This Changes Everything

The newborn harvest moon hangs low in the pre dawn sky and beckons me outward into creation. The cool autumn air rushes into my lungs as I feel the freedom of being alone in nature. The palatable beams of the moon shimmer hazily through the palette of fall leaves the colours still slightly obscure in the dim light. The silence is broken by the echoes of bird calls through the valley and the rumbling whistle of the train. The world slowly awakens as the stars fade into day. For me this moment changes everything. It reminds me of what is important.The tune of an old hymn floats melodically through my thoughts:

 

All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam!
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou rushing wind that art so strong
Ye clouds that sail in Heaven along,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou rising moon, in praise rejoice,
Ye lights of evening, find a voice!
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou flowing water, pure and clear,
Make music for thy Lord to hear,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou fire so masterful and bright,
That givest man both warmth and light.
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Dear mother earth, who day by day
Unfoldest blessings on our way,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
The flowers and fruits that in thee grow,
Let them His glory also show.
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

And all ye men of tender heart,
Forgiving others, take your part,
O sing ye! Alleluia!
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear,
Praise God and on Him cast your care!
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship Him in humbleness,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, Three in One!
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

 

It changes everything when we learn to view nature as a creation like ourselves that was made to bring praise to God.

The following statements from the book Making Peace with the Land help draw together the importance of seeing the land in this created way, “…reconciliation is about bringing all bodies into a peaceful, life-promoting and convivial relationship with one another…The reconciliation of only human souls with each other, however commendable and beautiful, would be an impoverished reconciliation if such souls were confined to bodies that must eat, drink and breathe their way through a poisoned and degraded creation” (Bahnson and Wirzba 24). What if these environmental problems of poisoned and degraded land that we see today are a result of our failure to be aware of God`s presence in the land? Therefore reconciliation with the land involves seeing God’s presence in it and allowing ourselves to be changed by being close to the land (Bahnson and Wirzba 55). This closeness to the land was very evident in Naomi Klein’s film “This Changes Everything.”  We saw people who were forced to eat, drink and breathe in a smoggy, polluted and exploited creation; people who stood together in solidarity asking to be able to be reconciled to their lands.

I appreciated that this film explored both the global and local impacts of the resource extraction industry. It made the issues both personal and close to home and widespread, unjustly affecting the entire globe. Telling the story of the Beaver Creek First Nation people here in Alberta made the film very relevant to the audience. I appreciated the approach of the film to tell stories and to unfold how we have been telling ourselves the wrong story for years. The film poignantly but unaggressively explains that the current story needs to change. They acknowledge that such a change will not happen overnight but that it will be a transition to renewable energy and environmental stewardship. The new story will be different, but will offer many opportunities for people to use the same skills that they use to further develop the current story to write the new one.

The most powerful moment in the film for me was when there was the oil spill on the farm of the couple from Montana. The woman’s connection and love of this land that she had lived on her entire life was so evident and it was heartbreaking to see the instant devastation of their land which they had worked so hard to care for. This love for their land that this couple have and the people of Beaver Creek First Nation have is what changes everything; it changes the story that they are a part of. Being connected to a place is what motivates me to enter the new story. Being connected to a place and recognizing the risks that the current story poses to that place is what changes everything for me.

 

 

Experience, Gratitude and Wonder

How does one come to have a sense of gratitude towards the gifts of the land? For me, it has come through personal experiences on the land. This summer I had the privilege to work on a farm and grow vegetables and it has been through this hands-on experience that a sense of wonder and gratitude has grown in me.

Michael Pollen talks often in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma about how our conventional food system keeps us blind and alienated from the sources that our food comes from and the journeys that it takes to reach our table. To plant and nurture seeds oneself, rips away the blinders of the industrial food system and connects one back to the earth that has been made to nourish. To plant a seed and see it grow into a mature plant that could produce such bountiful amounts of food never ceases to cause me to wonder. I am in awe of this natural miracle. Munju Ravindra writes that “the key to our survival is wonder” and “in wonder is the preservation of the soul.” Wonder is lost when we lose connection to the natural world and to our food.

Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen write about their experience as urban homesteaders in Hope Beneath our Feet. They write that “it is pleasure that inspires [them] to do more and more.” This pleasure is described in greater depth as fresh tomatoes still warm from the sun or orange-yolked eggs from your own hens. Many people would see what people like Kelly and Erik do as backwards or lots of unnecessary work, but it seems that once one has experienced the pleasure and wonder of growing their own food – there is no going back. No food will taste better then food grown yourself, and the whole process of caring for the earth and plants that will meet our needs creates a new relationship to food.

