The Ontelaunee

   There is a steam, a creek, that has been an integral part of my life. Its name is Ontelaunee which in the native tongue of the Lenni Lenape translates to “little maiden”, and indeed some places the authorities haphazardly identify it as the Maiden Creek instead of Ontelaunee. The Ontelaunee has many places named after it. There is a township, construction company, now-closed high school, lake, park, rod and gun club, grange, and even a hotel bearing its name. Of course there are roads aptly named Ontelaunee Trail, Ontelaunee Drive, Ontelaunee Road and Ontelaunee Street. Similarly there is a township, road, bait and tackle shop, farm supply store and small village using the name, Maiden Creek.

   Prior to a few months ago, I have always lived where the water running off my roof drained into the Ontelaunee. At that time, my wife and I were contemplating moving and several of the prospective homes were not in the Ontelaunee’s drainage basin. For some reason, that bothered me.

   I have lived on both sides of the Ontelaunee; my mother was born on one side, my father on the other - the same with their parents and grandparents. I have farmed, had jobs, taught school and attended church on both sides. I have canoed on it, skimmed stones on it, fished in it, picnicked next to it, and crossed its many bridges, one being a wooden covered bridge. I even know of places where there are remnants of suspension cable bridges that pedestrians used to traverse the creek years ago. I have walked across it, fell into it, swam in it, and shoveled snow off of it to play ice hockey. I have carefully driven across it with both tractors and pickups. From it, I collected fishhooks and sinkers from exposed snags during extreme drought. I have made love on both sides of it.

   I have trapped along its banks and hunted both sides. I have shot rabbits, pheasants, and turkeys near it and have seen a bear close to it. I have shot deer on both sides, some that were wet from crossing it – one that jumped back into it after I shot it. Whether an overstatement or not, indeed the Ontelaunee has been an integral part of my life.

  Geographically, the Ontelaunee is a long, major tributary of the Schuylkill River which empties into the Delaware in Philadelphia, then Delaware Bay and the Atlantic. By now you should have concluded that the Ontelaunee is in Pennsylvania. It is a water source for Reading, Pennsylvania and many localities downstream to Philadelphia.

   Yes, the stream is a water source, but is that the only water we need? Is that why I have this emotion for this mostly tranquil, but sometimes torrential stream of water? There is absolutely a water that we thirst for, that nourishes and sustains us, that brings us peace, and that is the spiritual water that Christ Jesus provides. I hope all of you accept His water and drink so that you thirst no more. It will be life changing.

   At this writing we have now moved, and to a home that does not drain into the Ontelaunee. And you know what?  Nothing dramatic or catastrophic has occurred as most of you would have thought. Now, the realization for me is that we must not get hung up or emotional about mortal things. No matter where we would have moved or whatever endeavor we chose to take, there is a constant that never leaves us – the love of Christ and his care and provision for us.

Ecows

There is a custom on the family dairy farm I work on that has been practiced for at least 50 years. Whenever a heifer calf is born, it is given a name with the same first initial as its mother. Whether this served some record keeping/pedigree purpose or was just a notion of my grandparent’s family, I do not know. For example, if a cow named Bessie gave birth to a heifer, the heifer’s name would have to start with a B, let’s say Becky. Lynn for Lizzie, Strawberry for Sadie, you get the picture. With only 30-40 cows, we rarely ran out of names. However, we did struggle coming up with girl O names.

When my brother took over the dairy, his family continued the practice. Now with over 200 cows, naming them has become even more challenging. Then about ten years ago, this event occurred. They had the eggs flushed from one of the great milk producing cows, named Elle, fertilized them in the lab, and implanted the embryos into several surrogate females. They bore about six daughters of Elle. Now cows do not breed as prolific as rabbits, but in a few short years Elle’s daughters bore daughters, plus Elle had more daughters of her own, and at this point there are even some great-granddaughters in the herd. By now the total is well over a dozen, and you guessed it, all their names start with an E.

In the span of time I have been helping my brother milk the cows, I noticed that Elle’s offspring have a distinct udder shape to the point that when one comes in to milk, even without seeing an ear-tag with a name on, I can tell to which family she belongs. Because their names all start with an E, I started calling these cows, ecows.

