The Road Home

The Road Home
There is no place like home.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

The Snares of the World

What things of the world or society hold you? Ensnare you? Tempt you? What draws you away from your duties as a husband, wife, mother, father, daughter or son?


Something happened to Frank and I many years ago that I still ponder. We chose to go our own way instead of being lead by the world. I have a difficult time explaining it and a more difficult time really seeing how important it has been in our development - spiritually, mentally, emotionally, our character and our morals. But I will try.

Sometime back in the 80's we began limiting the amount of television we watched. We realized that the vast majority of the programming on TV came from Madison Avenue, or commercial enterprises, and were aimed at creating competition among people. This competition entailed purchasing particular items or adopting certain behaviors that would endow us with the dubious honor of being 'cool' or somehow accepted into society as normal or special or exceptional. We came to understand that television and movies, and those that control their content, had found a very effective medium for shaping society to accomplish their goals of control and manipulation, that's why it's called programming. And it has been very successful at programming generations of people since it's inception.


Now, fast forward to today. In this day and age, we are truly oddballs. We do not fit into the mold of society at all. Here is a partial list of why.
  • We have not watched TV for over 20 years and do not own a television.
  • We have never played a video game, not one. 
  • We have only watched selected movies for a number of years, and for the past five years, we haven't watched any.
  • We get all of our news and information from the internet, in a manner of our choosing.
  • We do not have smart phones.
  • We do not, and never will, sign up for and participate in any social media. It is somewhat of a miracle that we are blogging, but we have felt lead to share what we know in an effort to encourage or compel others to prepare.
  • We buy as little food from the store as possible. The foods we do buy are basic. There are many, many prepared foods that we have never heard of. We don't know and don't care, because we wouldn't eat them anyway.
  • We don't use any chemicals in our garden. We just make do the best we can and try to plant enough for the bugs, varmits and ourselves.
  • We try to learn all we can about producing our own food - goats for milk, meat, cheese and butter; chickens for meat and eggs; gardening means learning what grows here that will sustain us in the most efficient, effective way possible; and an herb garden for spices and medicinal purposes.
  • We don't follow the fads and popular trends in clothing. We wear what we like and don't need much. Frank has told me for years he only needs a few pairs of jeans, a few shirts and two pairs of shoes and he is good. We dress in a modest, conservative manner.
  • We don't have a McMansion or grow things just for looks, simple and functional is our motto. 
  • We live in such a way as to not draw attention to ourselves. We would rather not be noticeable. Rather forgettable, actually, is our preference.
  • We are honest, generous, compassionate, patriotic, courageous, determined people. Many folks find us to be intimidating by the way we live, think and feel. We're just too different for comfort in most cases.


We have been told by more than one person,"Why do you do all that work? It's easier to go to the store and buy it!" That's true. They are exactly right. But that is the whole point. We could counter with, "Why take the easy route and buy everything at the store when you can produce much healthier food for yourself with a little work?"


We try, but are not always successful, at keeping our mouths shut in most situations away from home, because we make people uncomfortable just being who we are. If there is a conversation about something on television or some new food item, we can only give a blank look, because we know nothing about it. That's odd in today's world. If there is a conversation about phones and what they can do, we give the same blank look.  We are fairly computer literate and can research and find almost any information we want, which is a true blessing, but we limit our involvement with today's technology by choice and design.


We find that most people don't know any news or happenings in the world except what the talking heads on television tell them. That we actually know something of the news beyond what the talking heads say, perplexes most people. They don't realize how precarious our economy is, or how many executive orders have been signed in the last six years that are infringing upon their freedoms, or how much more precarious life-as-we-know-it gets everyday. They only know what Madison Avenue, Wall Street and the PTB (powers that be) tell them and want them to know. Most of the news is a distraction from what is really happening across the globe and what is soon coming to us all. We wish more people could understand that instead of being engrossed in the latest scores, gadgets, or chemicalized platter full of stuff that some call food.


I guess that's why we blog. This is our effort to share what we have been blessed to see and do for many years now. We understand how easy it is to be ensnared by the world with it's glitz and glamour. It is a whole lot more work to try to make it by the sweat of your brow and the ache in your back. It's also more difficult to be shunned and thought ridiculous for living so far out of the norm. But for us, it is the best place in the world, for God has taken us to this point, and as long as He continues to lead us down this path, we will walk on. Listen. He is calling you.

Until next time - Fern

13 comments:

  1. Great post! I am moving closer to this myself.

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    1. Thank you. Best of luck in your endeavors.

      Fern

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    2. Fern, This is Linda in central Nebraska. I would love to talk to you as we seem to have so many things in common. I admire that your trying to help people with this blog even though it's outside your comfort zone. It's difficult when people don't understand and share any common goals. I am going to enter my email address on your site now because I would really enjoy hearing from you. Linda

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    3. Hi Linda,

      I'm glad you are enjoying the blog. As for talking, this is the forum to do that, or you can go to our profile and send an email if you have a particular question. Signing up with your email will get our posts sent to you whenever we publish something new. We have chosen to use pseudonyms and remain anonymous to protect our privacy. I'm sure you understand.

