01 08 13 Manger Throne

One of the things that I love about permaculture is that it works.  For instance plants that are cultivated in partnership with other species make the land even more fruitful than single crop production, without using chemical fertilizers or pesticides.  An example of this is the three sisters: squash, corn and  beans allows one plant (beans) to draw nutrients up into the surrounding soil and feeding its neighbor plants, another (squash) to cover the ground and keep away weeds and invasive plants, another (corn) to provide a tall stalk, and yet another (beans again) climbs the stalk.  In this way all have just what they need to flourish because they grow in proper relationship with one another.

There is also a practical side to any healthy spirituality.  The Wisdom literature of the Old Testament (Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes), for instance, has a goal of showing that life is good—that is, practical—for people who follow the way of the Lord.  Any religious practice that is not a good way for God’s creatures to live simply does not make sense.

For this reason alone the arrival of the Lord God in the birth of Jesus requires some extra scrutiny.  How are we to interpret the defenselessness of Jesus as a proper way to make the Creator of the universe manifest among us?  How can we interpret the majesty and power of God when we what we see is a mewling infant, born in a barn, to poor and not very powerful parents?  If this is how God chooses to come among us, we absolutely must ask: Why?

I suppose I have already shared some thoughts on this—that God signals us through the birth and life of Jesus that God is with us, cares passionately about us, and continues to be at work in, through and around us.  But there are two more reasons that I really need to lift up.  Both are essential for humanity, but the second is especially important when we think of what redemption means for the planet today.

The first is that the salvation God brings through Jesus requires a partnership of God and creature.  God has the desire and power to bring salvation to the created order, but though humans may discover that they desire salvation, they lack the power.  Sin is real and we are stymied when we try on our own to fix ourselves, or our world.  It really does take a power greater than ourselves if salvation is to become real, and it is only by the power of God that our best efforts become effective for good.

Yet, God wishes this salvation to emerge into our creaturely reality—not just in some heavenly bliss after death.  If real existence is to become a celebration of God’s salvation, it requires the creatures to live it out.  And on earth, humans are the most powerful of all creatures. Jesus was born as the perfect communion between God and creature, so that God could join with the creaturely realm—including humanity, to bring real salvation to the cosmos. 

In Jesus, God’s power joins with perfect human obedience to bring salvation.  Christ demonstrated who God is to his followers and demonstrated what living a life of trust in God looks like for human beings.  Jesus also demonstrated the power of God in the world, teaching with authority, healing the sick, casting out demons and lifting up the outcast and the downtrodden.  These same actions demonstrated what Jesus was teaching: that repentance—intentional change on the part of humans—is necessary if God’s project of redeeming the earth is to continue.  Quickly enough, Jesus’ call for change brought upon him the wrath of the powerful.  It was for this reason that he was put to death.

The wrath of the powerful brings me to the second reason why it was so important for the majesty and power of God to appear in a defenseless human child.  The arrival of the Christ in such humble circumstances defines the Kingdom of God that is continually breaking-in on the world. 

Just because the ancient language of “Kings” and “Kingdom of God” is used, we should not miss how Jesus demonstrated that kingdom.  In the Kingdom of God, the King does not identify himself with the powerful and the mighty, but with the poor, the outcast and the defenseless. 

·      According to Bible scholars, at the time of Jesus’ birth shepherds were considered such renegades that their testimony was often not allowed in court.  Yet the shepherds were the ones given the honor at Jesus’ birth of being the ones to receive the angels, and then to be the first to proclaim the good news. 

·      The magi from the East were not even a part of the Chosen People, yet they were the ones who were so open to the new thing God would do that they saw the signs in the stars as a sign from God.  They were the ones we still remember because they demonstrated such faith that they embarked on what some believe was a two-year journey to find this newborn king.

·      Throughout Jesus’ ministry people were confused, and often put off, by the fact that he did not raise armies, did not force his control on the political or religious leaders of the day.  Instead he healed the sick, especially those whose sickness had caused them to become outcasts; brought repentance to sinners, whose sin had cut them off from God and God’s people; and stood as a stark contrast to all powers that exalted the powerful at the expense of the poor and the weak.

