“From today’s crisis will emerge a church that has lost a great deal. It will no longer have use of the structures it built in its years of prosperity. The reduction in the number of faithful will lead to it losing an important part of its social privileges. It will become small and will have to start pretty much over again. It will be a more spiritual church and will not claim a political mandate flirting with the Right one minute and the Left the next. It will be poor and will become the Church of the destitute. -Pope Benedict XVI(source)
The burning of the Notre Dame Church is rightly surrounded with much suspicious, as it comes at a time during a sharp rise in nationalism tied to military intelligence operations in the West and with her various allies around the world, the fact that the Al-Aqsa mosque just “happened” to have a fire at the same time, that Muslims are celebrating the burning of the Church and praising Islam, that Christianity has seen a massive decline around the world but especially in Europe, and that the world is steadily moving to war in what appears more so to be on a timetable with many of the Catholic prophecies of the last century and before, in particular that of Our Lady of Fatima.
Now there is fundamentally very little that the individual man can do to respond that would be effective. I say this not to be a “downer”, but to ask a serious question. If one wants to be effective and save one’s own soul at the same time, as well as help others in the process alike, what is going to be the most effective course of action? All of the verbal frustration will amount to a cloud of hot air, and actual actions taken without carefully thinking through the effectiveness and consequences will likely not just be ineffective, but may be foolish or outright immoral. Certainly responding to sin with more sin of an equal or worse nature is wrong.
So what is a man to do?
I’m going to provide an answer to this question today, and steps below that YOU can do on your own.
I’m going to walk you through this step-by-step so there are no misundertandings. You CAN do this no matter how old you are, no matter what walk of life you come from, no matter how much money you have because the cost for ALL items WILL BE AT MOST under $45.
1) The first thing you are going to do is go online to Amazon (you can do the same thing at your local Wal-Mart, if you go to go to the “Gardening” section) and you are going to add the following items to your “cart”:
Cherry Belle Radish Seeds– $2.23
Red Onion Sets– $6.53
Red Russian Kale Seeds– $4.99
IMPORTANT NOTE: You do not have to order from the exact same company or producer. Just make sure the names listed above for the types of plants are the same.
You are also going to add three more optional, but highly recommended items:
1 pound organic vegetable fertilizer-$4.94
A nice metal watering can-$6.80
A nice small garden tool set (no plastic junk)– $17.99
All of these items ship with Prime, so there is no shipping charge if you have it.
As noted above, if you find these items cheaper another place, buy them so. Just make sure the seeds are the right plant varietal.
2) Once your stuff arrives, you are going to go into your closet and find some old clothes that you don’t care if they get dirty. If you don’t have any, you are going to acquire a pair either by going to the store an buying some or working in what you are already wearing.
3) You are going to put that clothing on and go outside into your yard and pick a place where you can plant your seeds. You will then take your tools and rip up all of the grass in the area, piece-by-piece, to make a nice row where you can put your seeds.
If you do not have a yard, see step 3a. Else, proceed to step 4
3a) If you do not have a yard you can work in, you are going to go to Wal-Mart and buy two items: a large planting pot with a bottom to catch water, and a bag of dirt.
You should not pay more than $20 for the two items together.
You are going to bring the two items back to your residence. You will add the dirt to the pot outside. If you cannot, for some reason, do this outside, you will go into an area that is easily cleaned, such as your bathtub, and you will add the dirt into the pot in the bathtub. Do not “press” the dirt in, just pour it in. You will then put the pot in a safe location in your home.
4) If you are outside, you will make three rows. Each row will be about 3′ long, and about 1′ between each. This will take about an hour.
If you are in a pot, you will make three small rows that fit your pot. Do not worry about length- just make sure they are separate from each other.
5) If you bought the recommended fertilizer, you will follow the instructions on the package and add a slight amount to the area that you just prepared for seeds. You will then use your watering can and water the area. Do NOT soak the ground/dirt so it becomes muddy, just make it nice and wet.
6) You will then go inside and rest for a day.
7) Tomorrow, you will put your work clothes back on. You will spend about an hour working in the dirt, so be prepared to get dirty.
8) You will open the pack of radish seeds. You will CAREFULLY pick up the seeds and sprinkle a SMALL amount in a row, and then cover them with dirt FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE PACK. If you make a mistake or add too many, do not worry. You will repeat this with the kale seeds. For the onion sets, you will follow the instructions in the pack and put one “set” every 3″ to 6″ apart.
If you are in a pot, you will use much fewer seeds. However, you will put the radish seeds on one side the kale in the middle, and a few onion sets on the other side. Quantity is NOT important, just make sure to do it properly.
9) You will then water the seeds. You will NOT soak them, but give them a good wetting. You will then leave them alone.
