Steel-cut Oats

Years ago I utilized minute oatmeal for cookies and recipes that called for oatmeal. At that time, it was also instant oatmeal for breakfast, and a quick fix for those on the run.

Today we learn that processing takes away some of the beneficial nutrients and that leaves us full but empty. We ate but did we get the full benefit of the product?

It seemed in our haste, it didn't matter, as long as we were out the door, able to juggle everything for everyone, in our busy lifestyle.

The end result of not eating properly is premature aging. That is, taxing the body to obtain what it needs to provide cells with adequate vitamins, minerals, proteins and healthy fats.

You become what you eat, pure and simple. Today I used steel-cut oats, which are the better product, however, timely in preparation. They are better than the old-fashioned oats that I am accustomed to using, and far better than the quick oats.

I used to hear the expression, "time is money" meaning it costs you to waste valuable time, especially, if someone is paying you to do something. Or, if your sitting around, what a waste of time, if you could be doing something else.

There is another way to look at time... If it takes you additional time to have a better product such as in your food preparation, that results in better health, isn't it worth the effort, when it means that you'll spend less time and money at the doctor's office? Can you afford to lose the benefit of good nutrition? Just think of what it'll "cost you" in the end.

Can you really have it both ways? Better nutrition is worth it's weight in gold in the long run. And just wait until you taste the difference...

The Bad Egg

The bad egg is not just an expression, but poisoning from a bad egg can make one extremely sick. Fresh eggs contain nutrients not found in other foods and are a valuable source of protein. They are worth their weight in gold, as the story of the golden egg suggests.

Today, I learned how to test for an egg that has gone bad. This happens when hens lay eggs apart from a nesting area, all over the place, and sometimes it is overlooked for a period of time. I read that eggs can be as old as two years in the marketplace. I sure hope that is not the case. The test for a fresh egg is so simple that it should not be overlooked.

Beside the checking for a good egg, normally an egg is cracked open and placed in a small bowl for examination before consumption, especially if you have a rooster who resides with the hens. Blood spots found within an egg, called meat spots are okay to use.

So how do you spot a bad egg? You lower an egg, one at a time into a deep bowl. It should sink to the bottom and lye flat on its side. That usually denotes a very fresh egg. If the egg begins an upward trend, it is still good as long as the bottom still touches the bottom of the bowl, pointing to the surface. This egg is about three weeks old. Should the egg float to the top of the bowl, it is not good. Throw it out.

A bad egg will be light in weight and give off an offensive odor.

I will take the time to examine my eggs more carefully now that I have learned why my grandmother dipped the eggs in a deep bowl before consuming them. I thought she was just washing them. Little did I know. These processes, now almost never done or heard of, can save your life, and much unpleasantness. The fact is that there is nothing better than a fresh egg from your own coop, which is starting to gain popularity once again.

Usually, eggs are washed for purchase in the store. I never knew that they should not be washed, as they have a protective coating. Store bought, are washed and I believe, oiled. It is important to be mindful of the freshness dates stamped on the carton.

The only way that chicks could be determined years prior, was by weight. There is a story told that after cooking a boiled egg, and cracking it open, a chick was discovered. Who knew!

My dad believed like many, that "the cure all" was an eggnog made from a fresh and uncooked egg, with a little sweetening, vanilla and fresh milk. So much is said today, that cooking food kills all the best nutrients in foods. We had many of his special shakes growing up. Today, it is unwise to eat a raw egg unless you know it was freshly picked from the hen that day.

Even those who suffer from heart conditions are allowed to consume four eggs a week. Soon we will not be fasting from eggs. It is tradition to color the eggs (red) in preparation for Pascha, or Easter, recalling the great miracle of Christ's Resurrection from the tomb, (colored on Thursday,) and delivered to church on Holy Friday.

As each person comes up to venerate the Holy Cross on Pascha, (Easter), they will be given a red egg, which has been blessed by the priest. This egg is a symbol of life and every good thing.

Suspected the unexpected

Wednesday, I took my grandson Ryan for a walk through the Old Sturbridge Village, where he gets to see all the animals which he has grown to love. This time of the year as spring grows closer, so does the anticipation of the birth of spring lambs. I heard a couple are expected.

Drawing close to the smoke house, I noticed that this time it wasn't a silent, still brick shed-like dwelling, taking its place along the garden, just behind the Freeman house, but it was smoking.

Having the little one with me made it difficult to roll the carriage up to the spot to take a peek, trying to learn the inevitable. So, we passed wondering. One of the places we usually stop at is the pig pen. And, again no pigs. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know or quess why.

Yesterday, I went back to the area and saw a resident chopping his wood. I inquired about the smoke and the pigs. Sure enough, one had met his demise in January, and was infact, being smoked yesterday. I got to see the process. The other luckily escaped to a neighboring farm.

