Curt's Ponderings From The Bioshelter

As I moved my boat out of the brackish swamp into a freshwater stream to collect drinking water, a baby moose lay on the riverbank.   It was perfectly framed in a bed of spring grass, its tiny body and disproportionately large eyes identifying it as a newborn.   In that moment I was filled with wonder; I wanted to stop my little boat and just be with this marvel!                           Every birth is a marvel.   Yet on this Christmas Day we remember that the birth of Jesus was especially marvelous.   Exalted angels combined with lowly shepherds to impart amazing news that is for everyone: the Savior was born!   If Mary pondered these things in her heart, we should, too. In its praise of God Psalm 139:13,15 shows that each of us is born from two mothers: For it was you who formed my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb… My frame was not hidden from you,      When I was being made in secret, Intricately woven together in the depths of the earth

Advent offers a counterbalance to our frantic lives.  It invites us to a darkening, quiet, reflective time.  It asks us to ponder with Mary the order of a disordered world.  With her we wonder why God picked that time and place to reach down and give birth to a new way of being?  Can we birth that hope again, this season, in a world gone mad with consumption?  Can we take one step away from the glitzy enticements of the season?  If you are reading this, it is a certainty that you have already taken many steps away from the things of this world.  Can we all go just a little deeper, no matter where we are in our advocacy?  Can we?  Somewhere deep inside us there is a voice that says “please”,  please put aside the frenzy.  Listen to the urging of that voice! Name one thing that will take you deeper into the season, and then go there. We invite you to take a breath and feel the peace that the Prince of Peace wants each of us to have in honor of his coming. Six times you will be blessed wi

Third Week of Advent: A Time for Preparation Going Deeper Advent offers a counterbalance to our frantic lives.  It invites us to a darkening, quiet, reflective time.  It asks us to ponder with Mary the order of a disordered world.  With her we wonder why God picked that time and place to reach down and give birth to a new way of being?  Can we birth that hope again, this season, in a world gone mad with consumption?  Can we take one step away from the glitzy enticements of the season?  If you are reading this, it is a certainty that you have already taken many steps away from the things of this world.  Can we all go just a little deeper, no matter where we are in our advocacy?  Can we?  Somewhere deep inside us there is a voice that says “please”,  please put aside the frenzy.  Listen to the urging of that voice! Name one thing that will take you deeper into the season, and then go there. We invite you to take a breath and feel the peace that the Prince of Pe

'We Three Trees of NYC Are' - Advent Week 2 Going Deeper Advent offers a counterbalance to our frantic lives.  It invites us to a darkening, quiet, reflective time.  It asks us to ponder with Mary the order of a disordered world.  With her we wonder why God picked that time and place to reach down and give birth to a new way of being?  Can we birth that hope again, this season, in a world gone mad with consumption?  Can we take one step away from the glitzy enticements of the season?  If you are reading this, it is a certainty that you have already taken many steps away from the things of this world.  Can we all go just a little deeper, no matter where we are in our advocacy?  Can we?  Somewhere deep inside us there is a voice that says “please”,  please put aside the frenzy.  Listen to the urging of that voice! Name one thing that will take you deeper into the season, and then go there. We invite you to take a breath and feel the peace that the Prince

 The national Presbyterians for Earthcare is posting one Advent devotional each week.  You can find it at http://www.presbyearthcare.org/ I was honored to write the Christmas Day devotion.  I will try to remember to post that devotion at the same time as it comes out on the PEC web site. For now, here is the first week's devotion: Sunday, December 1, 2013, the First Sunday of Advent (Year A) Scripture: Psalm 122:1­9 I rejoiced with those who said to me,     “Let’s go to the LORD’s house!” Now our feet are standing     in your gates, Jerusalem! Jerusalem is built like a city     joined together in unity. That is where the tribes go up—     the LORD’s tribes! It is the law for Israel     to give thanks there to the LORD’s name,     because the thrones of justice are there—     the thrones of the house of David! Pray that Jerusalem has peace:     “Let those who love you have rest.     Let there be peace on your walls;     let there be rest