10) You will water the seeds lightly at least once a day. If they are in a pot inside OR if they are outside and it has been raining, you may wait a day before watering again. However, in all cases DO NOT LET THE SOIL DRY OUT.
11) In about two weeks, you will begin to see little sprouts emerge.
12) You will continue your watering schedule for the next four months. During that time, your plants will grow dramatically. If you want to add fertilizer, follow the instructions on the pack- do NOT over-fertilize (less is always more).
13) When the plants are large enough, you may harvest them to eat them
14) Because you have purchased additional seeds, you many continue to plant more. You may do more gardening, or experiment with different seeds if you wish.
Below are some of the seeds which I have done in my garden. While I grow more plants, I want to show you these to inspire and encourage you in your efforts, that a little time and care can yield great results:
Cherry Belle Radishes
Russian Kale
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Red Onions (with some garlic- ignore the weeds on the border)
Why do I call this part of a “solution” to the Notre Dame crisis?
Because it is about taking responsibility for oneself in a very, very small way that has effects in society at large because of principle.
One cannot and should not depend on “the government” or even the systems that men set up for sustenance, as it fundamentally all comes from God and relies on Him to work. There is no example of this greater than with plants, for as the seed is a miracle of life itself, so do they all grow by the author of all life, who is God, and to which God has given man custody of their care.
Man works with God to care for the Earth, out of which man was made and to which he shall return.
To work the land is a spiritual act, as it is to deal with the substance out of which man was made. Likewise, by taking care of a small living plant, one learns how to have faith by applying the lessons of prayer and faith in a tangible way. Prayers are real and work, but it is very helpful to have a tangible example, of which growing a living thing is one such example.
Now one cannot survive on a small patch of radishes, kale, and onions. However, it makes a tasty salad and can be used to substitute for a meal that one would buy at the store. Indeed, one will likely pay more with such a small patch of seeds than one would buying the same items at the store, but finances is not what matters. It is the principle of growing something and taking responsibility for one’s actions. This is why gardening, according to some people, is considered even to be something political, for by taking responsibility for one’s actions one can partake of but does not need to rely on another for his sustenance.
It is also the reason why the US is so emphatic about “food exports” to other nations. It has nothing to do with charity, and everything to do with manufacturing dependence on them so to bend other nations to their political will. This is also not an “American” thing in itself, because many nations throughout history have done this. It just so happens that the US has done this very effectively and is the most relevant contemporary example of it, but is not exceptional in terms of the act within the framework of history itself.
Do you seriously want to “save the West”? Then one must pray, make sacrifices, convert one’s life and have children. These are all necessary and important.
But also plant a garden, for it is a small way of taking responsibility for the current situation regardless of how it arose, and in a way that will affect one’s life for the positive.
I have studied Islam since 1998. I remember warning people about Osama bin Laden and the Taliban YEARS before 9/11 happened. Yet even I can say that the situation with Islam was already well-advanced long before I was even born, and there was little then I could have done to stop it in a serious way.
Does this mean I give up? No, far from it. Rather, I do what I can with what I am able to. Part of that means learning to care for my own affairs, which is reflected in tending the earth and the living things in it.
Does this mean that conflict will be avoided? Far from it. Problems are inherent to a world post-Original Sin, and so they should be expected. However, for every problem that exists there is also a solution, and one of those is that man is given the tools to make the best of his situation, and to trust in God that His will be done throughout it.
It is likely that a third world war will happen in our lifetime based on historical patterns taking place right now. This is not meant to be “alarmist” or to scare people, but rather to acknowledge an uncomfortable fact. Feelings are normal, but what matters more is how one reacts to one’s feelings.
So the Cathedral was attacked- it was not as though this should be a surprise, given the decline of the Faith and the obsession with pagan nationalism that has consumed the world.
What are you going to do about it- commit or advocate for genocide against “Muslims” and “migrants” and thus not only embrace a grave sin, but also realize the very thing which we have been warning about that the governments who engineered the crisis want because the ultimate goal is eugenics? That would be to embrace the very evil that one supposedly would want or intend to fight against, as it is based on an evil premise.
Change in society does not begin with politics. It beings from within because the leadership of a society is a reflection of the people who make it up. The failure of a society to deal with major problems comes from a failure to deal with minor problems.
Change begins with YOU, and first with philosophy. Growing radishes is NOT going to save the world. But the concept is not about vegetables, but planting the seed of how to connect beliefs in one’s mind with tangible actions, and from this can grow much greater ideas inside oneself that can and will affect oneself and those which one touches for the better.
This is a warning also to all who say they are Christians, for the time for preparation is NOW, and the burning of the Church was a warning call to the world. Get ready for the future, spiritually and then temporally, and take the steps to connect the two parts together while there is still time, as one does not install a smoke alarm after the building he is in has caught fire.