Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968)

                    

True encounter with Christ   

liberates something in us,

a power

we did not know we had,

a hope,

a capacity for life,

a resilience,

an ability to bounce back

when we thought

we were completely defeated,

a capacity to grow

and change,

a power

of creative transformation.

 

                        --Thomas Merton, He is Risen

Martin Luther King Day

Of all the forms
of inequality, injustice
in health care is the
most shocking and inhumane

                                                   --Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mullein

When I was a kid, my friends and I would occasionally find huge stands of common mullein (Verbascum thapsus) out in the sandy desert near our house.  The plants were so tall and full (for an herbaceous desert plant) and grew so fast, and their flowering stocks sometimes developed in such strange, gravity-defying shapes and sizes, that they seemed almost like an extraterrestrial life form.  We were fascinated by their shabby, furry leaves, and the sheer size they reached in the dry basins where they would thrive.  It wasn’t until later that I learned about the medicinal usefulness of those fuzzy, pale green plants.

     Mullein leaves and flowers can be used to make a tea that is good for colds, sore throats, and other respiratory infections.  It has been approved by Commission E for the relief of cough and bronchitis, and I find that even the steam from Mullein tea is soothing.  A tea made from leaves alone is rather tasteless, but the flowers taste slightly sweet and have a mild almond flavor. Historically, the stalks were sometimes dipped in wax or oil and used as torches!

International Year of Family Farming

2014 has been proclaimed by the United Nations as the International Year of Family Farming, to highlight the contribution that family farming worldwide makes to food security, biodiversity, sustainability, and the preservation of traditional culture and the environment.  The goals of the organizers of the IYFF and other organizations like the Via Campesina and the World Farmer’s Organization is also to organize and work for the protection of family farms, and for the inputs needed to promote cooperative, ecologically healthy rural communities.  The year provides an opportunity to create greater support for awareness-raising and initiatives by popular organizations that are already addressing issues such as the impact of climate change on small producers, gender equality in rural settings, access to markets, defense of heirloom plant and animal varieties, promotion of non-usurious credit sources and increased access to crop insurance, land and water reform, protection of seasonal laborers, and the need for fair trade instead of so-called “free trade.”

     Small farmers feed billions, help to preserve traditional diets, and are the natural locus for environmentally sustainable development.  Yet family farms and rural communities are under attack worldwide, as more and more agricultural land is devoured by urban expansion; corporate farming attempts to shut small farmers out of markets; governments invest in urban development and neglect rural communities; and water privatization, GMO seeds, and international trade and financial policies make necessary inputs and resources unattainable to more and more farmers.  Family farming must be seen as the centerpiece of a healthy economy, and the empowerment of family farmers an essential tool in fighting unemployment, hunger, malnutrition, and environmental degradation worldwide.

To the memory of farmer Lee Kyung Hae, who gave his life for the cause of small farmers in the struggle against the WTO and the fight against neo-liberal economic policies that kill farmers and destroy rural and small fishing communities.