The Situation We tried to get away from it all last week, taking a few days vacation when our son and daughter-in-law visited from out of state.   In about the second day of their visit we were enjoying a lively conversation about friends and family.   As the conversation began to wind down, I turned the conversation to an idea about solving a construction problem.   My son and daughter-in-law laughed.   “And once again, back we go to talking about the greenhouse,” they said. The greenhouse project at the bioshelter has been much more all-consuming than either Cindee or I had expected…and others are noticing. In fact, it is not just our friends and relatives, who are affected.   The whole bioshelter project has been affected.   We try to employ the principles of permaculture in our daily life, and one of those principles is to catch and store energy.   Putting so much time and effort in the greenhouse has stood in the way of our ability to do many of our normal, energy gatheri

  The Situation It has now been a month since Lasse Holmes arrived to teach a class on Building with Clay-Straw at The Alaskan Ecoescape Permaculture Center , which is also our bioshelter home.   The first hour was truly an uncomfortable experience. Lasse arrived, entered the construction site, looked at what had been built so far, and sat there for the longest time.   He looked at the terraces we had excavated, the house posts we dug into the ground, the trenches we had dug for the rubble foundation, the double-wall framing we had put up to hold the clay-straw and, finally, the roof.   Cindee and I sat with him and wondered what he was seeing.   At first, Lasse was very silent, and Cindee and I began to grow a bit uncomfortable.   Then the silence drew on even longer, and our discomfort grew.   In my experience it is not a common thing for someone to come to your home and sit in silence—at least not for so long. Finally, Lasse began to ask questions.   Is the header

  After arriving in Kaktovik on Friday I learned that I will not be in town for the Nalukataq festival after all.   Although I was told the Nalukataq would be held this week, I was not told a day.   The plan now is to hold it the day I leave, which is a definite disappointment.   Still, I find myself thinking about past Nalukataqs, and how they continue to symbolize for me so much about healthy relationships. For instance, one of the most important aspects of the blanket toss part of Nalukataq, is the teamwork that goes into it.   The blanket, itself, is made from split ug  ruk hide (bearded seal), which requires skilled craftswomen to make (splitting the hide has traditionally been women’s work).   Around the edges of the blanket are dozens of rope handles.   It takes a community to make the blanket, and to wield it. I love this about the blanket toss. The pictures I have for the blanket toss don’t really show the handles.   This one from the web does show the handles, t

I am scheduled to spend the next week in the village of Kaktovik, located on the Beaufort Sea in the far, northeast corner of Alaska.   The first time I visited Kaktovik was in 1978, when I was serving as Lay Pastor of a multi-cultural church in Fairbanks.   They asked me to spend five weeks in Kaktovik, leading Vacation Bible School, leading worship services, and learning from the saints who live there.   I have had occasion to visit Kaktovik off and on ever since. Over the years I have found that my Christian outlook has been deeply affected by the teaching I have received from the Native American folks in Alaska’s churches.   The teaching sometimes comes through word and sometimes through actions, but always through relationships.   Over the years I continue to work with people from the villages, and I continue to be privileged to listen, to meditate, and to learn.   In fact, much of my understanding of why we live the way we do in the bioshelter has developed from t

  Today, Cindee and I are out putting down pilings for the greenhouse we are building.   A greenhouse has always been a part of our permaculture design for this property.   Alaska has such a short growing season that a greenhouse is a must for anyone, who wishes to enjoy crops like tomatoes, peppers or cucumbers.   Besides, we get so much sun on our southwest-facing slope, it would be a real shame to waste it. Since our home has always been an experimental home, we decided our greenhouse needed to be an experimental design, as well.   And since our home is now the Alaskan Ecoescape Permaculture Learning Center , we decided the greenhouse needed be built largely according to permaculture design principles.    The result has been a lot of hard work.   This is especially true, since we will build the walls of locally harvested clay, straw and sand.   We will be offering a class on clay-straw building this weekend (June 1-2) and everything has to be ready for the clay-straw por