Yeast, An Ancient Culture

The best breads are made with yeast.  They have that heavenly, just-made aroma that makes my mouth water. And that soft, cushiony  texture that melts in your mouth. 

Yeast breads take hours to make. Compared to "quick breads," that you mix and stick into the oven and they're done in minutes, yeast breads involve a process that generally takes hours:  mix the starter in warm milk or warm water and sugar and let it grow in a warm place.  When it's ready, mix in lots of flour and maybe some more sweetener.  Cover the lump and put in a warm place for a couple hours, or until it doubles in size.  Punch it down (literally) and roll it into a ball again, put back into a warm place and until it doubles again.  Then form it into loaves or buns and bake until done, which for a loaf could be another hour.  Hungry yet?

Yeast was well known in Bible times.  (They had not yet discovered baking powder.)  Bread baked without yeast was "unleavened," and resembled crackers more than loaves.  (Matzoh is an example.) 

Jesus warned his followers to "beware the leaven of the Pharisees."  The Pharisees considered themselves to be the experts on the Law of the time.  Jesus wasn't talking about their bread, but their teachings.  I believe he was warning about the expanded interpretation the Pharisees were giving to the Law.  They were distorting it to the extent that it was no good anymore.  The law was no longer pure, as it was when it had been given to people by God. This can happen to yeast, as to laws.  It was and still is a good warning.

XBX's

When I was young my mother started an exercise program called "XBX's."  XBX was an abbreviation for "Ten Basic Exercises." It was designed by the Air Force, a graduated program to increase strength and endurance for basic muscle groups, including legs, shoulders and middle.  My mother wasn't too enthusiastic about the exercises, and the book became mine. I never made much progress through the program, but it was easy to memorize the first few days in the program, and easy to do them.  No equipment required, and in 10 minutes I could check off exercise for the day.

The funny part is that I will do almost anything rather than the exercises.  I'll do an hour of yardwork, and say that I've already done my exercises.  Or a couple hours of shopping. Vacuuming.  Painting the deck rails.  Weeding.  You get the idea.

Having the exercise program does help keep me fit, if only to avoid doing them.  Can I be contrary or what?  And not only with exercises.  God certainly has a lot of work to do with me.  Thankfully He is very patient.

Wisteria

Big purple flowered pendants decorate the pergola over my back deck. Big black bumblebees buzz among the flowers, intent on their rich harvest of pollen.  The heavy scent of purple blooms drifts through the warm spring air.  Guests admire the abundance of blossoms.

Later, in summer, the wisteria leaves protect the house from the hot morning sun. Big brown pods grow, and then explode in the heat, throwing penny-sized seeds around the deck.  Next year those seeds will try to grow anywhere they find a piece of open soil.

In autumn the leaves turn yellow and fall to the deck, allowing the cooling sun to filter through the webbing of stems down to the deck surface.

I prune and sweep and the cycle repeats.  Sometimes I resent all the work, as the wisteria plant tries to take over the world, starting with roof of my house.  But do I enjoy the flowers, the shade and the yearly predictability.

It's amazing to contemplate the creation of this thing, even these individual flowers.  They are not something I, a mere basketmaker and dyer could design. It's another reason to be in awe of our Creator God.

Views

There's a view from my window of trees, grass, rocks, distant hills and far distant mountains.  I could spend hours watching the birds, flowers, grass and wind. 

My previous home also had a view, with vineyards, a country road, and the local cats and chickens (and a random boy or two)  (What's he doing in that tree?!).  Another place I lived had a city view, of tops of houses and trees, and extravagant sunsets.  My life has been blessed with homes with views. You'd think I'd get down to it and paint them.

I could say something philosophical about views "broadening your horizon" and therefore your thinking.  Actually you can get that from watching chickens (or young boys) with a lot more laughs.

The views are lovely, but I didn't learn about beauty so much from the views as from the art prints my mother would hang on the walls at home. 

What is the great thing about views then?  It does rest the eyes, and therefore the mind.  And I may have learned something in writing this.

Unemployed.

Unemployment hangs over your head like an oppressive dark gray cloud.  How do you get out from under it?  Spend hours completing online applications, never to hear anything back.  Read the classified newspaper listings, where there may be ten listings, including management executives, computer programmers, plumbers, preschool teachers, and help for assisted living places. Either not qualified or something that would drive a person crazy.

Why does God allow people who are willing to work, and not too picky about how much they earn, to remain unemployed?  Is that fair?  No.  "Life isn't fair," as we have heard before.  Is life still good?  Yes, actually.  I have yardwork and home improvement projects to keep me busy for a long time.  So far we have some savings. And we have been able to stay out of the hospital. Despite a temptation to worry, we must cling to the knowledge that God is good, He knows all about it, and is wiser than we are.  Thank you, Lord.

Taxes

I am so happy! My taxes are done. Happy bunny dance!

It is such an ordeal every year, and I am too stubborn to believe I can't do this. So every year I start early and spend time on taxes, for an hour a day or until I get a headache, whichever comes first.  This year I finished by the end of March with both federal and state taxes.  Phew.

Have they always had taxes? Did they have taxes at the time of Christ's life on earth? They did, as we know from the Bible.  Peter asked Jesus if they were going to pay Caesar's tax. Peter was a fisherman. Jesus told him to catch a fish, which Peter did. The fish Peter caught had a coin in its mouth that was enough to pay the taxes for two people. Jesus told him to take the coin to pay for Peter's and Jesus' taxes.

A small miracle.  Enough to make you smile, or breathe a sigh of relief if you care about the people involved. 

Jesus taught and practiced obedience to the proper authorities. (This continues to be a real challenge for Christians, especially the more rebellious ones.)

But God provided, as He has a way of doing, for those who trust Him.

I've known God long enough to be comfortable with the idea of paying taxes, even if I don't appreciate what the "authorities" decide to do with them.  So I'm happy that our tax returns are completed again this year.  And, happily, although we need to send in money, at least it's not going to break the bank.

We obey. God provides.

Sunsets

I am amazed at the beauty and variety of sunsets. Glorious, colorful, brightly lit sunsets. Not every evening, but often. I love to watch them, and I have taken way too many sunset pictures.  But have you noticed that every sunset is new and different?  They have different cloud patterns, different reflections of varying bright colors painted across the sky, sometimes iridescent, sometimes muted.  And always changing:  no re-takes!

And if I move to get a  better vantage point, it's completely different there.  If you think about it, the view of the sunset across town right now is different from the view from here.  Different colors, different shades. And it's different in the next town, and across the state.  It's not the same sunset that was seen a few thousand miles away. They had a different display. Every place in the world gets their own unique sunset movie every night. 

Meanwhile, at any time of the day, the sun is setting somewhere. An almost infinite variety of sky drama is happening in progression around the world.  Is this mind-boggling to you as it is to me?

The Creator who is having all this fun making sunsets, all across the world, every night, is the same Creator who loves you and me more than His sunsets or any physical thing. That is also mind-boggling, amazing, glorious. (Note to self: remember this.)