One moment that I would like to mention that stood out to me was the last week on the farm we butchered roosters. When I was young and I had been an observer to chicken harvesting and cattle butchering before but this was the first time that I can actually remember being a part of it hands on. I can’t say that it was a life changing experience, but it connects me deeper to my food and am able to be more grateful to the animals that have given their lives so that I can have food to eat. The processing of the roosters began with a prayer giving thanks for the lives of the birds and for the nourishment that they would bring. This is such a different way to approach food then on a mass industrial level. I can be more grateful for the life of the plant or animal that I have on my plate when I have had a close experience with similar beings. It is good to be reminded from time to time that for me to live something else had to die.

Visit to Sunrise Farm

“I come into the peace of wild things…For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”

-Wendell Berry

I was created to be on the land it is part of me and I am part of it in that I am reliant on the land for my survival. My soul is free and at peace when I come into nature and wild places. It is a natural place to be.

Don Ruzicka speaks to how he feels the Spirit in the land, in the sunflowers, in the diversity and in the wild places. It is true his land has Spirit. It is healthy and happy land that nourishes healthy and happy humans and animals. The land is made right, in that it is being cared for naturally and sustainably. This makes it truly alive. Years ago Don and Marie began their journey to make peace with the land and it has become a part of them. Don claims that this natural wild area that he has restored is the reparation for his sins in plowing the land and destroying habitat when he was a conventional farmer trying to squeeze the most possible from the earth. But now he refuses to jeapordize the health of the land and will not over-use it. Don says that everything that gives Spirit to the land is lost when one tries to max out the land.

I could have stayed there forever. I wish we had more time on the farm and could have spent some time walking around by ourselves in order to be able to better observe the land after we had breifly experienced it through the stories of Don. To be alone in the land is to be able to see and hear things that one wouldn’t otherwise be able to see and hear and we learn to experience and love the land more deeply like someone like Aldo Leopold.

What I struggle with the most is that I am confronted with my complete ignorance when it comes to farming and caring for the landwhen I meet people like Don and Marie. How can the knowledge and experience that they have from years of caring for the land be shared with others. How can I learn from them and not make the same mistakes in my journey with the land? I was so encouraged to hear that Don is seeking to educate people and that he wants to leave a “manuel” for his land to whoever cares for it after him.  After the need to be more educated the next obstacle that I face when I am insprised by farmers like the Ruzicka’s is access to land. How do I ever afford land while still choosing to support myself with work that is ethical and fulfilling?

 

Contentment

It seems from reading on agrarian perspectives that contentment is something that can come out of one’s deep connection to the land. To transform our minds toward a more agrarian perspective would be to become less aware of the commodities that are bombarding us through media and grow in our awareness and care for the land. In class we discussed how to embody contentment is to break down the industrial paradigm; this is because the industrial system treats people merely as consumers of commodities. Therefore when one recognizes the difference between needs and wants and chooses to say “no” to the endless stream of advertisements the power of the dominant system is stripped away and given back to the individual to control his/her own thoughts/feelings/choices. One can now find contentment. Contentment is not passive it is a constant choice to not consume beyond one’s needs, to release the desires to accumulate unnecessarily, and to find a sense of peace and belonging where one is at.
In my own journey of contentment, I can recognize the turning point where I changed and began to make choices differently. Before this point, I can identify with Norman Wirzba’s words: “The body fills us with wants, fears and all sorts of illusions that invariably put us on a path toward disappointment, frustration, and war – war within ourselves over what we crave, and war with others as we compete for the wealth and comfort that comes from the acquisition of material goods” (from “Placing the Soul” The Essential Agrarian Reader).
I have had the unique privilege to step away from the bustle of the city and the constant indoctrination of consumer culture for a few years and had the opportunity to live in a small mountain community. Away from the cultural distractions and pressures, I was able to recognize the war that these things wage against my ability to be at peace. In “The Mind-Set of Agrarianism… New and Old” by Maurice Telleen (The Essential Agrarian Reader) there is a set of Ten Agrarian Commandments. #2 says “Enough is enough. Optimum is often better than maximum” and my favourite in terms of contentment is #6 “Accept limits with grace…Limits are not shackles; in fact, many of them are liberating.” If people were to examine my life they might think “I live in a box” or that my life is a bit backwards, unmodern or that it is shackled, but I would argue the opposite. Because I was removed from common societal comings and goings I have less distractions and what some might say is limiting is truly liberating. I have been able to break the war of consumerism and learn to choose to be content. Contentment brings peace and freedom not bondage. To be content creates in one the self discipline to say no to some options and opens the door to a more fulfilled life of relationship with people and the land because less energy is being spent on things that don’t really matter anyway.
“…we must give thanks and commit ourselves to the responsible work of caretaking and celebration. Only then will the soul, now properly situated in a body and place, find its true peace.”
– Norman Wirzba “Placing the Soul” The Essential Agrarian Reader

