Food & Faith Reflection 5

I read this book for a Theology class taught by one of my favourite teachers. Here is a reflection written on gardening after reading Wirzba:

Reflection 5:

"What does it mean to be a gardener, or to simply garden? Firstly, gardening is not a simple task. As to what it means to be a gardener, it is experiential rather than theoretical. Gardening was given to humans as a “fundamental identity and vocation” (35). Gardening was given to us as a means to understand our relationship to creation through God. Because gardening is so personal and valuable to the individual’s relationship to God’s creation, one must recognize that gardening is not reducible to a recreational activity. Too often, gardening is a pastime and not understood to be a great nurturing to not only the human body, but also the human soul. “When we garden poorly or recklessly, we will inevitably lay waste to the world” (37), because of the intimate theme and care that was put into the creation of the first garden. Our culture has conditioned us to lose our place and identity. To have a place is to have an identity in the world and the land on which we live. The places where we eat define who we are, and where we choose to find our place. To find place is to cultivate the land and essentially grow the food you eat to glorify God. Unfortunately, people have lost the connection to the land, to their place, and to their identity. We have little contact with one another because we are on a constant move and are focused on the things that are unimportant like computer screens and phone applications. The effect of this behaviour deadens our senses and affections due to the anonymity we face daily. We have become isolated while constantly moving to different places but not making connections. We do not know how to dwell in places. To dwell is to make a home in a place; to build a network and home in a place. “Building is not simply the means to dwelling” (42) but it is an expression of dwelling itself. To dwell is to cherish, protect, preserve and to care. Yet, when we come to a place, we do not know how to be there, and we become destructive. We are uncomfortable with dwelling, and with slowing down, even though God created us to do both those acts which is why he created the Sabbath. To rest. The pinnacle of creation was not humans, but the Sabbath. The Sabbath day was created to worship God for the gifts he has given us. Human restlessness jeopardizes the Sabbath by searching for something bigger and better, but God rests because God does not need nor want another place to be. To rest, we as people need to recognize that we did not create ourselves, or the world. We live because of the grace of God. By accepting the grace of Sabbath, and resting in God, we can tap into our connection with God, and recognize the intimate nature of the creation and being one with God through food. Food comes from creation, which God put so much care and love into. To garden, you do not need to know everything, but you do need the patience to learn. Gardening reveals the nature of humanity. God is the first gardener, so to grow well, treat the land you cultivate with the love and care as God did. Gardening shows the “membership” we have with creation. By devoting ourselves to strengthen our membership with the creation, we are being good gardeners. Stewards. We let go of our egos and personal desires, and see God’s light shine through our work. When we realize creation is in membership with us, the food we eat, the relationships we make, and the triumphs we accomplish are aimed towards the care of our membership. Wrizba mentions that instead of “environment” we should call the creation “home place” (60). People are less likely to be destructive of their home than the “environment” that supports their “home”. The human vocation is to reflect God’s love on the earth.

A sentence that stood out to me the most in this chapter said, “One of our greatest temptations is to think we live alone” (59). I think that sentence speaks an abundance amount of truth, and we do everything possible to live out that temptation. We build fences, walls, and other barriers like moats and lakes to separate us from other people. By lack of connection to God’s creation, we lose touch of the important connections that were intended for us. I think it is so sad how relevant this chapter is to today’s society. That the definition of culture has lost its true meaning of cultivated land and now means who people are. The land is constantly forgotten, and when remembered, destroyed for our enjoyment. Gardening is an interesting idea for me. See, in this chapter, Wirzba talks of gardening as a means to the land, but as I read page 51 which said, “To garden is to unseat oneself as the center of primary importance and instead turn one’s life into various forms of service […]”. Leadership can be a form of gardening. Teaching can be a form of gardening. Anything we do that supports the membership of people to land is a form of gardening whether is it physically with the land or not. I think that is absolutely amazing, and by showing God’s love to other people, you are fulfilling the vocation we were given. When our eyes are opened from the demands of our culture/society, we see God’s grace, and we can use God’s grace to show his love through food and care. To be an influence is important too. Taking a Sabbath. Telling others about the rest that God has gifted to you. Every little bit helps."