Simpler Living

This is a must read book or at the very least a book to make sure is on your shelf to pull out from time to time.  This is a book that is full of essays from amazing writers and advocates for a different way of living.  They bring up topics that will challenge the way you live, how you view time, how and what you eat and pretty much how our culture is.  It is not easy to read at times because it challenges the very heart of our being.  I will admit that I still haven't finished reading this book for this very reason.  I have needed time to struggle with these topics and decide how I will respond to them.  In a previous post I mentioned how I was startled by a section on time and had to put the book down and stop exhausting myself in my endeavor to get one more class assignment done.

Since I have been focusing on my food choices for this class, I skipped ahead to a section on the social and environmental impact of our every day food choices.  In this section Wendell Berry speaks to readers as victims of the corporate food industry, held captive by our food choices and our unquestioning and uncritical passiveness when it comes to what we buy, eat and put into our bodies.  He makes this claim based on our distance from our food, we no longer know where it comes from, how it's grown, or how it has come to be on our plate.  Berry also asks us to examine what we consider "quality life."  Do we view quality as the amount of things we participate in and what we're able to do?  This constant busyness often causes us to stop and grab whatever "quick" food we can so that we can keep up our pace and our "quality" of life.  Or do we slow down and enjoy all that life has to offer, eating things that will prolong our lives and help to fuel our bodies, not to mention things that we actually enjoy eating as we go about the activities that we love?

Even if you don't agree with Wendell Berry's agrarian perspective and you couldn't fathom participating and learning about  the food system, this article will make you stop, think and assess what it is that's important to you and how you live.

A Trip Outside the City Gate

This past weekend we had the opportunity to visit Shalom Hill Farms in SW Minnesota.  It's an amazing place where they raise chickens and lambs, have a great garden, live as closely to the land as they can and teach people about their options.  While there we had the opportunity to visit two very different farmers; one a traditional cattle producer who raises beef cattle in a feed lot and the other who is an organic farmer and grows a variety of foods as well as cares for a small herd of beef cattle, chickens and other various animals that are raised organically.  Both these men were passionate about what they do, how they do it and what it means for their families.  It was amazing to see their passion and dedication play out in such a tangible way and it was even better to see where our food comes from.

Amidst this great experience was the opportunity to talk with classmates about food sustainability and how other students want to eat and live.  I was amazed at the number of my companions who feel the same way I do, wanting to know where their food comes from, be connected to the land and to care for and steward the creation in a very tangible way.  Many of us talked about wanting to one day have a large garden or small farm as well as wanting to raise animals.  To me, it appears that this is not the norm, especially for 20 somethings.  But then again maybe it is.  Maybe more people than we think are trapped in cities and suburbs craving something more; a connection to the land and a desire to care for all of creation.  Or maybe people don't think about this until confronted by the land itself, hearing its story and finding this deep desire to be a part of it.

Catholics and Jews Coming Together

My review of the ELCA statement on the environment was a bit criticle, but I'm criticle about most of the ELCA social statements as they never seem to say anything of substance and instead stay on neutral ground, fearful of rocking the boat.

I felt exactly opposite about the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee's "A Common Declaration on the Environment." A Common Declaration on the Environment

This document was short and to the point and simply by its existence pointed to dire need we are in.  Catholics and Jews came together to make a statement on the environment, putting aside their religious differences and focusing instead on what they agree on and what needs to be done.  Although they do not give any concrete ways to "fix" any of the problems faced by the world, they do passionately remind us that we must do something and take action.  They say, "The human person has an immense responsibility, that of caring for all of creation.  No person or group can use the resources of this earth as proprietor, but only as God's steward who destined these goods for all.  Assuring that individuals and communities have access to what is necessary to sustain life in dignity is an expression of this stewardship, as is the reverent and moderate use of created goods."  It is short, sweet, to the point and reminds us of both what we can and cannot do.

ELCA and Their "Statement" on the Environment

Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope and Justice

Oh, the ELCA has produced yet another pointless social statement that says nothing.  Maybe this is a little harsh but after reading such passionate books and articles about why we need to be protecting this world and all that is in it, as well as ways in which we can actively participate in such things, I find this statement to be verbose, lacking passion, drive or anything resembling a call to action.  This document is also almost 9 years old and is in need of some drastic revision, facts and figures to bolster their position and a way to call to attention the extent to which we truly need to be "Caring for Creation."

Although I agree with many of the points made in this statement, I feel they are lacking in a nuanced view of things like stewardship and shalom, not to mention the focus on social justice rather than ecology.  I felt that much of the statement let me, as well as the rest of the world, off the hook by talking about the hope we have in God to restore the Earth rather than a focusing on our actions and inaction to care for this planet which belongs to God.  As I neared the end of the article I found myself irritated at the use of the phrases: "We of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America answer the call," "We celebrate the vision," "As members of this church, we commit ourselves," "We challenge ourselves," and countless others.  Who the hell is this we?  It certainly is not the general population of the ELCA considering I've heard of very few responses and actions of congregations to do the things mentioned.  Until I went searching, I did not even know we had such a document and yet I'm apparently being challenged to do nothing except study, learn and tithe to reduce my waste by 10%, which although a start is not nearly enough.  Not to mention, this document, although challenging us to reduce our waste does not give us any concrete ways to go about it nor links or references to other documents that might help us move in this direction.  It is my firm opinion that people want to make a difference but don't know where to start.  And so, ELCA, if you're going to challenge people you must give examples of response, not to mention letting people know in an active way that they are being challenged in the first place.