Reflection on Jim Wallis’ Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street and Your Street

The most astounding thing that I take away from this book is how obvious it is that he values his family. The way that he tells stories about his children and the time he spends with them shows how important they are to him. Jim Wallis says that a schedule is a moral document and so is a budget. It took me a moment to realize what he meant by this phrase. Often I have talked about with my friends that what I spend my money on shows my values. For example I can choose to buy products fair trade and organic and that shows the value I place on the well being of people and the earth. But I never had thought of my schedule being a moral document. As a student, I am never without something to do yet my schedule does contain a lot more flexible time than the schedule of many working people. Yes many hours in each of our days are determined for us. We must study and work but we do have the choice of what we study and what we work at and how we use our time when we are not studying or working.

A friend of mine suggested recently an exercise to re prioritize ones values and as I consider that my schedule is a moral document I would like to think more about how my values line up with how I spend my time. What are my priorities? Well I suppose they are similar to many other people’s priorities

 

  1. My relationship with God
  2. My relationship with my family
  3. My relationships with my friends.

These first ones are obvious but then it gets a bit more difficult:

  1. My own health and well being
  2. The land and places that I love and am connected to
  3. The well being of vulnerable people around the world.

 

These are the things that are important to me. Obviously school and work have to fit in there somehow. Much of my schooling teaches me more about the land and about how I can care for those who are vulnerable, which fits into my values, but it also can take time away from other important things and I should not let it because these are the things that bring life. Maybe I cannot spend the majority of each day praying, visiting my family and friends, being active or cooking delicious healthy food, but I can make sure that these things are a part of my daily/weekly schedule. If I put these things into my calendar first then when I get busy with other things they are less likely to get neglected.

In Chapter 12 Jim Wallis describes his experience of “island life” and he says that for a kid coming from the city it is a “transformation of mind, heart, lifestyle, pace and consciousness.” In our regular day to day do we take time to slow down and re-evaluate life and where we are going in our busy lives? We would be much happier people if we considered what we really value and streamlined our lives to match. We have filled more and more of our time but it is not meaningful. I often ask myself why do people work so much? Many people don’t love what they do for work so why invest so much time into it? The common answer probably is money. I wish people knew that they didn’t have to spend their life at a job they hate, that they don’t have to try to “keep up with the Jones’,” and that they could live a much freer life if they recognized what is truly important in life and chose to live a simpler life focused around their newly rediscovered values.

 

Reflection on the Sand County Almanac (Months July-December) by Aldo Leopold

As Aldo Leopold opens the month of July a vivid image of the dawn is awakened in my

mind. The sun lights up the sky with color as it shimmers gold on anything it touches. I picture

the horizon far off across the plains and the feeling of being home. Not just the few fields that are

deeded in my name but the whole land that my eyes can see is my home and I care deeply for it.

This is the type of spiritual/emotional connection to the land that one calls home that will cause

an individual to transform the way they interact in the economy as their focus goes from dollars

and cents to the fullness of life that comes from enjoying being at home just as Aldo Leopold

does. Although the idea of ownership is interesting and as we keep reading through this month

we see how each creature claims ownership of something and yet we all are neighbors as we

share this ecosystem together.

I love the quiet simple morning that is spent observing nature. To sit and be still before

the busyness of the day is a practice we could learn from. I do not have a cabin or a bench to sit

on but I can take a few moments each day to consider the things that are of value to me and to be

thankful. As Aldo would say do we prefer fishing or going forward?

“Tell me of what plant-birthday a man takes notice, and I shall tell you a good deal about

his vocation, his hobbies, his hay fever, and the general level of his ecological education.” One

certainly can tell a good deal about who Aldo Leopold is based on his writings. I would be

ashamed to try and identify many plants. Our priorities have changed, perhaps not at all for the

better. Why will no one wonder what the land looked like when the wildflowers grew high and

the buffalo roamed? I wonder in the next generations will they ask “I wonder where the clean

water, the mountains and the forests have gone? What did it look like back then? What if we said

people are burning history books as they pollute the rivers and mine the mountains and cut down

the forests? We must ask ourselves what is real history? Is it just human achievements and

interactions or can nature have history too? Who is the keeper and the teller of this history?