Today we have email, ecommerce, ebay, and I imagine many others of the type where the E stands for electronic. Now you know what the E in ecows represents, but it also could be for egg or embryo I suppose, but could it be for electronic, too?

It got me thinking. I could just use my computer to notify the milk processing plant where we ship our milk that we ship 18,000 pounds of milk every other day. Their computer receives that information, and then pays us for the milk. I mean it is on the computer and computers do not make mistakes, right? The processor can even deduct from the payment the hauling fee for the trucker to receive – he needs to make a living too. And not too bad a living either, as he doesn’t have to put fuel in or drive the truck. Just pay his license and other government fees.

I think I’ll call this milk, emilk. You might be wondering where the processor will get the money to pay us. No problem. They tell their computer that the emilk was pasteurized and homogenized, vitamin D added and packaged in one half pint cartons. The computer then invoices (computer to computer of course) the school districts who normally buy milk from the processor for the 3344 half pints that 18,000 pounds yield. The school district’s computers then notify the federal government’s computers that the emilk was used for those children qualifying for the free and reduced price lunches and breakfasts. The feds then issue payment to the schools that in turn pay the processor. It is a WIN - WIN - WIN situation. We can sell emilk without having to feed, milk and otherwise care for cows. The hauler does not wear out his truck, nor does the processor wear out its equipment or have to spend money cleaning and sanitizing it, and it has no costs for shipping the emilk to the schools.

Who could possibly be the loser here? The children?  No way – the feds say they are overweight anyway, so receiving emilk instead of real milk will benefit them. They win too.

All of this is in line with the prevailing philosophy in this country. We are a nation of consumers, not producers. It’s all about what we use, not what we make, what we get, not give. Why work to produce if someone will give it to you?

This could never happen you say? Very true. If you ever had a management course, you learned that controls are a vital function of an organization, and therefore, there would be some controls in place to prevent this scenario from happening. At least until we get to the federal government level. There it kind of scares me. It makes me wonder how often payments such as the one I fabricated actually occur – the government paying for something that was never received or even existed. Even before computers, we know there has been graft and other thievery in all levels of government. Computers just might make it easier.

   Of course, the real losers are the taxpayers and the taxpayer’s grandchildren, who will have a day of reckoning in the future if our philosophy and our current government’s thinking do not change.

til next time<<<<<<<<<<<<<  Mort

NEW VENTURE

I am pleased to announce that I have agreed to a second publication of Alyssa's Story with Christine F. Anderson Publishing and Media.
There will be minimal changes to the story, just a few corrections and layout changes and a new cover. Check it out on her website: www.publishwithcfa.com.
 Publication date is October 15, but first edition is still available.

til next time,   Mort

Where do dreams come from?

