One of two things must happen. Either man will decline, through war, famine, disease, and the falling birth rate...  or we must learn to live peaceably together, in a society where the demand for wealth or position, ease or comfort, is supplanted by the just sharing of everything, and a free giving of strength and brains in service, not of self, but of the whole.

We do try to farm organically, but we see this as only a part of an organic life, and existing in the context of a search for truth along the whole line. This gives rise to social justice as brotherhood, to economic justice as community of goods. We see these conditions as the necessary basis for a true attitude towards the land and towards work. Therefore, our door is always open to all people who wish to seek a new way with us."

 ~ Philip Britts

More at  (a fascinating read),

https://www.plough.com/en/topics/culture/poetry/who-was-philip-britts-water-at-the-roots

Artwork; some talented artist provided us with this image, which is all over the internet, but their name is not attached anywhere that I can find.

The Smallest Quantity ~ Bill McKibben

“Lincoln said that cultivating even ‘the smallest quantity’ of ground bred freedom and independence. ‘Ere long the most valuable of all arts, will be the art of deriving a comfortable subsistence from the smallest area of soil. No community whose every member possesses this art, can ever be the victim of oppression of any of its forms. Such community will be alike independent of crowned-kings, money-kings, and land-kings.” 

~ Bill McKibben

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_McKibben

Artwork from John Augustus Walker
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Augustus_Walker

Mere Wants ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

"When we focus on people and life instead of material possessions and mere wants, there's not much room for emotional hand-wringing. Instead, there's more space to weigh what we value in our lives and to acknowledge what really counts."

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

More from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Ingalls_Wilder

Artwork from  Karla Gerard
 https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/karla-gerard.html

For Good or Bad ~ Matthew Landis

"Social media is also more decentralized than TV or radio. The individual sitting in his living room can amplify his voice, for good or bad. When two people are talking together in person they are communicating directly with each other without any type of interface. With social media, there’s an application (such as a web app or a phone app) that’s mediating or brokering our communication, which then has the ability to shape what we say..... The ability to amplify a message is one of the ways that social media can be beneficial. Posting a positive message that reaches all around the world is a huge opportunity. On the other hand, many people take the same opportunity to distribute negative or harmful messages.... One important thing to remember when considering involvement in social media is to act on social media like you act in person. Providing of course that you are acting right in person. Be consistent between who you are in person and who you are on social media. If you don’t talk about yourself all the time in person, don’t do it on social media."

~ Matthew Landis 

More at

http://anabaptistperspectives.org/2018/06/25/mennonites-social-media/

Artwork from Carl Larsson 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Larsson

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Change The World ~Margaret Mead

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

~Margaret Mead

More at  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mead

Artwork from P J Crook 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._J._Crook

Need to be Grounded ~Craig Jensen

"I believe that good farming, like good teaching, is long-term activism. Farming and teaching are both optimistic vocations: they assume not only that there can be a future for humans on this planet, but that there should be and that our work can make that future world better. Good farmers work hard to build and balance their soils. We value the complex, often unseen, web of life all around us, allowing for sustainable yields over a very long time...... A good onion harvest this season won’t end a war, but providing access to healthy food healthfully grown—and the nourishing relationships that often accompany it—may be part of the foundation for the world we want. Work towards this aim might ultimately subvert the causes of war and continuing conflicts. Farming and community are an active yes to peace, and I believe that living a yes is a very strong way to say no to war.

Participation in rural life can be lonely, and the work of farming can be physically and emotionally overwhelming. An isolated life could set me in ruts or into self-pleasing patterns as easily as it could keep me rightly aimed toward peace. So I know that my life and farm need to be grounded by the joys, challenges, and accountability of community. Living in close, committed relationship with other people is one of the most radical acts of love and peace that we can make in our lives."

~Craig Jensen

More at https://www.friendsjournal.org/farm-community/

Artwork from Paul Gauguin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Gauguin

Affirming of Others ~ Desmond Tutu

“A person with ubuntu * is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.” 

~ Desmond Tutu

*Ubuntu (Zulu pronunciation: [ùɓúntʼù]) is a Nguni Bantu term meaning "humanity". It is often also translated as "humanity towards others", but is often used in a more philosophical sense to mean "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity" Source Wikipedia

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Tutu

Artwork from Maggie Laubser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Laubser

Our Community ~ Bill Mollison

"A people without an agreed-upon common basis to their actions is neither a community nor a nation. A people with a common ethic is a nation wherever they live. Thus, the place of habitation is secondary to a shared belief in the establishment of an harmonious world community. Just as we can select a global range of plants for a garden, we can select from all extant ethics and beliefs those elements that we see to be sustainable, useful, and beneficial to life and to our community."

~ Bill Mollison

More at https://www.facebook.com/fatherofpermaculture
Artwork by Grandma Moses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Moses

Like-minded People ~ Melancholy Jane

"Ever since I left home at a fairly young age, I have been seeking a community of like-minded people. It’s a dream of mine to live among friends who think like I do, feel like I do, and make choices similar to mine. I’m still searching for that community, and until I find it, I’m quite happy to make do in the community where I find myself. Every place I’ve lived for the past several years, I’ve tried to integrate myself into the fabric of the place.......

This is one way that the Quaker testimony of community has woven itself into my life and the life of my family. We try very hard to connect to the people living around us. That means our neighbors, our classmates, and the people who work in and around the places where we live our local lives.

My family is very lucky in that we live in a village, which means that we walk to school, the supermarket, the dentist, the bank, the coffee shop, even the local knitting store and second-hand store. As we walk, we see people we know and people we don’t know. Walking with my kids gives me the opportunity to talk with them about the people in our lives, the people all around us. They see me speaking amiably with strangers, greeting friends, and giving and receiving help as it’s needed. These connections with our community are a part of our everyday lives."


More at the simple, but all the better for that, blog ~ http://melancholyjane.com

Artist Edward Bawden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bawden