My bread is grounded in truth.
Made from organic wheat berries I ground with the grain mill in the background, salt from the sea, and water from a nearby spring. Nothing else. Nothing fake, nothing artificial. Nothing to deceive or lead astray. 100% Reality.
I’ve been seeking reality. And these days, reality seems clearer the farther away the world gets from it.
“FOOD SHORTAGES PLAGUE LARGE CITIES”
“ROLLING BLACKOUTS, GRID FAILURE EXPECTED”
“MANY LEFT UNABLE TO PAY THEIR RENT AS INFLATION SKYROCKETS”
Do these headlines sound familiar to you? A few years ago, they would have seemed incomprehensible to the average American. But now, they seem entirely possible and even unescapable. Food shortages and grid failure are a fact of life to be dealt with now, but it’s not the only option available. Here are two fictional examples:
James and Gabrielle Smith live just outside of Chicago with their two children, Brooke and Mason. James and Gabrielle both work normal nine-to-five jobs, James as an insurance salesman, and Gabrielle as a secretary at the East Chicago hospital. They have a comfortable suburban house, and make a modest living, but when the December 10 Blackout happened, they were entirely unprepared.
They tuned into the local radio news channel and heard the reporter announce that there was a massive grid failure and that the electricity was out for the entire city of Chicago and all of its suburbs, and the blackout may last for as long as two weeks. James and Gabrielle’s phones had no service so they couldn’t text their relatives, and gas stations began to shut down everywhere. Convenience stores were quickly stripped of all nonperishables that they had, and soon the cold winter air began to creep into the Smith’s home.
James and Gabrielle had no way to heat the house without electricity, so everyone bundled into their warmest winter gear. Most of their flashlights were out of batteries, so the Smiths were forced to stumble around in the dark after the sun went down. Soon their water stopped working as well, so they resorted to melting snow over their propane grill for their drinking water. At least the food in their fridge stayed cold. By the end of the blackout, the Smiths’ food supplies were exhausted and the family seemed quite bedraggled, but they had made it. Others had not been so fortunate.
In an Amish community an hour and thirty minutes away, Samuel and Martha Miller live with their five children John, Mary, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Hannah. Samuel is a furniture maker, and his wife Martha tends their garden, cares for their animals, takes care of their children, sews, cooks, cleans, and does anything that needs doing. They are not members of the stricter sects of the Amish community, so they are allowed some conveniences, like a fridge and washing machine.
When the blackout hit, Samuel walked home from his furniture shop (which was just a mile down the road), and went out to milk his two cows. He brought in four gallons of fresh milk which his wife put in the propane-powered fridge, and then sat down with his family to a meal that his wife had prepared on their wood-cook stove. After dinner he brought some more wood in from the shed and stacked it in the wood box, and put a few more logs of oak on the glowing fire in the stove. Just before bed, the family washed up in a basin full of water from their well, which pumped water using solar power from panels on the family’s roof. The Millers slept warm and comfortable that night.
The next morning after milking, Samuel hitched up his buggy and drove to the nearby city of Nappanee. There he sold his extra milk, along with some homemade butter, hand-sewn shirts, and other goods. He got an extra price because of the sudden lack of food products in stores. He came home to another steaming meal prepared by his wife from last year’s garden produce that she had preserved. The Millers hardly had a problem in the blackout.
What is the difference between the two families?
It is not that one had intentionally planned for a disaster, and that the other had not. The Millers were not preppers, they did not store years-worth of rice and beans in their cellar for the apocalypse. What was it then? Did being Amish predispose the Millers to being more comfortable in the event of a disaster? No, it was self-reliance. The Millers relied on themselves for their provision, not faceless corporations and entities. While the Smiths bought electricity from the power company, food from the store, gas to drive to their jobs, and water from the city, the Millers provided all of that themselves. The Millers were self-sufficient, and so they thrived even in the face of adversity.
This is what I am seeking. This is why I am learning how to raise animals, to make my own clothes, to bake bread, to grow a garden, etc. All of those things are grounded in the reality that God created. I am longing to be able to rely on myself and those who I love and trust for what I need. I want to get closer to God by getting closer to his Creation. I want to dispel the lies and illusions that have pervaded our society for so many years and to see with total clarity all that my actions are supporting or destroying, with no veil in between action and consequence. I want with all my heart to be able to share this with others, to teach others how to be self-reliant and grounded in reality, and to join them in a community of those who have not been deceived by the smoke and mirrors of the world and who want to seek and find what is truly REAL.
Will you join me?
Be blessed, friends.
-Wanderlust Bear