They had to work very hard in those yesteryears, for the meat that they enjoyed. Of course they had chickens, but most of those layed eggs until they died and very rarely were killed for meat. So, I'm to understand that for the most part pork was the staple.

The fat was seperated and utilized for making soap. This process began with the women of the home's removal of the fat after the butchering of the pig. They placed straw in a barrel, along with ashe and the fat, in a layering method on a sunny rock, uncovered at times, and stirred with water, until the broken down substance leaked onto a groove in the stone which was under the barrel and leaked down to the container. I was told this was lye soap, which had the consistency of soft peanut butter. Some was cooked down to be hardened into a mold. I'm not sure if they used it to bathe with, as at this point in time, scented bath soaps were available at the local store. Mainly this mixture produced was to wash clothes which were line dried.

Their method of washing the body was with a stiff brush and water, unless they had the option of buying the soap at the market in which goods came in from all over the world.

Crying out to the Giver of Life

The little things in life, the small tender moments are what makes life so worth living. They are to precious to rush by them. Sometimes all it takes is one word to make someone else happy, or to recall to you someone who has meant so much to you in your lifetime. It's perhaps, a song, or an expression, facial or otherwise. All life is so important and such a gift.

Today, its going to be marvelous, perhaps in the sixties. I just went outside and things are melting quickly, so by time I actually take in my walk, it will be heavenly.

Years ago, I planted pussy willows that came from a tray which filled the perimeter that contained the cross of Christ, on the feast day of Holy Cross. Pussy willows are a sign of new life, one that only Christ can give. That was probably twenty-five years ago, that I planted the few twigs which had sprouted roots. It was carefully guarded through the years, having been blessed, by three sticks which it eventually surpassed in height. Several years ago, it got its first pruning, and today I cut the first pussy willows from it, which I placed in my Icon corner.

Life is like that, a few seeds produces much. It is through toil and care that we arrive at a stage of pruning. Pruning so we can arrive at at stage of beauty and produce good fruit. I thought it looked healthier this year, as we have had several trees removed a few years back and it now gets more sun.

This time of the year especially, we are prayerful, asking our Lord, according to His great and rich mercy, to shine upon us sinners and provide for us both physically and spiritually. For the Lenten spring has come, and we like the tree, and all life, are crying out to the giver of life. Life is designed to be renewed, having cycles. Having need. And, we are required to ask in order to receive.

We have a need to be forgiven and to forgive. On the fourth Sunday of the Triodion period, the Sunday of forgiveness, provides for us the opportunity to ask someone that we have hurt in some way, to forgive us. This is a two way street. Until we can forgive our brother, God does not hear us when we pray. Unlike nature, this is essential for our life. Reconciliation with God and each other fulfills one of our greatest needs, even above love, peace, and joy. Without forgiveness, we are the living dead, incapable of love, as we are cut off from our creator. How can we have love within us if we have hatred toward our brother? We are commanded to love even our enemies. Love the sinner, but despise the sin. Let us then have the courage to take the first step in resolving our differences.

We also have the need to thank God for what he has given us and that is more than we are capable of understanding. "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." One of the things that humanity has got to learn and has to be forgiven for, and cease doing, is the destroying of it's own kind. Life is God's greatest gift. What are we thinking? Do we have the right to take such matters into our own hands? Shouldn't all decisions concerning life and death be determined by our maker, fashioner, and our God? Playing God is dangerous...I am thankful for the vessel of the Church, who is available to us, helping us with questions having great consequences concerning life.

Let us today, receive the arch of salvation, through Christ and like Noah, build a vessel in our hearts that overcomes the storms in life, the raging relentless waters, beginning with one drop at a time, keeping our focused and ever present journey toward Pascha, the day of the Resurrection of Christ, where all things are renewed and made new in us and for us. And in that vessel, we plant seeds of forgiveness, hope, love, joy and peace, for that life in us which springs eternal. This is your Lenten Spring. Let your voice be heard, crying out to the Giver of Life.

A Blooming Town

I live in the town of Southbridge, where I was born and raised in a place where there was much emphasis on faith, fun and family. This is my town. And, as my town, I will stand up to remind others who have made comments recently saying, that we are no better off for the form of government that we now subscribe to, that we have always been and still are a jewel in the crown of Massachusetts. Your claim is unfounded, and simply not true. There is no going back to "the simplicity, days of our youth, given the complexity of the world we now live in, we need expert and full-time management. He keeps it all together like a well-oiled tool. We are grateful for his endeavours on our behalf.

Yes, I too am unhappy about the extra dollars that we have to pay for the "necessary" services, but they are what makes us unique, and in the end, is well worth the extra money. Towns who brag about their lower tax rates, don't also tell you that they call upon us to borrow in their need. Our services are second to none. We have qualified, and trained personnel who work hard at being "the best in their field" and do not deserve to be unappreciated. Yes, they do deserve their pay as hard-working employees.

