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IT IS NO TIME TO PANIC BUT IT IS THE TIME TO SIMPLIFY TOWARD LIFE LIKE THAT OF JESUS

Is it time to simplify?

We believe that's the "message" from Wall Street.

The Lord wants us to stop being so consumed with the complexities of money (especially false paper wealth), and get back to the basics.

We have seen with the recent crisis how the "economy" is a house of cards -- a mirage that the government must now prop up.

That mirage -- the modern way of economics -- has had devastating effects on family values, the food we eat (it is now all processed, and full of salt), and degraded our environment. Unfortunately too many think that success resides within serving the self instead of others. Sell. Sell. Sell. No one has time unless they can make money from you.

While the smaller farmers go bankrupt, commodity brokers (selling the farm products) make millions by the time they are in their late twenties.

This is out of accord with the plan of God and so is the artificial construct around us. Simplify. Head back toward self-sufficiency. Slowly but surely, orient yourself to a more natural way of life. If you can, grow some of your own food, and do it without harmful chemicals. A modern plague: cancer. And obesity? With all the salt and sugar and hydrogenated oil in food, it is nearly impossible not to become overweight.

We recently mentioned a book called Foods Jesus Ate and How to Grow Them, and it is most intriguing. As it turns out, most of us can grow many of the foods found in the Holy Land, and they are healthy for us.

Whole-wheat bread. Is it time to learn how to make our own? Grapes. You can grow these, if you have a yard. Barley, if it is a large area you own. Parsley. Basil. Lettuce. Horseradish. Peppers. Endive. Lentils. Apples. Apricots. Melons. Cucumbers. Fava beans. Chickpeas. Garlic. Onions. Leeks. Those are all foods that surrounded the Holy Family. Go the simple way of St. Thérèse. Note that when Mary has appeared in apparition, it has been amid peasants.

Fig trees? What a feeling it is to sit under a fig tree (which represents the protection of God). They can be grown (with proper winter protection) even in Upstate New York. Apricots? The book explains how to grow them and also gives many simple but powerfully historic recipes that bring us back in touch with Creation (with no synthetic middleman).

We can add favorites like tomatoes, and you can grow chicory or peppers even between shrubs. In some places, we waste water (and chemicals) on grass where we could have a little patch for food. Herbs can be grown in a pot, ceramic tub, or window box.

Even if you don't own a large hunk of land, crops can be raised so that they blend into and enhance your landscaping. There is a move afoot at gardening in such a way as to make berry bushes look attractive in a circular pattern. You can grow herbs all around your home. In some cities, urban gardening is taking hold.

A little land yields more food than you think and it should be grown with natural components -- what God designed, not some chemical company. Many allergies are due to synthetics.

And then there is Wall Street:

If our economy and infrastructure broke down -- such that foodstuffs could not be transported, at least for a while -- it would be good to have a fallback position. Look what happens in the wake of even minor hurricanes.

Why not grow our own? Why not start to wean ourselves from mass production? The Vatican -- which this week installed solar panels -- has urged a return to small farming.

It is where (slowly but surely) things are headed. "Many inventions of mankind will be broken down and there will be more of a peasant attitude and way of life everywhere," said a prophecy we have followed. "You think of the changes in very simple ways, without realizing the fundamental mistakes of mankind. The very artifice of your societies is false and against the accordance of God's Will. This artifice shall not last. Your very conceptions of happiness and comforts are a great evil and falsity. They will not stand."

We can visualize Jesus gardening. We can not visualize Him shouting at the New York Stock Exchange.

At the least, let's bring back small farms.

Note the course of society since small farms (and corner stores, and town markets) were dismantled.

These days, many foods you eat are even genetically-modified (with no label telling you that).

It doesn't mean going back to the "stone age." It does mean being more in tune with Creation. The devil is in the details and there are more details with complexity. So convoluted is the current economic system that experts did not even see the crisis coming.

Simplify. Find happiness in what comes directly from God. Also, simplify your finances. Don't try to "play" the market. Do what you can, if you can. Every little bit helps.

Somewhere down the road -- especially in terms of health -- you may be glad you did.

[resources: Foods Jesus Ate and How to Grow Them and Tower of Light]

[see also: Wall Street's iconic bell wouldn't ring at start of Monday and Toxic fat]

[Retreat, Michael H. Brown, Florida: hope in a tumultuous time]