Learning from Dune

So Larry and I just completed a book trade. I don't know if you've noticed or not, but on my reading list of late has been Dune by Frank Herbert. Not exactly what you'd expect me to read, I know. I have to admit-- I did really enjoy the book. Not enough to read all of the ecology on worms or religion offered in the epilogue, but enough to zip through it fairly quickly.

There was one lesson I wanted to bring from it (and from Kelly Minter's No Other Gods). One of the characters revealed early on the book is a traitor. I won't give his name away in case you decide to pick up the book one day-- no spoiler alerts from me! Anywho-- the traitor finds himself at the mercy of a Truthsayer. According to the author, a Truthsayer has been trained from a young age to be able to know what is true from what is untrue. Praise the Lord we have the Holy Spirit to give us such discernment, but I digress... Back to the scene. The character finds himself in the audience of the Truthsayer and likely to be found out of his grand scheme. His strategy to avoid being caught (known via internal dialogue) is to always say what is true, but never what is truth. There's only one solution for him. He thinks, "There's only one solution: tell the truth as far as I can."

Ooh.

How many have times have we pushed the truth as far as we can? Let's say that again-- the way to not be caught in a lie is to always say what is true, but never what is truth. Kelly Minter points out in her Bible study that this is a tool of the enemy. Satan has made a disgusting art form in trapping us with what is (seemingly) true, but never declaring truth. This revelation has really challenged me to see a. What is truth coming out of secular avenues like Dune, and b. What I have allowed in my life that may be true but not truth.

Harvesting

Prelude: Ever considered what you would do if technology were to fail completely, and we returned to a culture of manual work and material trade?

Story: I have missed my calling-- but discovered it this weekend. Canning! Ha! But seriously-- I enjoyed harvesting Asian and what we're calling "American" pears from the pasture of the family that has taken us in for a while. I say "enjoy," but if I'm being truly honest, my mood may have been more like "exhausted but productively satisfied" come Sunday evening after a weekend of recipe experimentation and canning. It started with filling paper bags with the low-hanging fruit and 200 or 300 ish pealed pears later, I have a colonial-style feast and a kitchen full of presents I will giddily pass on (hopefully with recipes!).

The property we're on has a mysterious background-- uncultivated since sometime pre-1960, yet with 4 oversized pear trees up in a clearing. How did they get there? How did someone pre-1960 get Asian pear trees to plant? The Lord only knows. I feel like it is further confirmation of the fruit God intends to bring forth from this property and this family.

I love studying in God's Word about the harvest and seeing how He can at times be so incredibly practical about gardening and other times so mind-blowingly spiritual. Take Leviticus for example. He tells his people that a fruit crop will be 3 years in coming. The 4th year is to be an offering to God, and the 5th is for harvesting. Who woulda known-- it takes 3 years to create the fruit, and the first year of the fruit isn't as sweet! After that we are all about receiving the blessing. Or take the lesson from our friend Renee as regards pruning. When you're choosing which grape vine to keep for the next year, you choose only one. It is not the oldest, largest, strongest nor the one that has produced the most fruit. It is the solitary vine leading in the direction you need it to grow. How much God has to teach us about how he prunes us! How fruit is grown in our lives! And of the heavenly harvest to come. We miss these precious truths by not getting our hands dirty every once in a while.

Moral: Can I make a living trading Biblical truths and canned pears? The Lord only knows.

What would you do if your job was old-school? Shoe horses? Dig ditches? Local thief? :)