      Take care,

      Fern

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  2. Very well said. We also believe in trying to be 'invisible'. One of the ways, for us, is to NOT tell the neighbors what we're doing. Found out the hard way that she tells everyone she knows in the neighborhood everything anyone is doing - gardening, arguments, where we shop, what she's seen in our home & garage, the tools she's seen my husband use. If she's telling the neighbors, some of whom we've never met as they live 2 streets over, who else is she telling? Don't want notoriety amongst strangers for our simple, prepper lifestyle.

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  3. My husband and I have no TV. We do have a few favorite TV shows though. We watch them online. Our big entertainment is planning our next years garden. The arrival of seed catalogues is a treat, simple and satisfying to take the process of seed selection through growth, tasting and preserving for later enjoyment.
    We also find it hard to keep quiet at times when people wonder about how much we do in our weird little garden out back. Every where we look there is land that is either overgrown and wasted or lawn and wasted in a different way!
    The soul satisfying work of growing and putting up our own food is something so many people have no idea about.
    We are so enjoying your blog!

    Today I am trying a new recipe for Chow Chow.
    With all our own vegetables!

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  4. We are definitely cut from the same cloth. Love this post. It brings to mind when Paul said "In every circumstance, I have learned to be content." I can survive with or without electricity, without it, things will just be a little different, that's all. Been there, done that. I have just finished shelling another 4 cups of pinto beans, going to clean some asparagus seeds next, and then on to canning green tomato salsa for the first time.

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  5. Excellent post... just what I would like to say to my family and friends.. now you have said it perfectly for me.

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  6. Thank you. I have been of this mindset for a long while, and I am trying to move my family toward a more simple life. We stopped watching television about a year ago. It is quite amazing to be able to know MORE about the world we live in without the TV. We now have chickens, a small garden (that will be bigger next year as we live and learn), and several fruit trees.

    Anyway, thank you for this post. We are trying not to be ensnared.
    God Bless

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    1. Our first livestock were also chickens, and are actually my favorite livestock. Next we tried sheep, which was a whole lot more to learn, and a whole lot more work. Then we settled on goats.

      Our first garden was a double-dug, french intensive, raised bed garden. It was all done with a shovel, hoe and a wheel barrow. It was highly productive. Now let's fast forward 25 years. Older backs, newer tractor. We didn't garden for nine years in Alaska.

      You're right about no television. When somebody quits feeding you what they want you to know, then your mind is more receptive to what is actually happening in your surroundings.

      Hang in there. Not every day is a good day. Sometimes, not every week is a good week. And so forth. Thanks for reading. May God bless you, too.

      Frank

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  7. Greetings,

    Thank you for the refreshing blog about the snares of this world. I was reminded when reading Fern’s blog of the passage of scripture in Romans 12:2 (NLT) “Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect”. I really appreciate the encouragement I get from your blog to look at life through a different lens.

    My wife and I agree with your convictions about television. What web sites do you frequent to get your news from? I am fine with being directed to one of your blogs or a location on your web page if you have already shared this.

    Also, do you have any suggestions for getting started using a pressure cooker? We think pressure cooking (using gas flame) is a more efficient device for cooking to conserve energy, especially if life as we know it continues to deteriorate and peak oil becomes a reality.

    Kind Regards,

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    1. Many of the sites we use for news are listed on the blog under "Our Favorite Links". The first four are sources we read for news, the last three are radio resources. As far as peak oil, I read James Howard Kunstler, kunstler.com. I've read all of his current books and he has an excellent nonfiction titled The Long Emergency. Advisory here: He uses adult language and in his novels, adult themes. For general run-of-the-mill news, I read Fox News, foxnews.com, take it with a grain of salt. I find Fox News to be very sexually oriented. A site I read daily, or almost daily, is called The Economic Collapse, the website is theeconomiccollapseblog.com. I read local news from the local TV stations. So. These sites also have many links to other news sources. There are a plethora of news sources available that give differing perspectives on what is happening in the world.

      I remember my parents using a pressure cooker when I was young, but they didn't do it very often. We only use a pressure canner for food preservation, not cooking meals, so we don't have any specific recommendations for pressure cookers. It's a good idea though, something to look into. Sorry, I can't be more help on this topic. As always, be safe with a pressure cooker. This might sound strange, but when we unload the pressure canner, I always wear safety glasses, just in case something goes wrong and one of the jars decides to explode or do something foolish. As I tell my radio readers, if you don't know what you're doing, don't do it. But, learn, experiment, and let me know how it goes.

      Thanks again,

      Frank

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