Get Real

I have at times made the statement that I grew up in the woods. No, my family didn’t live in a tree-house or anything like that, but the truth is that when I was a kid we often spent entire days, even weeks and months in the summer, outside. And growing up in the country, the fields and forests were our playground. Along with the many fond memories (sigh) I have from those days, I can’t help but wonder about how those experiences shaped me and my life.

And why do I bring the point up? Two reasons I guess. One, it’s summer. Two, I am afraid that children today are often deprived of those first hand experiences with nature. The consequences have yet to bear ripened fruit but we have to wonder just how significant this could all be. Often when we think about the subject we tend to think only of the sedentary lives so many children are living and the physical health problems that creates. Lack of physical exercise is a BIG problem, as attested by childhood obesity rates, but there are other issues that should concern us just as much.

Kids today know more about the world they live in than I did at their age, but the information is mostly second hand; that is to say that it is more of an intellectual understanding and less experiential. Even nature itself becomes an abstraction when you experience it all through electronic media.

I fear that children are becoming more and more disconnected from the ‘real world’. Take for example how today’s child thinks about the food they eat? Do they really know even where it actually comes from?

And what about how experiencing the natural world shapes our minds and hearts. As one author put it, “Nature brings a capacity for wonder and a connection with something real that is endlessly fascinating and largely outside human control.” Think about that. What does it do for us to live in a world where we have the illusion that we are able to understand everything and control everything?

I could go on but I think I’ll go outside … 

Dog Gone It

I saw a sign this week in front of one of the church buildings in town that says 'Try and be the person your dog thinks you are'!I think that is some pretty good advice and worthy of some sincere reflection.

Then yesterday one of our girls sent me an email, the kind that you try normally not to forward but you make an exception when it is really quite good, and this one is. It included this dog pictured here (must be the dog days of summer) with this caption and I have to tell you it's a new favourite for me. Don't you just love this.

So, this post is just a quick one, as I'm enjoying some vacation time, but thought this too good not to pass along to you. So, live like someone left the gate open!

River of Life

I love the river. I am thankful to the Lord for allowing us the privilege to live here on it. One of the nice things about it this time of the year with the heat is to just go and sit in it! And then of course there’s the wild life. Though some of them can be a nuisance by times (a few rodents come to mind), it is for the most part a wonderful thing. Eagles continuously fly up and down the river. A deer is a pretty sight but somehow a deer in the river is lovelier.

Belted Kingfisher

And we are always seeing things that you just don’t see in other places. Those little sandpiper birds abound on the river and the only other place you see them is at the beach. There are the little marvels too like skippers and minnows. And then last week we saw a pair of these.

According to The Sibley Field Guide To Birds of Eastern North America, it’s a ‘Belted Kingfisher’; the only kind of kingfisher that we have in this part of the world. Here is the description the guide gives:

“Uncommon but widespread around any sheltered open water with small fish. Often sits on prominent lookout perch such as a wire or pole, and often hovers over water to locate small fish before diving headfirst. Dark blue-gray above and mostly white below, with prominent white collar, shaggy crest, and large bill. In flight note irregular rowing wing-beats and white patch at base of primaries…. A very distinctive, long, uneven, clattering rattle.”

Of course, the handbook also supplies a nice, clear depiction, and it’s him alright! They are pretty shy and so it wasn’t easy to get this picture. Maybe I’ll get a better shot of them someday. But it was nice to spend a few hours with the pair of them last week, the sun dancing on the water, as they flew back and forth together up and down the river around us. It was fun to listen to their special voices and to watch them fish. I continue to marvel at the vastness and the wonderfully amazing creativity of our Creator God!

Mission Impossible

Florence was getting more than a little frustrated with a squirrel that had been getting into a bird feeder that she had hanging on one of our apple trees in the back yard. She came up with a plan to shut him down. She decided to hang the feeder on the clothesline thinking that it would be impossible for the little rodent to get at it there. Not only did the little guy pull it off but he did it with style. She managed to get a picture of him in the act. Even Tom Cruise would have to be impressed with this move!!!

More Summer Reading

I love books. I am one of those people that even love the smell of old books. Some of you can relate. I am sorry for those of you who can’t. To me, reading is language and language is life.

It’s summer and one of the best things is that I get to do what some might call ‘recreational reading’. Most all the reading I do is ‘study’ type reading, but there is nothing quite as refreshing for my spirit as getting lost in a great novel when I have those rather precious opportunities to do so. I love biographies as well, and autobiographies in particular charm me most. I especially like older autobiographies and I collect them when I have a chance to.

As I stood before one of the shelving units in my library this past week, being on a week’s vacation, my eyes came to rest on an old copy I picked up somewhere entitled ‘My Pilgrimage: An Autobiography by F. W. Boreham’ written in 1940. I decided immediately that this would be my choice to indulge myself in for this week and what a treasure it turns out to be. I had never heard of Frank Boreham before, but am quite surprised of that fact now that I have become familiar with the man. He was a very well known preacher in his day and prized to this day as a writer. He wrote more than fifty books in his lifetime, but thousands of essays. Dr Andrew Corbett refers to F. W. Boreham as ‘the greatest Christian essayist ever’. According to Corbett, Boreham is also the ‘best selling Australian author of all time’. Today his books are collector's items. I checked Amazon and there is a hard covered copy such as mine for sale for $184, though my cover is not in the best shape. Mine has ‘Most gratefully yours, F. W. Boreham” scripted by hand on the inner cover though, so I don’t know what that would do to its value? I don’t much care either as I have no intention of selling it anyway.

It’s all so very fascinating to read his life story told in his own words. Frank William Boreham was born in 1871. That means that he grew up without things like telephones and automobiles. He was born in Kent England, came of age in London, England, but soon after moved to New Zealand to become a pastor there. He pastored in New Zealand, then Tasmania and then in Australia. He died the year of my birth (1959). Now of course, this is 2012 and some enthusiasts have not only set up a blog page but even a Facebook page devoted to his life and his writings. Wouldn’t old Frank have been amazed by that! 

I’m actually less than half way through the book presently, but enjoying it immensely. As a boy he witnessed the establishing of the Salvation Army and the preaching of Moody and Spurgeon. As a young man living in London, he experienced the YMCA when it really was the YMCA. He sat under the teachings of men the likes of F. B. Meyer and had numerous conversations with men like Hudson Taylor. I know that these names might not mean much to some who read these words but if you have ever read any of these men’s writings or know of their great works you may have an appreciation for the immense privilege it is to read these words written a lifetime ago. I’m so looking forward to the last half …