The arrival of the power of God in Jesus represents a move away from domination and control as a way of salvation, and moves toward communion between God and creatures as God’s way.  It must have been a shock when Jesus, a poor carpenter from Galilee, began his ministry, saying:

“The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

                                                                                                            Mark 1:15

The questions for followers of Christ must therefore be framed something like this:

1. Do we acknowledge God’s grace in our own lives, accepting that we do not have the power or the wisdom to bring about our own saving transformation?
   
   
2. Accepting our need for God, and God’s offer of salvation through a relationship with God, do we then accept God’s way and purpose as our way and purpose?
   
   
3. Since Jesus demonstrated God’s way as being not through human ways of power and prestige, but through intentional relationships between God and God’s beloved creation, and through identification with the poor and the downtrodden…
   
   How shall we live out the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom into the world right now?  How shall we live in a ways that lift up the poor, the disempowered and the outcast?  How can we live in ways that that do not further the empowerment of a few and the disempowerment of so many others?  How can we live in ways that allow all creation and all generations to have the best chance to thrive, rather than focusing only on what we want, or what is convenient for this generation?

Each generation needs to live out the answers to these questions in ways that fit them; life is about change and so we must constantly adapt to that change.  However, whatever form we live out the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom on earth (that is, this thing-that-is-always-new) it must always be lived out in word and in deed as a participation in God’s movement.  It is from God, not ourselves, that the creativity and the power for real change comes.  It is from God that our best efforts are empowered, and become effective for good.

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For me and my wife, the permaculture movement has provided some excellent guidance for living out the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God at this moment in history.  Permaculture

·         seeks a way of life that builds human cooperatives and other collaborative human relationships that are not based on exploitation or hierarchical empowerment;

·         seeks a way of living with the earth that Christians may recognize—a way of life where humans live-out the Genesis 2 commandment to live in relationship with the land, getting their food from it and caring for it;

·         seeks a way of life where human societies are based on cooperative relationships, and human life and society know themselves to exist in relationship with all creatures on God’s beloved planet, beginning with the people and the land in their immediate vicinity.

Manger Throne:--a Christmas Song

What kind of King would leave His throne
In Heaven to make this earth His home?
While men seek fame and great renown
In loneliness our King comes down

Jesus, Jesus, precious One
How we thank You that You've come
Jesus, Jesus, precious One
A manger throne for God’s own Son

You left the sound of angels' praise
To come for men with unkind ways
And by this Baby's helplessness
The power of nations is laid to rest

What kind of King would come so small
From glory to a humble stall?
That dirty manger is my heart, too
I'll make it a royal throne for You

My heart is a throne
My heart is a throne for God's own Son

Where the Christ is Found

 

“In him we live and move and have our being.”  (Acts 2:18)

I once had a poster that shared a piece of wisdom that in necessary for a healthy spiritual life.  The poster depicted a kindly face on a poster with this statement at the bottom:

I have two pieces of good news:

There is a Savior,

And it is not you!

I have always appreciated this piece of wisdom.  Although God gives meaningful purpose to our lives, we do need to remember that we can only do our part, and that we should not entertain the notion that we need to be in control of how things turn out.  It is a trap to begin believing that we should be in control of things that are beyond our control.

This is something Cindee and I are trying to live out at our home and in our lives.  Like all human beings, we need to live better on the planet than we have if we are to be a part of the healing of our damaged planet.  We are trying to grow or collect more of our own food, to live in a more environmentally friendly house, to be part of building local networks, and to do other things that enhance healthy, sustainable interdependent relationships between people and other creatures. 

But the truth is, we are limited in our understanding and in our personal power.  We are limited in our understanding of anything—even in understanding the complex natural environment on the property where we live.  We can do our best to help the land and life on the property to flourish, but we truly only know so much, and so our best efforts will inevitably miss the mark to some degree.

Similarly, we can, and do, work hard on land relationships and on community relationships.  But truly, we all know that we can’t control the weather, or invasive plant diseases, or other natural phenomena.  And the maintenance of friendships and human relationships is always complicated.  The point is, we can do our best with the understanding that we have, but it would be a mistake to think that we to think that we actually have control of very much.