People use our gym, our hospital, and other services such as the airport. It is a great place to live, as any city has concerns, we have ours which are met with one of the best police departments around. If you want statistics just look at the towns that surround us, that do not have the same protection, to see the numerous and increasing break-ins.

Water and sewer bills have gone up in the past, but at least we have the water we need and, it is clean and well maintained. It will be interesting for those who have wells that go dry in this season, of little and much needed accumulation, when there is none. Count those among your blessings. Yes, we do go out of way to help our neighbor, it is the American way-- is it not? Being a good neighbor has its reward. Towns have always looked to us and they still do. We are developing a reputation that makes one proud to say, Southbridge is where I'm from.

Stop living in the past. Let not the opinions of those who are not qualified, nor have the understanding of how to run a town, and who are uninformed of the challenges faced daily, tell us that a selectmen form of government is what we need, for our city-like town. We are looking ahead--to the future, not the past. Like it or not, it's what we are and it's going to cost us. Our town manager gets a decent salary for a very difficult and well-done job. His pay should reflect his responsibility and be considerately more than the quality people who report to him as "town employees." Most would concur.

This town is shaping up due to the fantastic people who give of their time, with numerous improvements. With determination, courage and steadfastness our Councilors are "the unsung hero's" that do not bend to the likes of the naysayers, but their concern is for the betterment of their town and it's safety and people. People should be proud to make this town their home and permanent residence, for to many reasons to list. This town has the vision of having outstanding safety personnel, who want nothing more than to keep it's residents as safe as possible under every circumstance and endlessly work toward it's resolve. They were there during the recent tornado, and are working to improve by developing communication and methods of improvement during emergency's of all kind.

Committed people develop and do not run from challenges, and while forging ahead, look to a time, when through many efforts, hope the dirge of cancer will be a thing of the past. But as for now, have secured a place of our own, so they do not have to run to the nearest city for cancer treatments. Much of the money has been raised on the backs of our own residents. Why, because we have people that remember how much sweat their ancestors put forth in building this great town. We feel their presence everywhere, we remember them and their participation in concerts, and parades, and football games. They have made us proud--this was their town and it's ours. We owe it to them to do the best that we can.

I have the privilege of working at a Community Program , where in feeding guests three times a month, I have met some fine people in this town. We are the best of the best, because we care for our own, and we help our brother, where and how we can. We have learned here that we do not run from our problems, but united we can make a difference to their resolve.

So, if you were not born here, something drove you to believe in Southbridge. We hope you will help the people who choose to see the positive things it has to offer and are not afraid to role up their sleeves in an effort to make Southbridge attractive to others who are looking to make us their permanent home. There are problems everywhere, if you look. Consider joining us in working toward that better day. We all need to work together, to meet our goals with positive solutions, embraced and realized in a team effort, which welcomes ideas as well as criticism.

I am confident that "empty storefronts" someday will be filled again as we have an attractive downtown, due largely to our architecture. When you look around, who has more to offer than us? We are not going back to what we used to be, why would we? We plan to forge ahead to what we will become, and that is very impressive. Our best and better days, are just ahead of us, Southbridge is a blooming town.

The Seed of Corruption

It was once said that you could determine the whole book by its first and last pages. The same goes with any movie, as with the movie The Godfather Part II, as it begins with gun shots, and death. A young boy flees to the safety of another country, leaving his homeland, but is unable to escape the legacy of his forefathers. Through his misdeeds, he becomes the seed of corruption.

During the movie you see little else than the violence which corrodes everything and everyone around. The one word I seem to hear more often than not is "family business." I was brought up in a home where "family business" was sacred. You were not to tell anyone what went on in your home. One of the characters on the movie, Michael, played that role masterfully as he excelled in "secret" misdeeds.

The weight of his "sins" shows itself in destruction pain and loneliness which is evident in his face which is longated, and bears an empty gaze. He wears the banner of mistrust. Nothing will mask the inner pain, which now bares upon this character physically, yet, patiently he waits for the opportunity to attack as his quest is for vengeance. Nothing will fill the void and the hell he's created upon himself in the guise of the love of his family. A family that did all the right things socially, but inwardly lived a life of secrets and corruption. Scenes show Baptism, and First Communion, and family birthday parties with children, crying babies in the background, and devoted wives who accepted their husband's authority or paid a bitter price, being completely dependent on them. This is how it was. They ate together, played the parts well, but did they really love each other? Did they have freedom? Did they live in fear? Did they seek above all "peace"?

Hand kissing and asking for the blessing of your elder, was a sign of respect. Like everything else, having gained the blessing, the person in this movie, turned on him and killed him. Thanks for the blessing. How do you break out of a culture of violence when it was carried within you to a distant shore?