Ah and then we transition into fall. Fall is my favorite time of year. It is a time of peace

between busy seasons where one can still thoroughly enjoy the cooling weather.  And I find the

beauty of fall continuously breathtaking. Aldo describes nature as a priceless painting and I

know I feel so honored when I can enjoy the beauty of the seasons. To sit in solitude in creation

is not a thing to fear but for me it is a way to find peace and realign myself with what is most

important.

In the month of November Aldo quotes “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away” but

then he says that now with the shovel man is the giver and with the axe man is the taker. How

true is this! As our society has “progressed” from hunter-gatherers to pastoralists and then

eventually into the industrialized urbanity of today we have given ourselves the role of God over

anything that we can. We have the choice where we use the shovel or the axe and with what

motivation we use them. Neither are bad. Aldo asks how does one define a conservationist and

he says that it is best defined in the motivation that comes as we wield the axe. With everything

we do he says that we leave our signature on the land and so then it is our choice as to whether

we are signing our names to the health and beautification of the land as one lives in harmony

with it or to the exploitation of the land.

One last quote from Aldo that I appreciate comes when he is talking about his motivation

for using the axe on a specific tree and how there are many factors that sway his decision and

many biases. This is what he writes, “Our biases are indeed a sensitive index to our affection, our

tastes, our loyalties, our generosities, and our manner of wasting weekends.” I especially like this

quote because it makes me think about the motivations I have behind the things that I do, which

perhaps is the point of this whole transformation process.

Reflection on The Sand County Almanac (Months January – June) by Aldo Leopold

Reflection on The Sand County Almanac (Months January – June) by Aldo Leopold
Simply in reading the words of this book I feel enlightened and refreshed. Aldo Leopold writes truly out of the depths of his heart and his connection to the land. This whole narrative is bound up in love and the inter-connectedness of all beings and it is something incredibly beautiful and compelling.
In the introduction Leopold asks whether a higher “standard of living” is worth the cost to nature. Too many of us nowadays we are separate from the land and don’t share the deep spiritual connection with the land that Aldo Leopold has. We have exchanged the value of the land that sustains us for money and consumer goods. My question back to Leopold would be what his vision of reconnecting people to the land would be? How can we in our being find value in the land when we live in cities? Maybe we could do urban gardening as one step. But how do people come to this same love and value of the land that Leopold has?
To find such joy and connection as Aldo Leopold does with the geese seems to me as extremely life-giving. He anticipates their return and it is part of the natural seasonal change. What strikes me is how important these geese or the oak are to him and the reason this is, is because of his deep connection to the land that causes him to care for the other creatures and natural beings. This land gives him life not just physically but spiritually and that is very evident in how he describes his longing to be a part of what goes on on the land. He is tied to the land in such a way that he grieves and rejoices with it. This means he must be very in-tune with the land. I think that what we are in-tune with shows our priorities and where we place value. His is in the land. If I spend my time on accumulating goods, or on entertaining myself that shows where my priorities lie.
I feel as though in each paragraph there are great profound thoughts but I would like to highlight three of my favorites:
In the month of February, Leopold explains that from not being involved with farming there are two spiritual dangers. These are that food comes from the store and heat from the furnace. I was understood the idea here but had to read it over several times to gain the depth of the meaning. When food comes from the store we lack connection to it. It has little value to us because we do not connect the work that it takes to grow the food with our eating of the food. And when heat comes from the furnace we don’t appreciate the many hours of hard work in the fall to split wood for the cold winter months. You see, putting the work in gives us a spirit of gratitude and we value these things much more because we can directly relate the cost of the labor to the full enjoyment of the food or heat. The spirit of gratitude and appreciation is at danger of being completely lost – in fact it is mostly lost in our culture today.
My second favorite thought is from the month of April, Aldo Leopold says, “They live on the land, but not by the land.” There is much talk these days about getting back to the land but it is so much more than just living in the countryside as Leopold points out here. To live by the land invokes living in harmony with the land and connected to the land. It creates a higher responsibility to care for the land as it needs to be cared for.
The third favorite insight of mine comes from the month of June when Leopold finds himself fishing. He compares human being to a fish who eagerly latches on to whatever alluring new thing that is placed in front of it, but there is a catch – a hidden hook. How often are we allured by shiny exiting new things; new ideas, new clothes, new cars, new ways to make money? Do we ever realize that there is a hidden hook in many of these things? Do they really make us happy? Or are they destroying our natural world and leaving us always wanting?
If you have never read Aldo Leopold Do it! It is beautiful.

