"Wesleyan ecological theology"

I have been reading "This We Believe" by William H. Willimon. I have found this a refreshing and challenging summary of Wesleyan theology and practice, and was pleasantly surprised by the end of his section on salvation:

"Here is the faint stirring of a Wesleyan ecological theology.

This world is not some smutty, sorry, decadent place from which we hope one day to be delivered. This world is God's, subject of God's love and providential care. The world shall be restored. Creation shall come to more closely resemble that which God intended in Genesis. And when we work with God, we are priveleged to be agents of that restoration, those who offer the world a foretaste of the world's final destiny in God."

Any thoughts??

A theology of rest

Last week, the Australian work and life index report was released (http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkeinstitute/cwl/documents/AWALI2010-exec-summary.pdf). This report found that over a quarter of those people in full-time employment in Australia averaged over 48 hours/week and that 60% of Australian workers do not use their leave allocations (says he, looking at a church council agenda noting one week of leave is carried over from my first year of qualified stipended ministry). One observer reported that discussions with workers who don't take leave revealed a fear that if they took leave and their workplace suffered they would be in trouble, or if the workplace went well they would become dispensable and put their jobs at risk.

In the lead-up to last week's sermon I was reminded of some "Cash Converters" advertisements that depicted people with object-shaped holes in their torsos. Other people would sell their unwanted items and thus get money and fill the holes in these people's lives. I know it's horribly simplistic, but how many products and things try to be the hole in our lives?

What do you need to make your life complete?

What cannot you afford to lose?

What keeps you awake at night?

Meet the object of your worship.

In Luke 11, Jesus says "do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom." (GNB)

Now for some good advice:
"Nothing brings so much pain to the spirit as anxiety and (cares)... Has not each day a burden enough of its own, in its own cares? Why do you then add to them by laying on those that belong to another day?"

Sounds like a good piece of popular psychology doesn't it? It sure makes sense, and seems to speak to contemporary issues... but it comes from John Chrisostom in the fourth century. (All my quotes in this reflection are taken from pages 49 and 50 of Gary Peluso-Vordend's book "Taking Attention", I'm not through it yet, but it's making a lot of sense so far)

Does this mean we live a life without planning, without consideration for the effect our lives have on our future, on others, and on our planet (a brief nod to environmental theology that I forgot in the sermon)?

For this I turn to John Wesley "What Jesus here condemns is, the care of the heart; the anxious, uneasy care; the care that has torment; all such care as does hurt, either to the soul or body. What he forbids is, that care which, sad experience shows, wastes the blood and drinks up the spirits; which anticipates all the misery it fears, and comes to torment us before the time. He forbids only the care which poisons the blessings of today, by fear of what could happen tomorrow; which cannot enjoy the present plenty, through apprehensions of future want. This care is not only a sore disease, a grievous sickness of the soul, but also a heinous offense against God, a sin of the deepest dye. It is a high affront to the gracious Governor and wise Disposer of all things; necessarily implying, that the great Judge does not do all things right; that he does not order all things well. It plainly implies. that he is wanting, either in wisdom, if he does not know what things we stand in need of; or in goodness, if he does not provide those things for all who put their trust in him."

To recap, the concern that is being posed is that care which poisons the blessings of today by fear of what may come tomorrow. In Luke 11: 33-34 Jesus challenges us to take those things which we most prize, those things that keep us awake at night and put them at the service of the Kingdom of God. This is a huge leap of faith, and one that is hard to take in one go. How can we develop our faith lives so that we are willing to give our all?

I propose the answer to this is the only spiritual discipline to get a direct mention in the Ten Commandments: that of rest.

To rest is to put your trust in God, to believe that the world will go on and the Kingdom of God is not dependent on your attention and effort.

To rest is to break away from our continual quest for obtaining more, to relax, enjoy and be thankful for the blessings that we do have and to break away from the quest for possessions that our society breaks us into.

Like all steps of faith, this probably comes in baby steps and needs to come from the place you are at. For me, my faith growth really took off when I started to set apart 20 minutes from my busy day to concentrate on God. I know a family that for a time gave up electronic devices on Sunday. Anita and I would go crazy if we tried that, but can we find a way for a while to enjoy the gifts of environment, family, friends and possessions that God has given us?

You may well ask if this is just an excuse for passivity and laziness, if the Kingdom of God is coming without our effort, why bother?

I believe the counter for this comes from the parable of the Watchful Servants in Luke 11:35-40.
We don't have this tradition in our society, but I have been privileged to discuss military life with those who have served our nation and others. When asked the mark of a good soldier, the answer almost always is one who works hard when work needs to be done and can rest when effort is not required. Military people are blessed with clear objectives and someone who can tell them when their progress is adequate. At that time, they take appropriate security measures, trust those assigned for their safety and they rest. In that way they are more ready for any coming action or unexpected situations than otherwise would be the case.

I believe it's like that with the Kingdom of God. In our lives there are moments when the Kingdom of God pokes through in actions of justice, peace, hope and love (and many other values). Our task as Church is to point to these glimpses, treasure them, foster them and get on board. How easy would it be for us to be like unwatchful servants, filling our lives with activities that are not part of the Kingdom, deafening and blinding ourselves ourselves to these revelations of God's presence in the world?

When I was in a city congregation, a concerned uncle and aunt showed me their nephew's T-shirt "Jesus is coming, you'd better look busy", perhaps the church needs the T-shirt "Jesus is here, you'd better be listening."

Week Seven- Production in process

As you can see, the soil garden has had a particularly large amount of growth over the last few weeks. One batch of radishes have been eaten (evenly shared between my wife and the possum's brief experimentation). The parsley is delicious and the chinese brocolli will be ready for harvest next week. There are peas on a few of the struggling transplanted vines, but the seed-grown are still developing strongly. We also have a couple of unexpected tomatoes springing up and a rogue mizuna between the plots.

