Proverbs 22:7

Proverbs 22:7 says,

Just as the rich rule the poor,

so the borrower is servant to the lender.

Whole Food

As I was preparing to make some (seven grain, from wheatmontana.com) oatmeal this morning (containing raisins, hemp powder, ground up chia/flax/walnuts, maca powder, blackstrap molasses, maple syrup, and almond milk), the array of whole foods sitting on my counter struck me. The oatmeal in a jar, tomatoes (some mine, some bought), peppers (mine), three kinds of winter squash, four varieties of potatoes, garlic, mangos, bananas, and lemons.

What struck me was the "wholeness" of all these foods -- picked or purchased in their natural states, waiting to be eaten. My only regret is that I didn't grow all of them -- even lemons and mangos could be grown in an indoor greenhouse.

Yes, there are some processed foods in the house, but mostly not. There are dried fruits, nuts, pastas, and noodles stored in the microwave . . .

and more jars of bulk beans, grains, rice, lentils, oatmeal, and flours stored in the pantry . . .

and buckets of wheatberries, brown rice, black rice, chia seed, flax seed, maca powder, and dried beans stored in the guest bathroom:

Please don't misunderstand the motivation behind these pictures ("Hey -- look at all my food!"). It's just to reinforce the idea that plant foods are grown whole, are available whole, and can be (should be) eaten as whole as possible. It reinforces the oft-quoted idea that once you leave the produce and dried/bulk sections of the grocery store, you leave the "life" zone and move into the "dead" zone where things have been processed for one purpose: to sit on grocery store shelves for extended periods of time.

Don't Like Being Followed

Last week I visited three different online retailers: the Wolverine boot company, Zappos shoe store, and BackCountry outdoor products. Within a couple of days of visiting these three sites I began seeing ads for the very products I had been shopping for at each retailer popping up when I visited other online sites (CNN, USAToday, etc.). In other words, I was being followed around the web by these three retailers, presenting me with ads for the products I had looked at on their sites. I know targeted advertising is not new on the web, but I have never seen it like this -- ads for the exact products I had looked at on a retailer's site -- three different stores in the same week. It was as if somebody flipped a switch.

So I went to my Safari preferences and did three name searches in the Cookies directory ("zappos," "wolverine," and "backcountry") and deleted the 30+ cookies set for these three sites. We'll see if that throws them off the trail. Not sure I like being followed and hounded so persistently.

Canon Pixma MX870 Printer

For the last 4-5 years I used a Hewlett-Packerd OfficeJet G85 AIO (all-in-one) printer that served me well (print, fax, scan, copy). But when HP stopped updating the drivers for higher versions of OSX it would no longer scan. I finally replaced it this weekend with a Canon Pixma MX870 all-in-one (below). I looked at a number of printers with three requirements in mind: multi-function (AIO), duplex printing (printing on both sides of a piece of paper), and wireless printing. I don't have a wireless set-up at present but probably will in the future so wanted that in a printer. Wireless in printers is getting more common, but duplex printing in less expensive models is still relatively rare.

I almost bought a higher-end Brother which got great reviews except for its print quality -- its extra benefit being that it will scan, copy, and print up to 11 x 17 size. SInce I rarely have need for that I decided to stick with 8.5 x 11 since they are considerably less expensive. Although I have to say that the Brother laser printer I bought last year (also duplex and wireless) has been FLAWLESS (HL-5280DW). You can see it just to the left in the picture below.

I've only delved into a fraction of what this new Canon will do, but quickly grew to appreciate the duplex copy feature: In addition to printing on both sides of a single sheet, it will COPY on both sides -- meaning put two separate photocopies on the front and back of a single piece of paper (or several other arrangements, e.g., up to four reduced-size copies on the same side of one piece of paper, etc.). Duplex copying is a huge paper saver -- cuts paper use in half.

It also prints photos very nicely on glossy paper -- quality good enough that I would frame a pic from this printer. (That's me -- I'm sure others might be more picky, but the quality seems good to me.) I printed this pic of Ellen and Arianna on a sheet of glossy photo paper and it came out great: (pic by Jennifer with a bit of color adjustment by me)

This was $139 at Costco -- also available at Amazon for $149. Of course, this is the razor/razor blade model: they practically give you the printer in order to sell you overpriced ink cartridges down the road (pack of five color cartridges for this printer is $55 at Costco). The printer gets 4.5 stars from 240 reviewers at Amazon. So far, I like it a lot.

How We Change

I grew up as an Episcopalian, then made a conscious commitment to Christ in college and became theologically conservative. I remember thinking how liberal my Episcopal upbringing was (and I still think it was), looking askance at "liberal" activities like the annual blessing of the animals at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. Blessing animals? Animals in church? "Typical Episcopalians," I thought.

But now I think differently. I still think the Episcopal Church -- except for conservative corners and congregations here and there -- is sadly liberal theologically, even more so than it was when I was growing up as an Episcopalian. But I no longer look judgmentally at the annual blessing of the animals. Since Colossians 1:16 says that all things were created for Jesus Christ, that has to include the animals. They certainly deserve God's blessing as sentient beings as much as humans do, we animals made in God's image. The blessing of the animals is a good example, to me, of a right exercise of the dominion God gave man over them -- caring and providing for them according to their needs.

That change in my perspective was slow in coming, but I'm glad it did. I wonder what I will look back on 20-30 years (d.v.) from now and realize my thinking has changed from what it was in 2010? (I love the honesty and humility of one of conservative evangelicalism's best-known writers and commentators who said, in his sunset years, after decades of writing, preaching, and teaching about evangelicalism's watershed doctrines, "I know far less about prophecy than I used to." If you don't understand that statement, don't worry. It's a "you had to be there" thing.)

Here is a video of this year's recent (October 3) blessing of the animals at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine: