Today Safi and I took a walk up the mountain to our spring. MashaAllah, the flowing water never ceases to expand my heart. Safi enjoyed it so much he was snoring in a minute’s time. It’s a gorgeous spring day here. The aspens are exploding with lime leafage and the mountain side it turning a very becoming shade of very alive green! But before you start envying me….wait:
This life is hard.
It’s not easy or idyllic most of the time. Generally it’s a struggle not to have running water in our homes. Having a baby has really driven this point home for me. A lot of you think I’m crazy for choosing this life, I know. A one room straw & bail house with no bathroom and no running water. Sounds like a nightmare…I know. That’s what I thought before I lived it. I didn’t think I could do it. I didn’t think I had the courage or the desire to live without the simple luxury of running water. I’m finding that I do have the courage and that I can indeed do it! It’s crazy, the thought of peeing outside, right? It’s crazy to think about pooping straight into a giant hole dug into the Earth with a little wooden house over it, right? Crazy. I know.
Yes, I think it’s crazy too. But I think not living this way is crazy too. I think God will ask us on the day of judgement about our running water. I think He will want to know how much garbage waste we produced. I think we will have to account for our dollars spent – did our money support slavery? Did it support structures that were unjust? Did it make for a greater divide between the “1st and 3rd worlds?”
We have choices. We have choices to live simpler, cleaner lives. We have the choice to live lives free from the constraints of “what’s in” or “out.” We have the choice to live conscientious lives. In truth, I feel closer to the rest of my human family by living this life. I feel closer to the One who made us because of this life. It reminds me that clean running water is a luxury. Clean eating and good food are a luxury. I’m coming to understand that luxury means very different things depending on who you ask.
I feel spoiled to drink water that comes straight out of my mountain—-to me it is a true luxury. I feel luxurious to eat food that is grown from this Earth without any help from corporations or conglomerates. Just good old dirt, sun, water and a lil sprinkle of love. It all sounds fine and dandy right? But then you have to use an outhouse and compost all your organic waste. You have to carry water to your home and use it consciously so you don’t run out before you can get more.
I’m a normal girl who went to normal high school who went on to normal college who lived in a normal house in a normal neighborhood with normal friends and family. Now I live this life that isn’t so “normal.” I didn’t think I could do it. I’m not any different than you. I’m not superwoman with superwoman powers. I’m not some rugged mountain hiking bad ass chick. I’m just this girl out of Flint, Mi and here I am living on a mountain because I believe the Earth has rights over me and I hope to fulfill them. I believe I deserve to drink pristine water without chemicals in it and eat food that was engineered in a lab but by God’s perfect original engineering. I believe in this kind of luxury. The luxury of living in a way that draws us nearer to our Creator. InshaAllah.