The no-dig bed was planted later, but still some of the plants are thriving. However, the bed density is too low for the drip watering system to be totally effective, it needs supplimental watering.

Please also note the labrador-resistant fencing.. we'll have to see how it goes with Bumbles.

Week Four- First Pickings

Now, the garden has been growing for almost a month, and we're seeing the first pickings - or at least the local possum is! It has taken a liking to Mizuna, young radish leaves and the first leaf of a sprouting bean. The radish bulbs are starting to swell, and we did get some parsley this week.

We have caged our bush peas and beans. One other little sideline has been comparing the development of bush-planted and seedling-planted peas, the ones grown from seeds (on left) are much stronger.

The no-dig garden now has baby spinach planted. The spring onions have got over transplant shock remarkably well, and the garden only awaits the tomatoes and capsicums seedlings that are being grown in the laundry.

Next week should see more changes with an animal-proof fence going around the garden (but it won't stop the possum)

Week three

Week Three - The greening continues

We have transplanted some peas and beans into the garden this week, thinking the seeds had failed to germinate. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that a couple of days later, some seeds started to push through. The peas come up like a spear, the beans looking as if the shell of the seed is used as a crash helmet to push through the soil. The carrots have started to appear now, too.

The first plants were put in the no-dig garden a week ago, with a second planting of peas also put in. In the laundry, we have seen the first two tomato seeds germinate. We have planted a variety of herbs in this bed, and also have planted some red onions, who are currently suffering due to their planting mix not really attaching to their roots.

I do like the way this garden self-mulches, but it does mean you can only plant seedlings.

Just a picture of the herb tubs (now cleaned up) between the two garden beds.

Week two - the story continues

Another week, and the gardens continue developing. For my part, I installed a drip irrigation system. This is more efficient than a spray system and did a good job for my vegies up here last year.

We have solid growth on the early risers, some are putting out their first differentiated (or "true") leaves.

The peas are new-comers this week. They come up almost like a spear, and rapidly grow their new leaves. As their seed is bigger, they have a much more robist approach to early development.

The key negative issue of the sieved garden relative to the "no-dig" method is rapidly appearing, there are small sprouts appearing everywhere. Until the desirable plants get stronger, it is too dangerous to disturb the soil to remove the weeds.

The "No-dig" bed

As you can see, the degradation in the no-dig bed continued this week. In fact, it has got to the stage where I planted seedlings in this bed in the evening. The layer under the top mulch is deep brown and rather free flowing. In fact, it collapsed in so readily that putting the seedlings in felt like plugging them into a socket.

The winter solstice has now passed, looking forward to a bit more sunshine (even up here in the tropics)

Week 1 of garden trial

The two gardens have now been going for a week and its's time for the first update...

Sieved Soil Garden

This garden is predominantly used for plants whose seeds are directly planted. These include peas, beans, radishes, carrots, giant red mustard, mizuna (an asian green), lettuce and chinese broccoli (Kai laan). The climbing plants are at the back. The two plants you can see are oregano and Italian parsley that have been planted as seedlings.

The big development in this garden is the arrival of the first germinated seedlings. So far, radish (front left), rocket (back left, trust me -it's there), chinese broccoli and mizuna have made their first appearances yesterday. This is a wonderful time in a garden, you can go back a few times a day and see significant changes every time. Now we just need the frosts to hold off for a few days...

The other plants should make an appearance over the next week or two.

The no-dig bed

While the other bed is off to a flying start, the no-dig garden is in a "bedding down" phase. It must be left 2-3 weeks before plants can be introduced. You can see cracks and unevenness in the surface. These are where air and moisture have been able to get down into the lucerne layer and it is starting to degrade. In the process it gives off a slight odour and the garden warms up due to the heat from the rotting process (this is why plants can't be introduced yet).

One good thing about setting up a no-dig garden in winter is that the risk of self-combustion is lower. On the hottest day of summer here last year, one of my friends here had her no-dig garden dry out a bit too much on top and start to smoulder from the heat being generated from below.

The plants in this garden will be predominantly seedlings - spring onions, garlic chives, rosemary, golden marjoram, strawberry, tomatoes and capsicum. The rest will be filled up with greens. Those seedlings being grown from seed are already in their biodegradable newspaper pots, waiting on the worst of winter to pass before being put out.

I am loving this, in one garden I am cheering on new life, in the other I am waiting for the decay to happen before new life can be introduced. These are both key processes in gardening, and also in life...

A new gardening experiment

Last year, I grew a vegetable garden with mixed success. More than in part, this was due to my location's rocky soils. This year I read a book that got me interested again, it is "square foot gardening" by Mel Bartholemew. While this is an English book, there are parts of his gardening philosophy I find particularly attractive, so I decided to make two gardens of this style for my wife and I.


There are two solutions to stony soil. The first is to dig out the garden bed and place a barrier around it...

Then you take the soil and sieve out all the stones...
Leaving a fine soil left.

Sounds a lot easier than it is!

Thus the appeal of "no-dig" gardening





Take a bag of composted cow manure, a bail of lucerne hay and a bail of cane trash...

Spread half of the manure in a layer, then the lucerne, then the cane trash as a final mulch, wetting down each time.

This bed needs a few weeks before it can be planted in, and won't be able to handle root vegetables for a while - but the total construction time was less than two hours.

Which garden will be the most fruitful? Only time will tell, but the native dirt bed is fertilised and ready for planting...


Yes, the author of "The Square Foot Garden" is a retired engineer.

Can anyone guess why I like his design?