“Te tiro atu to kanohi ki tairawhiti ana tera whiti te ra kite ataata ka hinga ki muri kia koe.”
“Turn your face to the sun and the shadows will fall behind you.”
In a sense, this resonates with the primary teaching to come out of The Farm Community, "What you give your attention is what you get more of."
This is not to deny the existence of the shadow parts of our life, of ourselves, but more to maintain them in their proper perspective so that they do not dominate our consciousness or overshadow our light.
Below is a bit of insight into the things being talked about in The Farm's internal Discussion List, plus an interesting story shared with me, that I pass on to you for your contemplation of the Great Mystery, called Life After Mother, by author Wayne Dyer.
I thought you might be interested in learning about the various things being talked about in our internal community Discussion list.
Climate Resiliency
We are talking about and developing a vision and telling the story of where we want to be on The Farm 5 and 10 years from now in regards to climate resiliency. One way to express this vision is to portray it artistically. There is interest in doing a large mural somewhere easily seen on The Farm that displays this, perhaps along the main road, on a wall of the Recycling Center.
Water Management
Another avenue of discussion relating to this is to develop a comprehensive water management plan for the community, which would be integrated with the Comprehensive Land Use Plan.
The recent wave of extreme cold has wreaked havoc on the water systems of Lewis and Lawrence Counties. Just to the north of us, the water system in Maury County's Mount Pleasant is experiencing similar problems. All have seen the failure of their water delivery systems, often with homes having no water for days. And when it has returned, it is with a boil advisory.
Gratefully, our community's water system has remained solid, and we are very grateful. Still, we recognize the need to create more water catchment systems, in the event we need emergency supplies. Water can be pumped from ponds to holding tanks, where it can be used for anything from flushing toilets to putting out fires. In a true emergency, this water could be boiled for drinking. At the same time, These ponds would also create more habitat for wildlife.
Collecting Our History
We are beginning to collect stories about our history for future generations to hear about our experiences, directly from the ones who lived it, by hosting evenings of storytelling. These are being recorded, with the potential to transcribe them for use in any number of ways.
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Conversation in the Womb – A Parable of Life After Delivery
from Your Sacred Self by Dr. Wayne Dyer
In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?”
The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”
“Nonsense,” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”
The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”
The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”
The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”
The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover, if there is life, then why has no one has ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”
The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”
The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.”
Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.”
To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and you really listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.”