You and I are not the Savior.  And this is good news, because it is only that knowledge that keeps us sane.  When we forget that fact (like when we start believing and acting as if we should be in control of things we cannot control) then we begin thinking and acting in ways that are good neither for ourselves nor for those around us.  In short, we try to be what we can not be, rather than what and who we truly are.

Yet, in God we discover that there is salvation, and that salvation appeared to us in Jesus.  Christmas is about a baby’s birth—the birth of Jesus, the Savior.  In that birth we receive some profoundly important information about God. 

·      We see that God is not distant, but chooses to be found with us and among us;

·      We see that God is not uncaring, or unmoved by our needs.  Rather, God is responsive to our true needs.  In Jesus we see that God joins in creation’s history and joins in our lives;

·      We see that God’s relational nature works through the whole created order, including everything from angels from heaven, to the creation in which we live (the Star in the East), to the political systems (prophesy fulfilled through a journey for a governmental census), to the people who witnessed it (shepherds, receiving and proclaiming the news).

So…as I think about where the Savior was found, I am left thinking about how well I incorporate this knowledge into my life, and I challenge you to do the same.  For my part, today I am thinking about questions like these (you can come up with your own):

·      How consistent am I in keeping track of what I do have control over, and what I do not? 

For me, my best grade card on this score comes from my emotions.  When I am living with an undercurrent of fear, or anger, or shame, then I am either being lazy about something I can do, or I am trying to get control of something beyond my grasp.

·      Knowing that God cares about my world and about me, how well am I keeping my eyes open to what God is doing in the world, or in my life?

Since God is at work to care for and redeem the whole created order, and wishes us to participate in God’s work, I need to pay attention to all that is happening around me.  Maybe a related question for me would be this:

Where can I recognize God’s presence, moment by moment, as my life continues to unfold?

·      AND…how consistent am I in going to God with my celebrations and my concerns? 

God wishes to be in relationship with me (and all of us).  Personally, I find that it is in living out this relationship (including prayer) that I am most successful in letting God be in control, and in participating whole-heartedly in what God is doing.

The Longing to Worship

When I walk in the hills around my house every evening, I am moved to an ever deeper awareness of the beauty of the relationships that make our world function.  The glaciers melt and provide the water for the river in the valley. The salmon spawn in the rivers, providing food for bears and Eagles, which leave the uneaten parts in the forests to decay and fertilize the soil.  The plants flourish in amazing abundance, nourished by the soil as well as the fungi and other micro-organisms that are necessary to upload nutrients for the benefit of the plants.  The humans in this region have set aside this land as a state park, where only certain areas are to be used for human habitation and the rest is a nature preserve.  All of it is about relationships, in which what one creature does affects all others, resulting in a complex, and marvelous ecosystem.

The amazingly relational nature of God's creation offers a window on the nature of Christ's birth, as well.  As we come to the manger at Christmas, we are called to come with eyes of faith, recognizing that in this tiny babe “the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Colossians 1:19).  This is an important statement, because one of the faith aspects in approaching the manger is one of awe and worship.  For a person of faith it is not enough to approach the manger only interested in “the story” that has been passed on.  Wise stories are valuable, to be sure, but worship results in the realization that something more than a well-constructed human story is at work here.  Worship recognizes that God is present among us by choice, choosing to exist and respond in relationship with (and among the relationships of) all creation.  We approach the manger with wonder and awe, because the manger cradles a baby, and that baby is a sue sign that it is God's choice to be personally involved in the "real life" of God's creation.

Quite honestly, though, I need to state this awareness more personally.  Because I believe God’s advent in the child, Jesus, is a sign of God’s choice to be in relationship with creation I am drawn also to believe that God must be aware of individual persons, and specific moments.  That is, the appearance of God in the birth of a specific child helps me to understand why it is that I believe God loves me…and you, and each creature God created.  It is in God’s nature to create the whole universe, yet to love personally.  

Note that I am simply trying to describe what I believe.  It is not a belief I have manufactured.  It is a belief I have that I am trying to describe.  It is as if the belief were born in me and resides in the manger of my heart, whether I wanted it or not.  My work, then, is to try to learn from it, describe it, and live it...and, in those inevitable periods of doubt, to wrestle with it until God clarifies more clearly why it is that this faith persists beyond the doubt.

