Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Recursion

(56,582 posts)
Sun Mar 3, 2013, 08:22 AM Mar 2013

A new prophet rises from the Ashes of Waco

http://alexhannaford.com/wacotext.html

When the sun sets, there’s a certain peacefulness, beauty, even, about this sparse 77-acre plot of land, 12 miles northeast of Waco. But the past couple of summers have seen the searing Texas heat dry up the two small lakes, and in winter the lack of trees due south makes the wind blow hard and cold, and it feels bleak and foreboding. It’s not the sort of place you’d imagine hundreds of people descending upon, setting up tents, bringing motorhomes, or building cabins. Yet Charles Pace, the burly trustee of the property and pastor of the wooden church here, is convinced they will — and soon.

A couple of years ago, Pace hired diggers to clear some of the gumtrees and thorny mesquite that sprout like weeds from the dry soil down by the lakes; the large catering kitchen that he has built on to the church in the centre of the ranch is finished; and the old dairy, a ramshackle brick construction at the back of the property, now houses all the ephemera Pace has collected for his experiments in aquaponics: he has been raising fish and running the fertilised water through gravel beds to use as organic plant food, but this year he intends to do it on a much larger scale.

Chickens roam free, pecking at the ground, and Pace plans to grow fruit and vegetables this spring. “We are reclaiming the Earth for God,” he says. “Creating a garden of Eden.” Pace believes that hundreds, if not thousands, of people will come here; that something extraordinary is about to happen in Waco. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Mount Carmel, as the ranch is known, is named after a mountain in northern Israel and has seen a few prophets in its time, none more notorious than Vernon Howell, a preacher who went by the name David Koresh. On February 28, 1993, he led the Branch Davidian religious sect into a 51-day armed standoff with agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), who were investigating allegations of illegal weapons-hoarding.
2 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
A new prophet rises from the Ashes of Waco (Original Post) Recursion Mar 2013 OP
And the south will rise again! TexasProgresive Mar 2013 #1
Wind Map says there's a south wind blowing right now Recursion Mar 2013 #2

TexasProgresive

(12,148 posts)
1. And the south will rise again!
Sun Mar 3, 2013, 08:49 AM
Mar 2013

Speaking of the south and cold winds. In Texas the south wind is always warm and humid. Perhaps the author meant the north (west) wind. in winter the lack of trees due south makes the wind blow hard and cold

Recursion

(56,582 posts)
2. Wind Map says there's a south wind blowing right now
Sun Mar 3, 2013, 12:46 PM
Mar 2013
http://hint.fm/wind/

I used to live in Irving and cold fronts would always come from the north, but Carmel's topography may have a lot to do with where the local winds come from.
Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Editorials & Other Articles»A new prophet rises from ...