   Last Monday my brother slaughtered two milk cows. Friday evening he called and asked if I wanted some hamburger, then I should come Saturday, help them cut the meat and take some burger along home. Sure, no problem.
   That night I had a dream with he and his son in it. Now when writing Alyssa's Story, this brother was the real life person I had in my mind whenever I wrote about Harvey, primarily because my brother lives on the farm I used as the one in the book. Similarly, Harvey's son Larry represented my nephew, so I will use their fictional characters names as I relay this dream, although in the dream I was actually thinking of their real names. The dream:
   We just started hunting one afternoon. Harvey was walking toward the woods across the flat top of the field behind the spring that I often mentioned in the book (where Larry, Alyssa, and her Dad trapped the geese). Larry and I were walking up a small swale in the field toward the same woods. I was lagging behind, having stopped for a few moments. I knew some of our relatives where taking up hunting posts on the next farm up the valley (Butch and Clare's in the story). I had yelled to Harvey if it was a good idea if I walk through a couple of the small patches of timber we were by-passing. He had answered not to; they had been done yesterday.
   As I resumed my trek, a lightning storm developed. It was broad daylight with not heavy clouds at all and it was not raining. But the lightning itself was something else. It was not the Z-shaped bolts that you see sometimes that strike the ground, but looked bushy, like the roots of some weeds when you pull them from the ground. The bolts were numerous, continuous, fine in diameter, and stretched from high in the heavens toward the Earth. I remembered some safety lessons I had heard about lightning and what one should do in such a storm as it neared. I took my rifle off my shoulder, held it below my waist, and looked around for a low spot to lie down in. But first, I thought I should warn Harvey and Larry.
   Before I got the chance though, a bright, bluish-white, sparkling thunderbolt streaked from my right, across the field toward the woods where my kin were headed. It did not strike down, nor horizontally, but crossed the field at about a 30 degree angle and struck the trees right where the men had arrived. As I started to run I yelled "Help, Help!" several times, in spite of knowing well the others were far too far way to hear me. And I forgot my two-way radio, I thought. What a time to not have it.
   I reached Larry first. He was covered with loose limbs and leaves, but none large enough to severely injure him. He was breathing, conscious, just seemed a little punch drunk, so I hurried to find Harvey. A different story there - he wasn't moving when I found him lying face down. I rolled him over and saw his eyes were open, but the pupils had rolled back up into his head and he was not breathing! I took my fists and pounded his chest where I thought his heart was. It only took a few until he gasped and started breathing. Praise God.
Yet I had to know. I asked him what it was like, what did he feel? He mumbled a few words, the only one I could decipher was, "love". Then I woke up.
  Saturday, I went to my cousin's butcher shop (who I considered Joe in the book) to help with the meat. There, I asked the group where dreams come from. They had interesting answers and when I announced that I had dreamed about two of them overnight, one commented that often happens to him - that he dreams about something or someone that is currently in his activities. I then shared the dream. It was neat for them because they had all traversed the fields in my dream and knew exactly where I was describing the events in my dream, unlike most of you who had to create your own picture in your mind.
   So where do dreams come from? I suppose you can research and research and find some solid answers and some, not so solid. Now the main reason (and you know what's coming here) I was anxious to share the dream because I thought it was serving God's purpose. I didn't know what, but recall that God can reveal messages to us in various ways - audibly is rare, thoughts from the Holy Spirit are more common. Through prayer, the Bible, circumstances, the church and others. In the Bible, visions and dreams were mentioned. Dreams? Suppose God sent me that dream, so that I would share it. Did someone there need to hear it? Did one of you need to hear it? Of course, I could be dead wrong. But if it was from God and brings something, anything good to someone, I was bound to obey and very glad to. Now if we could only figure out what other words were with "love" that Harvey spoke. One day we will perhaps. Keep praying and listening for God and much might be revealed to you.
til next time..........Mort

Fear of Joy?

Again with the personal. Since last post I received a few messages from God. And again, nothing super-spectacular or world changing - just God's way of improving our relationship. The first three I acted on and each produced fruit, including I did make the decision to enter the book in the contest. All three required me to make some adjustment to my life. The fourth I acted on within one half our of being directed. It was received well by my wise and faithful brothers and sisters. It even prompted a visit by our pastor in which we had a necessary, spirit filled, enjoyable discussion.
The latest I acted on in a few minutes. A young mother in our church started a non-profit called Gifts of Cheer, which supplies gifts bags to hospitalized children. It has been operating successfully for about a year. She thinks she has all the legal aspects required of such an organization covered, but has some anxiety as to whether she has all the (i)s dotted and the (t)s crossed. She is also unsure if she is doing all the bookkeeping properly. Before approaching her, I knew none of her concerns - just heard her use the word "non--profit" in her conversation. It was enough, though, to make the Holy Spirit prompt me to offer her my assistance. After hearing her concerns, I offered to investigate some avenues.
On the way home, four names were revealed to me. Again I acted by e-mailing a neighboring lawyer. He answered overnight, he and her connected during the day and are going to meet. More fruit. But why? Why did my actions produce?
First because of my love relationship with God. Then because He wants me to join Him in his work. That is all I was doing - joining Him. It wasn't my idea or goal or mission - it was His. When you have that relationship, you are able to receive His messages more clearly. But then you have to act - which I did. And even if the outcome is not spectacular or maybe even not recognizable, the fact that you obey Him and act pleases God  immensely, just as you are pleased (if a parent) when your child obeys you. This strengthens your love relationship with God, which in turn leads to more opportunities to join Him in His work, and this all produces great joy. Yours and His.
All good right? Then why do we fear this joy too often? Why do we ignore God's directives and disobey? Many reasons I am sure. Our relationship might not be strong enough, then we do not hear the messages. They might not be clear enough or we are not listening well enough. Sin in our life could be interfering with the messages. Perhaps we just chose not to obey, out of lack of faith possibly. So much figures into the equation - you must each evaluate your own walk with God and make the necessary adjustments to experience Him more.
How many times did God say in the Bible, "Do not be afraid."? Please do not be afraid to obey Him - do not  fear the joy that comes through obedience.
til next time,   Mort