So, as always, I am asking myself what my response should be…as I approach the manger at Christmas, what should my acts of worship be?  I am asking myself questions like these:

·      How does my life reflect the God who created me and loves me?

·      How well do make sure I am truly present in own relationships, as God was in Jesus and continues to be in the Spirit?  

·      How do I show or communicate what an honor it is to be in this amazing relationship with God?

·      How well do I somehow show or communicate what an honor it is to participate in these amazing relationships among the people and the creatures that God loves?

·      How well do I join with and support others as they, also, respond to God?

Colossians 1:15-17

¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Approaching the Manger

 

For Christians the Christmas season traditionally runs all the way through the celebration of the arrival of the magi on January 6.  I have been using these days since Christmas to reflect more on Jesus and what his birth has meant for humanity and for all creation. 

As this Christmas week has passed I have collected an amazing mixture of impressions.  I have enjoyed family gatherings, I have listened to the ongoing news of political brinksmanship, I have walked in these December evenings and marveled at their beauty, and I have learned of people struggling with things like the after-effects of storms and the grief and fear of the Newtown shootings. Through all of this I have wondered about the import of Jesus, born among us on that first Christmas.  I have been thinking about how to understand the difference it makes in our day-to-day lives that Jesus was born.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a well-known 20^th century theologian, pointed out that we approach the manger, hearing of Jesus’ birth, in one of two ways: either we approach out of faith, or out of habit.  According to Bonhoeffer, people of faith approach the cradle recognizing that in this baby, somehow God has come among us to judge creation and to redeem it.  Bonhoeffer then goes on to ask this:

What does that mean? Isn’t all of this just a way of speaking? Isn’t it just pastoral exaggeration of a pretty and pious legend? What does it mean that such things are said about the Christ child? Those who want to take it as a way of speaking will do so and continue to celebrate Advent and Christmas as before, with pagan indifference. For us it is not just a way of speaking. For that’s just it: it is God himself, the Lord and Creator of all things, who is so small here, who is hidden here in the corner, who enters into the plainness of the world, who meets us in the helplessness and defenselessness of a child, and wants to be with us. And he does this not out of playfulness or sport, because we find that so touching, but in order to show us where he is and who he is, and in order from this place to judge and devalue and dethrone all human ambition. The throne of God in the world is not on human thrones, but in human depths, in the manger. Standing around his throne there are no flattering vassals but dark, unknown, questionable figures who cannot get their fill of this miracle and want to live entirely by the mercy of God.

 

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich , God Is In the Manger (Kindle Location 768). Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition (emphasis mine).

Over the next few days I want to lift up Bonhoeffer’s suggestion that God came among us in Jesus Christ in order to show who he and where he is, and in order from this palce to judge and devalue and throne all human ambition.  I think Bonhoeffer is right that people come to Christmas either through faith or through habit or civic tradition.  I would like to think more about what it entails to approach the manger out of faith.

And surely it begins by recognizing the mystery that God has, indeed, come among us.  I am one of many who have marveled that the creator of this universe has taken on flesh among us.  When I walk in the evenings and think about the mind-boggling vastness of the universe, in which our solar system is but a speck, and our planet is but a speck within a speck, and baby Jesus was but half-a-speck within a speck within a speck…how is it possible that the Creator of all of this is somehow fully among us in that baby?  And how is the majesty of God, the Creator of all, shown to us in the defenselessness of that child?

I look forward to sharing more on this over the next few days.

Why Christmas Joy?

                                          But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord,
                                          I wait for God my Savior;
                                          my God will hear me.                                  Micah 7:7

I always love the season of Advent and Christmas.  Advent is a season of reminding us that God acts in concrete ways that really make a difference, and that we should always be waiting, with great expectation, for those tipping-point moments when unusual things can happen. 