God talks about it in the very first page of the bible, in Genesis. He knew it was not good for man to be alone. As Creator, He made them male and female, and blessed them. Everything on earth has a seed and God called His plan good. He knew we would fail, and His plan had a provision for that too. As leaders, you must reap of "good seeds", having "good intentions."

Michael was responsible for having his brother-in-law killed, and lied to his sister about it. He did the unspeakable and had his own brother killed. The movie scene, places Michael as the silent observer. His brother is "taken out", after he recited a Hail Mary, in a fishing boat, unexpectedly. These are only two examples of what we call a "bad seed" even if for the sake of one's family "business". Shouldn't we be trusting in God for the difficult decisions facing us in our lives? We should never be the author of death, as that is His job alone.

The expected vengeance to Michael was not from his enemies, which he feared, but from his own wife, who "lost love" for him. He was a changed man. He could look her in the eye and tell a lie with effectiveness. She learned to hate--hate even the child she carried within, "his" seed. What was the outcome of the aborted baby? She joined the cycle of death and destruction, which is a downward spiraling, and one that is hard to break. It is said that the more you do someting, the better you become at it. Hate is no different.

All the money and comfort in this world will not soothe your pain and suffering. But God, from the beginning, has provided a way back. She is cast out from the family. A scene shows visitations with her two children, and the evidence of the loss of affection of her son, toward his own mother, as she begs him for a kiss. They are the unwilling victims. The cost is great and indeterminable.

Michael did not want to pursue the path of his father, but assumed the role, for the sake of the "family business," which was handed down to him by his father. The movie shows that at one of his father's birthday parties, he dares to tell his brothers that he has enlisted in the service of our country, to their disapproval. Such news would grieve their father, on his birthday. What about Michael? His life, his opinions? His choices?

Now the final chapter is upon us as tonight we will learn what becomes of the head of the family, as commonly called "the Godfather". Is there, perhaps, a hint of "redemption," for the "quite" man, who had even learned to strike his wife in anger? Will there be repentance and sorrow for the many sins he committed, and for the all deeds, a lifetime of corruption, before he too goes to the grave?

(Isaiah 3:3) "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."

It's the same story, as that in the beginning of the bible and the movie. How will it all end? We have been given the truth, yet rejected it, as we did our Lord and Savior. There is only one answer, and that is that God's judgment will be tempered by His mercy. He is able to restore to those who seek him, through repentance, life in abundance and salvation now, and for all eternity. His gift is love, peace. His gift is creation, and the gift of His only begotten Son. (A gift of creation, given in Love). Not, like Michael, who's wifes hate for him, manifested that hate to her unborn child, for his child, their child, who secretly terminated his young existance, refusing to bring it into their corrupted world. How does one endure all that pain and suffering?

What is your legacy? What will you teach your children by your actions?
Through you, will they learn of war or peace? If you don't root out the seed of corruption, nothing else will matter. Stop the hate before its too late.

Now imagine this, an empty room, all you can see is a beautiful rose. You see its color, red. You did not have anything to do with its presence or beauty. Yet it has captivated you and given you not only pleasure to look at it, but the scent has filled you with delight. We know what the effect of the rose has been on you. The question remains as to what effect your presence will be on the rose.

Hopefully, we can learn co-existance regardless of our differences, respecting each other without harm and with appreciation for the gift we are. We must learn to be gifts to each other.

Will Michael ever learn? Will we ever learn? Why are we hell-bent on destruction? Lent gives us an opportunity for reflection and to change direction. All we need do is come to the "Giver of Life."

Reference of scripture are taken from The Orthodox Study Bible

Preparing for the End of the World?

People seem sure that this is in fact, the year the world will end. I watched several people hoarding food supplies and preparing for their survival, on Fox News this morning. On who's authority does this come? It is a lie. We simply do not know...."when."

If you really think about it, you will understand just how foolish it is. Those of you who have watched the television show "hoarding" know that it is thought a sickness to accumulate more than you actually need. We are reminded of a warning that comes to Wealthy Christians: (1Timothy 6:17-19)"Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share. Storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."
You may recall the story about the man who built more barns to store the abundance of his crops and his goods, thinking he could take his ease and be merry. The answer is clear. Given to us in (Luke 12:20), "But God said to him, 'Fool! this night your soul will be required of you: then whose will those things be which you have provided?' (21). "So is he who lays up treasurers for himself, and is not rich toward God."
To those who think they can self-sustain for even two years, I ask you to think about how long will you be able to keep the crowds back? Realize that this action is foolish.

It is time to think about what is really important. (Luke 12:22-23)In this passage we read: "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. (23) "Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing."

The end comes when God says so, not man. We should always be spiritually ready to meet Him with gladness.(Hebrews 13:5) "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

In the end, I hope you will place your "trust" in Him. (Scriptual references taken from: The Orthodox Study Bible)...