Blessings

Molasses Making is intense. One has to be prepared to turn on a dime: Is it ready? What is the weather like? Is the equipment all lined up? Is there sufficient work crew? Who had planned to come? Who is contacting whom? What Food Support needs to be in place?

Molasses Making is complicated and stretched by the fact that it happens at the peak of Harvest and putting the Garden to Bed for the Winter Sleep. Nevermind, we are complicated by the work schedules of vigorous younger Folks who really would like to be there but can't. Yikes. No wonder we get tired.

Out of the Blue, we got precious help this week. On short notice, Meghan, Iuval (pronounced "U-vahl"), Peter, and Robert rode their Bikes from Wren Song the 3 miles on the up and down gravely road. And there they were coming down our drive: intent on offering their Energies to make sure the Sorghum Cane was harvested and ready for Molasses Making Batch 2.

None had done this before. Each was willing to learn. Each wanted to support.

We have known Meghan since earlier in the Summer. She is an intern at Wren Song and is from the Kansas City area. The remaining 3 had just arrived. We had met only 1 and only briefly. Molasses Making and our Little Farm became a cross-roads for their gathering. Iuval spent his early childhood in Israel. Peter is from New Zealand. Robert is an Englishman living in Ireland.

Their stay in these parts is short. Their interests lie in the creation of Sustainable Communities and reclaiming Traditions of Living on the Land. And on this magical day, they were here and ready to help.

These days, it seems our lives in this society are tangled up with complications. Most people are exceedingly busy and self absorbed. Personal and family lives add layers of being, doing, running. Jobs often demand more than we have the capacity to give, further removing us from the creation of community. Media keeps us flying with adrenaline rushes. If it doesn't, caffeine and high energy drinks add their share to face the complexities of the realities of our over stimulated lives.

In the face of all these complications, I think that one of our inherent tendencies is to help and to live in community. Our tangled lives in modern society often pull us away from such practices. The yearning is still there. We are just too tangled to bring it forward. Sure, we may help a close friend or family member. But we have little time to go beyond.

On this precious day, we received a blessing of 4 relatively unknown ones who just stopped by to help. Is that not the Lives we are supposed to live? In these times of Making Molasses, I know our Lives are surely the richer for it. That Richness will far extend beyond these dates.