A Reflection on Sacred Economics: Part Three by Charles Eisenstein

In section three of his book Charles Eisenstein begins by emphasizing the relationship that spirituality and economics must have. They cannot be separate from each other. For me this emphasis puts to rest some of the questions that we had encountered in the previous section of the book. Sacred Economics is more than just a new economic system it is fundamentally rooted in the heart of spirituality. This transition to a new economy involves the whole being because to have a gift economy is to have community and therefore we must learn to adjust how we see the people around us. I can no longer carry on anonymous economic transactions that money would presently allow me to. I cannot be an invisible member of society but must become an active participant in the community through the giving and receiving of gifts. The idea is that there is a spiritual shift to begin to recognize the things that have value and to have those things determine economic decisions. This transition seems overwhelming; however it is made more plausible by the fact that it will not be automatic. It will be a gradual transition as people like myself learn to rediscover what holds true value in life and as others see us living in this gift economy we will slowly aid the larger transition. This seems possible. Eisenstein presents so many new ideas and theories that I easily get overwhelmed and do not know where to start but if I start with me and change how I think and allow that to effect my economic decisions the ideas presented here can work. Eisenstein also acknowledges that the world is not perfect and the gift economy will not be perfect because selfishness can never truly be gone. However in a gift economy it would be obvious to all who was being greedy and selfish.

I appreciate that Eisenstein brings up the tension that there is concerning gifts – that they can create a feeling of obligation. Because of how society works today it is much easier to use money instead of gifts and remain separate from the responsibility of relationship. I feel this feeling too. It is awkward to receive gifts sometimes and it is difficult to know what to give people or what they may need. I want to give but I need to change my mindset into a mentality of gratitude. To see a gift as part of the building blocks of relationship is an essential step for me in moving towards a sacred economic. To participate in the gift giving and receiving changes my focus to the needs of other people instead of my own.

In Chapter 19 Eisenstein speaks to the concept of nonaccumulation. I agree with the mindset of keeping only what we need and therefore feeling freer but I also think that this will take a journey to get to this point. In order for me to resist accumulating things or saving money I would want to know that my needs would be met. Eisenstein says that he would not care if he goes hungry but I would care if I had no food to eat or no way to pay my bills. I understand that the gift economy is living on faith and I would like to live with more faith, however this economy needs to function within a supportive community in order to work.

What I find extremely compelling about Eisenstein’s Sacred Economics is that it calls out to the soul of a person and says that there is more then what we are living right now. The talents and dreams that we have pushed away and the relationships that we have neglected due to lack of time as we try to survive will be allowed to flourish. We will no longer have an excuse to exploit the glorious beauty that is the natural resources of the world. Value will be placed where it belongs and our lives will be much more content.

 

Saving the World by Thinking Little: A Reflection on Articles by Wendell Berry, Byron Katie and David Suzuki

The first article for this week “The World Doesn’t Need to be Saved” engages an interesting conversation. It is reassuring to know that I don’t need to save the world. The author argues that it does not help the world for me to be in a constant mindset of anxiety over how humans are destroying the planet. Change can happen through a peaceful mind and positive feelings instead of negative stress. He says that the world changes itself as I change my mind. This is either my change of perspective on the world or perhaps the change of action that affects the world through my change of mindset. The ideas in this article are welcoming because the thought of trying to make a difference in the world can be overwhelming however the author leaves the reader more confused than with a strong sense of action. The focus of Byron Katie is nevertheless still positive and uplifting.
The next article “Measuring Progress with GDP is a Gross Mistake” by David Suzuki again brings up the question of values. What is the real measure of what is important in life. What is mind-blowing is that in our endless growth economy GDP has become like a god. It is morbid to think that the economy and people should benefit from the destruction of the environment or the loss of life. The article mentions natural disasters as a huge economic boost and especially other things like war add to the GDP while offering little return to society. When did money become more important than health, natural beauty and the wealth found in community? It is so sad that the worth of people and of a nation is determined by the economy. I would not be worth much because I have chosen to work mainly in non-profit or volunteer sectors. How much more life giving would it be to measure the value of life based on vibrant communities and healthy people? I can see the world in a brighter way when the most important thing is not money.
In his article “Think Little” Wendell Berry encourages us to do just that. Thinking little makes a cause personal, it involves action. Thinking little makes a cause personal, it makes one have to examine their own mentality and actions before getting other people on board with them. Our lives are rooted in the environment as it is the basis of our survival on earth and in order to sustain healthy living we must remove our ignorance through education and learn how to respect the land. One way that Berry suggests that we can care for the land is through gardening. As David Suzuki explained about GDP in the previous article growing your own food will not contribute to the economy however it is a transition to a new economy. Essentially through gardening we can become more sustainable as communities and less dependent on the global distribution of goods. Thinking little means thinking local where we act on the things that matter to us within our community. When we are connected locally to the community and to the land we have a personal interest in its health, sustainability and success.