People of faith have always waited with that kind of expectation.  According the Bible, the people of old suffered and waited for God to send the Messiah to restore the people, and all creation to God (see Isaiah 11, one of my favorites for this).  Over the years the expectation of a coming Messiah grew so much that many wondered if John the Baptizer might be the Messiah (Luke 3:15).  Indeed, because of this growing expectation, when Jesus appeared, some were ready.  There were a few who were ready to follow him, learn from him, and to be a part of that amazing moment of history when Jesus, the Messiah, would act to bring salvation to the world.  Christmas celebrates that amazing moment in history, when Jesus, the Messiah, was born.  It was a long-expected and long-awaited moment in history:  the moment for the birth of a baby was also the moment for the coming of the Savior.

We are at a different moment in history now.  People are worried about many things, and some still know that watching for signs of God’s actions in the world is the answer.  But for some reason many seem to believe that converting Christmas into a consumerist holiday marks a better spirituality than waiting with expectation.  We live in a world with such overwhelming needs, how did Christmas change from a time of watching for God to a time of self-indulgence?

One of the reasons I so love the Christmas worship services is that it stands in such marked contrast to the emptiness of a consumerist Christmas.  Christmas worship speaks of great mystery.  In the infant, Jesus, the fullness of God entered the world, and entered human society as one of us.  The birth of Jesus was the birth of a real person in history.  By celebrating Christmas we remember what God has done already, AND we also remind ourselves of that God is still active in the world.  In celebrating Christmas, Christians recognize that

·      God really is in relationship with us,

·      God really has a purpose for history

·      God really does take action in history, and among us

·      And God really does call people to become disciples, which means to live with and for God’s purpose right now.

Christmas services of worship, and all Christian services of worship, point people to God by standing in contrast to some of the empty ideas that tend to gain traction among us.  We worship a Savior who came among us in self-sacrificing love, not in self-indulgence.  We worship a Savior who cared about those who suffered from sin and from injustice and from those powers that would bring them down.  Jesus came for the poor, the lost and the downtrodden, and calls us to join him in that ongoing ministry.

I intend to celebrate this Christmas with great joy.  Unto us a Savior is born!  Jesus is not a theological idea, but a real person.  And God is not a convenient idea, but the One who is moving all history toward completion.  And we are not empty vessels with no purpose in the world, but Christ’s followers and imitators, God’s agents, God’s amazingly empowered faith community, participating in God’s work to redeem the world. 

Christmas is a time for worship, because God is at work setting things straight.  In worship we remember that, and we hear the call, once again, to know who we are: God’s chosen!  And then to take action ourselves and join-in on what God is doing in the world.

Living as Christians in the Real World

On Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 three more congregations from the Presbytery of Yukon will participate in presbytery’s Acts 16:5 Restart Event.  This event will start a second round of congregations participating in the Acts 16:5 Initiative, a process to help congregations to identify God’s mission for them in the real world communities they live in.  

Personally, I am very enthused about churches entering into this process.  Both the real world experience of our presbytery—which recently participated in an essential, and spiritually vibrant cross-cultural Reconciliation event in the village of Gambell—and my recent reading of The Faith of Leap (please read this book!) have made it clear that not only congregations, but also presbyteries need to grab onto the opportunities offered through the Acts 16:5 Initiative.

Why am I pushing for this kind of work in our churches now?  There are many, many reasons.  For now, though, let me offer two, based on our presbytery’s experience and on one example from The Faith of Leap.

Church leaders in our presbytery know that celebrating cultural diversity is a must for us.  Clearly, we must expect that churches operating in the off-road villages do two things.  They must nurture Christian community work, discipleship and worship in ways that honor God, and they must do it in a way that enhances the faithfulness and health of the people within their own Native Culture.  Similarly, the Korean churches must fit their context and the other road system churches must fit their own, specific communities.  God’s mission is not a fast-food franchise that makes all Christians culturally identical.  Rather God’s mission is a relational one that celebrates the way God created us as diverse peoples across the world.  Jesus Christ died for all of those people, and the church is called to take its form only after observing and learning what God wishes within the local context.

Unfortunately, it has always been a temptation for missionaries to come to a new people and impose their own assumptions upon a people.  We have had to admit the damage that giving-in to such temptations has sometimes caused.  The Acts 16:5 Initiative asks us to learn from those mistakes not make the same kind of mistakes again.  

