The Legend of Johnny Appleseed
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Some of the most important people in history are barely remembered - the good they did overshadowed by the egos of those who spin our memories to their own ends. John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, was a pioneer saint (or guru or holy man if you prefer different wording) who was apparently able to do things the most of us would consider impossible. He (as with the legend of St. Francis of Assisi) had a rapport with Nature so deep that he was rarely hurt in his travels through then-wild areas of this part of the country. He was so solicitous of living things he would not purposely kill a bug, and was said to even believe that plants suffered when cut so he never grafted his apple trees but always planted them by seed.
This poor traveler was so sympathetic with those he met that absolutely everyone liked him. Settlers, Indians, no matter where he went he was safe because you could feel he was friendly. I have noticed this in my reading of historical figures and analyzing my own life: if you put out a good vibe you'll, sooner or later, get good vibes in return. The American Indian medicine man Rolling Thunder also has such a rapport with Nature that he is never stung by bees as he picks herbs, and is so in synch with Nature's (or God's) will that he has demonstrated paranormal capacities such as weather control. I worked in the Lower East Side of Manhattan (a tough place years ago; President Reagan visited there and was shot at by someone from the Puerto Rican Liberation Front) but I was never hurt there. The dedicated scientist Nikola Tesla (another historical figure with seemingly miraculous powers) is still today ignored by the mainstream media -
despite his role in the invention of: alternating current; the fluorescent light bulb; radio; modern space applications; the still-suppressed wireless transmission of power, and space weaponry.
John Chapman was so generous he never had any clothes to speak of because he was all the time giving his own away. He cared so little of himself that he went barefoot nearly year round. He couldn't stand to see horses suffer, so when he saw one being poorly treated he paid for it to be put out to pasture. He would never eat until he made sure everyone else around had food, and when he did eat he was vegetarian. People thought he was crazy because he never cared too much about money. Rather than waste money on a hat he used his cooking pan as one and added a visor to it with some found material to shade his eyes from the sun. Indians thought of him as a white medicine man, as he knew how to use herbs for medicine.
John Chapman is the reason there are so many apple trees growing in our part of the world. Every fall season he would return to Western Pennsylvania and gather apple seeds that were thrown in piles near apple cider presses, then carry those seeds to plant in out of the way nooks in the woods, then later return to tend them. The young apple plants people couldn't pay for he gave away, or traded for whatever they might have to give to him that he could use.
A follower of the religious mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, Chapman served humans and other creatures every day, and - despite his voluntary extreme simplicity and poverty - must be said to have been at least as happy as everybody else.
So, in this time of great trouble and tremendous environmental destruction - with so many pressures seeming to lead to the idea that a person has to be uncaring and even vicious to get ahead in this world - it renews our faith in life to recognize it's love not money rules.
======
Some of the most important people in history are barely remembered - the good they did overshadowed by the egos of those who spin our memories to their own ends. John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, was a pioneer saint (or guru or holy man if you prefer different wording) who was apparently able to do things the most of us would consider impossible. He (as with the legend of St. Francis of Assisi) had a rapport with Nature so deep that he was rarely hurt in his travels through then-wild areas of this part of the country. He was so solicitous of living things he would not purposely kill a bug, and was said to even believe that plants suffered when cut so he never grafted his apple trees but always planted them by seed.
This poor traveler was so sympathetic with those he met that absolutely everyone liked him. Settlers, Indians, no matter where he went he was safe because you could feel he was friendly. I have noticed this in my reading of historical figures and analyzing my own life: if you put out a good vibe you'll, sooner or later, get good vibes in return. The American Indian medicine man Rolling Thunder also has such a rapport with Nature that he is never stung by bees as he picks herbs, and is so in synch with Nature's (or God's) will that he has demonstrated paranormal capacities such as weather control. I worked in the Lower East Side of Manhattan (a tough place years ago; President Reagan visited there and was shot at by someone from the Puerto Rican Liberation Front) but I was never hurt there. The dedicated scientist Nikola Tesla (another historical figure with seemingly miraculous powers) is still today ignored by the mainstream media -
despite his role in the invention of: alternating current; the fluorescent light bulb; radio; modern space applications; the still-suppressed wireless transmission of power, and space weaponry.
John Chapman was so generous he never had any clothes to speak of because he was all the time giving his own away. He cared so little of himself that he went barefoot nearly year round. He couldn't stand to see horses suffer, so when he saw one being poorly treated he paid for it to be put out to pasture. He would never eat until he made sure everyone else around had food, and when he did eat he was vegetarian. People thought he was crazy because he never cared too much about money. Rather than waste money on a hat he used his cooking pan as one and added a visor to it with some found material to shade his eyes from the sun. Indians thought of him as a white medicine man, as he knew how to use herbs for medicine.
John Chapman is the reason there are so many apple trees growing in our part of the world. Every fall season he would return to Western Pennsylvania and gather apple seeds that were thrown in piles near apple cider presses, then carry those seeds to plant in out of the way nooks in the woods, then later return to tend them. The young apple plants people couldn't pay for he gave away, or traded for whatever they might have to give to him that he could use.
A follower of the religious mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, Chapman served humans and other creatures every day, and - despite his voluntary extreme simplicity and poverty - must be said to have been at least as happy as everybody else.
So, in this time of great trouble and tremendous environmental destruction - with so many pressures seeming to lead to the idea that a person has to be uncaring and even vicious to get ahead in this world - it renews our faith in life to recognize it's love not money rules.
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posted by St. Jim the Composter at 8:40 AM
1 Comments:
It's not uncommon for me, that when I'm driving through uptown or the lower hill on my way somewhere downtown, I wonder where on old Grant's Hill he had his cabin.. It's a real trip to think he built and lived in his own place for years right around there... I don't even think most Pgh.ers know this, but it warms my heart to think of him putting his energy into this place.
Further evidence of the 'power of the point'?? :)
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