Simplicity? Are You Sure?

Well, it's 9:00 at night.  It's the first time I've stopped "doing" something since I woke up at 7am.  Between the 2 mile run, chiropractor appointment, making and eating meals, work, packing a handful of boxes in preparation for my move in a little over a month and a half (I figure if I just do a little a day it won't make me want to die the two weeks leading up to my wedding) and homework, I haven't stopped moving.  I have checked almost everything off my to do list.  I have been the utter embodiment of productivity! 

And yet...I feel utterly useless, unproductive, wasteful and anxious about all the things I have yet to do.

Monday was a hard day.  I skimmed over 200 pages in a book and wrote a paper on it as well as accomplished a handful of other things.  This pace made me feel an intense anxiety rising up within the core of my being for fear that I might not get it done and if it took an extra day something else later in the week surely wouldn't get done at all.  My life and homework are planned out to the millisecond most days and I wonder why it's so hard to breath and why I fail to enjoy the beautiful days God is putting before me.

Immediately after finishing this large assignment I picked up the next book in the stack and dove in determined to read at least 20 pages before my eyes failed me and refused to stay open.  I had to laugh when I actually read the title, "Simpler Living, Compassionate Life."  My life isn't exactly simple, neither is there much room for it.  And compassion...although something I pride myself on is harder and harder to find as of late.  I keep telling myself, "You just have to make it through the semester and the wedding and the move and things will slow down."  But will they really?  I have pushed myself to a pace that makes me bemoan my life, irritable toward those I love, anxious to get from one thing to the next so that "it all gets done," there is no place, space or time for enjoyment.  It is a painful and depressing state of existence.  And amidst these anxieties and frustrations of my life and my productivity I read "Cultural idols such as materialism, economic growth, and productivity have led us astray."  (13)

Completely ignoring this sentence despite its jumping off the page and smacking me in the face, I pushed on and entered into an essay on mindfulness and the beauty and importance of being mindful in every moment as best we can and still I trudged on as my mind became lethargic and my eyes refused to focus.  I came next to a section on time in which I read "So much of our time is spent in ways that kill our spirit, our capacity to enjoy the moment, to experience the depth of a moment." (39)  And still I continued coming to an essay on space.  In this section I read a sentence that I finally allowed to sink in.  "We know we need rest, but we can no longer see the value of rest as an end in itself; it is only worthwhile if it helps us recharge our batteries so we can be even more efficient in the next period of productivity." (42)  Needless to say, I put down the book and attempted to enjoy those last few moments before sleep found me.  I realized that I NEED what this book has to offer and I will not be rushed through it because of a class deadline.  If it does not get finished in time I will live because I will actually be living and beginning the process of simplifying my life.

Reflection on "Earth in Mind"

I just finished reading David Orr's "Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment and the Human Prospect."  At first I found myself drawn in by David's understanding of and perspective on modern education.  He claims that there is a piece missing, and a very important piece.  He explained education as being stuck in the mind and removed from the tangible daily world we live in.  This made complete sense to me.  I have long been one who has suffered at the hands of the educational institution; feeling displaced and disconnected from the created world, it's people and places, the dirt we walk on and water we drink.  I have craved for a connection between the world of theory and the world of practice.  David's argument made sense to me.  Then he, rather disappointingly, moved into the world of theory.  He moved from a passionate argument for more connected educational practices that link all subjects together so that students may understand the inner workings and connectedness of the world they live in.  An argument for a greater push toward understanding the ecology of the planet, how we fit in and what our economic strategies are doing it to.  An argument for us to open our eyes and innovate new ways of doing things so that there is a world to live in in the coming generations.  This argument which moved through the first 2/3 of the book was passionate and moving.  It called for change but then abruptly changed course to an argument for place, for better food management strategies, for the reruralization of America and a whole host of other things.  I understand that he was trying to show the reader why education is important but, at least for me, only managed to say that in the opening sentence of the last part of the book.  It felt disconnected.

Instead of being the empowering section and movement to action that I think it was intended to be, I instead finished the book feeling as though the problems we are facing felt too big.  I felt defeated.  I felt as though I couldn't possibly tackle any of this in my life time.  It was disappointing.  Until this final section, I had felt empowered to change if nothing else my thinking.  To be conscious of this connection to place and the environment when I raise my children.  To have passionate conversations about ways we can, if not globally or continental, at least change how we life and maybe even our communities live.

Despite this disappointment in the conclusion of this book, I will cling to those revelations made at the outset.  I will cling to the burning question that this book has caused to spring up in me: If we do not do something now and change the way we think and learn and teach people to live in this world, will there even be a world to live in?  This is a question I believe all of us should wrestle with.  There is nothing one single solitary person can do to change anything, but if we all take some time to let these questions of ecology and place and our future enter into our being and then take the time to discern what we are passionate about working toward, then together, each acting upon our own inner drive toward the same end goal, we can move mountains.