Instead, the Acts 16:5 Initiative asks the local people to study their own towns, their own hearts, and God’s Word, and only then to take action to form ministries that fit their time and place.  This is an initiative that embraces God-given diversity, while calling on church leaders to mold their uniqueness according to the demands of the gospel. 

The authors of The Faith of Leap insist that this kind of contextual work is essential everywhere today.  Anything less results in a failure to offer Christ’s hospitality to our neighbor—and we all know that Jesus holds loving God and neighbor as non-negotiable.  

On the other hand, loving one’s neighbor is risky.  To consider one’s neighbors concerns as important, and to shape ministry with those concerns in mind is always risky, because when we consider the world’s concerns there is always a risk of syncretism (becoming too much “of the world” rather than “of God”).  Yet, churches dare not become places that refuse to be sent into the world on behalf of Jesus. In the words of The Faith of Leap:

To rediscover the church as missional adventure, we will have to start by reJesusing the church—we need to be willing to factor Jesus, the wild Lord (his life, teachings, ministry, salvation work), back into the equation of church—to become disciples on the Way. And in terms of the church, we will need to rediscover the meaning of the word movement ...[as opposed to] being administrators of a stifling status quo, or worse, purveyors of fine religion.

  (Kindle Locations 281-285).    

The risk of becoming “administrators of a stifling status quo” or “purveyors of fine religion,” rather than followers of our surprising and world-changing Savior is absolutely abhorrent to me!  We must be willing to bring the gospel into the world, addressing the important issues of our own places.  And we must be willing to allow different places to experiment with new ideas on how to form Christian communities that proclaim gospel (good news) in a way that fits their own context.

So, as these churches begin exploring the Acts 16:5 initiative this weekend, please hold them in prayer.  At the same time, take a look at your own church.   Has your church taken the leap that begins the adventure with Christ?

A Few More Quotes

On Adventure

By definition, an adventure is a journey with an uncertain outcome. (Kindle location 363)

We live in an age of considerable uncertainty—who knows what five, ten, twenty years will bring? The combination of climate change, revolutionary technologies, and massive geopolitical shifts alone is enough to cause overwhelming excitement or anxiety.

  (Kindle Locations 367-369).   

Adventure does not consist in something won or lost, enjoyed or endured. Rather, it is the very rhythm of life itself, and acknowledging this transforms mere experience into an adventure.

  (Kindle Locations 373-374).    

It is not an overstatement to summarize Jesus’s work on earth as that of starting an adventure.

  (Kindle Locations 375-376).    

On Doing Ministry That Fits the “Neighborhood”

Part of the problem for the traditional church today is that in many places it is not seen as being for the neighborhood. (Kindle Locations 3269)

Part of the problem with the traditional approach is that the church often blunders into a neighborhood with a preconceived idea of what is wanted or needed. (Kindle Locations 3316)

We need to get to know our neighborhood, intimately and without presuppositions or prejudgments.  This is what Paul Hiebert was suggesting when he talks about doing exegesis on our culture [which is explained in detail in the book]. (Kindle Locations 3316)

Often we launch ministries just for the sake of doing something, anything.  What if we stopped doing something and just sat there in our context?

1. Listen to the rhythms of your context
2. Be employed in the neighborhood.
3. Engage in snowball research.  That is, meet the community gatekeepers, the movers and shakers.  Listen to them.  Hear of their dreams for your neighborhood…
4. Get rid of your church building!!  [At least get rid of “building” as a primary goal!]
5. Say yes to every invitation you receive.  [At the least, always be ready to consider saying “yes,” rather than being too busy for what is your neighbor’s interest]
   “What would happen of we as Christians took the risk of saying yes…?  What groups would we join?  At whose table would we find ourselves eating?  What adventures would we end up having?”
6.  

On the Importance of Risk

Likewise, a church addicted to security and safety is not the church of Jesus Christ; it is in reality something else.

  (Kindle Location 670).    

Living systems theory maintains, rightly, that the sweet spot of innovation takes place on “the edge of chaos,” or on what is called “a burning platform”—a situation where the organization is threatened with possible dissolution.

  (Kindle Locations 698-699).   

Those Amazing Neighbors

[Cindee, my wife, and I live in a bioshelter, and have set up our home as a learning center for sustainable building and living.  Our land is slowly being adapted according to the principles of permaculture.    With that in mind, I have begun a blog on living in a bioshelter.  This article comes from that blog.]
 