Listening for God - Part 2

Some developments since the last post. Let me note that although I am touching on some personal reflections, it is not meant to be perceived as me reaching out for help, but more so to present the concepts in a way that will bring some objectivity to the discussion.
I reported earlier that I received three messages from God - "Thank you," "Everything will be OK,"
and "Keep on doing what you're doing." I determined the meaning of these three fairly easily. The next one is more perplexing.
Remember I believe God wanted me to make my story a book, and then He helped me get it published. When published, I told God that I would depend on Him to get people to read it if He willed it, figuring that was the purpose He had in mind. In business terms, that meant I wanted Him to market the book. Back then, I really had the idea that the task was God-sized and that only He could accomplish the daunting task. I thought it a simple matter for God - turn on a switch here, push a button there. God is all powerful - He could just make it happen. Agreeably in His time - regrettably, we do not always understand His time and so far, book distribution has been dismal.
Therefore, after beginning "Experiencing God" and recognizing I was to join God in His work, small hints about marketing started showing up. I took advantage of a publisher's newsletter listing sites where I could promote my book for free. Then, the opportunity to enter my book for an award was presented. Winning or being a finalist in its category would yield some free marketing and get my book on several lists. That however, would cost a few bucks to enter, which I would have to borrow, for funds are short right now. About that time, I received that third message, "Keep on doing what you're doing." So I thought God was directing me to pursue these activities.
Problem was I have been convicted for several years in my walk with the Lord, to avoid borrowing money, and even secular wisdom would concur I stick to that conviction. So I was tossing the idea back and forth when sometime later, while listening for God, the message, "Trust Me," came.
"Wow! Just what I needed!" was my initial response. Then the doubts started. Did God mean to forge ahead, borrow the money, and trust Him to provide the means to repay, OR did He mean to forget my miniscule, mortal plans to promote the book and trust Him to do the marketing as I first thought?
To complicate the dilemma, the book I entered into the contest would be donated to a library in the Los Angeles area - talk about promotion, but who knows?
I was advised to continue to pray, ask God for clearer direction, wait and listen for God to answer. Some times God's answer comes quickly, other times not, some times the answer is silence. Pray I can discern His message. I pray you all can pray, wait and listen for God as well and enjoy the fruits of His grace.
til next time,   Mort

Listening for God

I know other blogs do, but I do not think I write many blogs that are on the personal side. Generally I present objectively, in the third person. Today I was led differently.
Our church is studying the book Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby. There are 12 weeks of sermons, retaught in Sunday School and Wednesday nights. In 2009, a smaller group of church members had taken the course; I being one of them, gets to teach it.
Early in the units, Blackaby asked us to give God our attention in order for him to speak to us. He suggested we take a half hour walk just to commune with him. Several people did, but I reported one Wednesday night that I had trouble doing that. Whenever I try to be alone with God, the things of the world come crashing into my mind - you know, the failing dollar, bills to pay, family/health issues, and promoting my book.
However, a week later, God nudged me to take the walk, despite the fact that I had not slept much the night before and had just settled onto the sofa for a necessary nap. At first I was distracted - it was muddy, was looking for deer tracks, scanning the horizon. Then I realized that I had to close my eyes to hear him. I stopped, closed my eyes, and almost instantly, not audible but clear as could be, I got the message, "Thank you."
It was cool for I realized I had done something that God had appreciated. I walked on and stopped again, eyes closed, then "Everything will be OK" was revealed. Then a few days later, not walking, but when concentrating more and actually listening for God to answer, this message came: "Keep on doing what you are doing."
God was telling me that my life, even with its troubles and my doubts, was proceeding the way He wanted it to.
Is yours?
Try to take the time to listen for God. The rewards will be outstanding and eternal.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Mort