Life has been busy and full this summer.  Between working on the various projects that go along with life in our Bioshelter Home, the subsistence fishing and gathering that go along with life in Alaska, and various family activities, we have been busy.  As a result, this blog has fallen on the back burner for some time.  Today, however, I feel moved to write.

One of the great joys this summer has been experimenting with growing things in a greenhouse.  Our neighbor took a job in Oregon and had to vacate her house, at least temporarily. She knew that we wanted a greenhouse eventually, but did not have the time to build one, yet.  She therefore suggested that we use her greenhouse this year.  What a gift!

Our friends might have said that it was predictable that one of the problems Cindee and I ran into with this amazing opportunity was a desire to try EVERYTHING in the greenhouse at once.  Indeed, we decided to try three different types of tomatoes, and tried growing them as close together as we could possibly get away with.  We planted several varieties of peppers, both sweet and hot, but at opposite ends of a 15 ft. greenhouse.  We planted two different varieties of cucumbers, two types of beans (bush and runner), and one variety of squash.  The greenhouse was full, maybe too full, but it has been a rush to watch everything grow, and to  begin, just now, to see the produce emerge.

The thing I want to especially point out in today’s blog, though, is our gratitude to Patty, our neighbor, for making this possible.  We simply had too many projects this summer to begin working on a greenhouse.  Patty’s great belief in the value of sharing, and her naturally generous heart, made the greenhouse a possibility this year.  We are, indeed, grateful.

One of the key principles of permaculture is the absolute necessity of building community.  For instance, as we work with the land we have been given, we take advantage of the existing water flow and enhance it for best drainage and poolage.  Similarly, we take pains to develop the soil and to nurture the combinations and series of plants that grow on it.  As we do all of this we are developing a set of relationships—a community, if you will—of people, water, plants and animals that work together in a sort of harmony.  

Besides the gardening aspect, permaculture also understands how important it is to build sustainable and enduring human communities.  Humans are one species that needs good community to live well and sustainably.  Humans are also a species uniquely capable of either nurturing the whole of life across the planet, or of living so as to threaten life across the planet. We followers of permaculture principles must therefore work to develop healthy and sustainable human communities with the same passion, and the same diligence as we work to develop life on our land.  

In much of America these days people do not get to know their neighbors, nor even think about the values one needs to be a good neighbor.  In these times when our economies are stretched and the need for the radical reform of our social systems stares us in the face, it is essential that we go beyond the comfort zones of what is normal or comfortable to claim ways of living that nurture abundant and sustainable life.  Naming and nurturing the values necessary to be a good neighbor are a part of that.  It helps build local communities, where people care for one another in ways that go way beyond institutional systems.

In this blog I have named two of the qualities behind being a good a good neighbor—the importance of being intentional in reaching out to those around us, and the important value of sharing and generosity.  Indeed, in this example e are so grateful to Patty for her neighborliness.  Besides the greenhouse, we are richer for knowing her.

Since this is a Christian blog, I would add one more thought. As I said above, humans are created to need human community to live well and sustainably.  In previous blogs (May 14, March 6, Nov 16) sI wrote about how the Bible describes the human relationship with the land as one of caring for, protecting and gaining sustenance from the land.  Actually, the Bible often describes God as the gardener, and all creation as the garden.  It is our task to participate with God as both part of the garden, and as a unique part, empowered to help God in the nurturing work.

It should therefore not be a surprise that for Christians, faithfulness to God includes participating in the building of sustaining, nurturing human communities.  Indeed, knowing God is primarily about learning and practicing the values of the kind of relationships that cause humans, and all creation, to thrive well into the future.  For Christians, knowing and caring for one’s neighbor is a primary value.

Matthew 22:36-38:
³⁶ [They asked Jesus,] “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind [Deuteronomy 6:5].’^{[ 38} This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself [Leviticus 19:18].’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

1 Corinthians 3:10-17:  (The Apostle Paul on Building Christian Community)

⁵ What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. ⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Luke 10:25-27

²⁵ On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[d]”
²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii^[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”