Observation as Virtue
Yesterday I harvested the last of the peppers from the
plants we grew in our neighbor’s greenhouse. The use of our neighbor’s greenhouse was a wonderful
gift. She had to go South for work
over the summer, and her greenhouse was going to go unused; she offered it to
us. However, the gift really was
not just about the peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers we grew, it was also a
fabulous opportunity to observe how her greenhouse was constructed, what worked
well and what did not, and to begin planning the greenhouse we want to build
next year.
Observation is one of the key elements to both permaculture
and to any true spiritual life.
Permaculture teaches us that each of us have impact on our environment,
and that we should therefore take time to be very intentional about our
practice of observing our environment as a whole system, planning a desired
future outcome, and then taking the action needed to help that system move
toward the desired outcome.
In our case, the desired outcome for a greenhouse is a bit
unusual. We not only want a
greenhouse, but we want something that adds to the bioshelter’s identity as a Permaculture Learning Center. With that in mind, we will probably
include some interesting anomalies, like a cobb wall on the no-sun, north wall,
a rocket-stove, wood heated warming bench for starting plants in the spring,
and a variety of other ideas that will be fun for us to experiment with, and
hopefully will generate some “observing and planning” in the minds of people
who visit the Learning Center.
Christianity teaches a relational rhythm of prayerful
observation and action—that is, examining one’s self and one’s surroundings in
the awareness of God’s presence and transformative work, and then participating
in that transformative work as well as we are able. It is a rhythm, because relationships are dynamic and we are
not the only ones taking action, and whatever action we take will require new
observations on how the system responds and shows us the outcomes and
possibilities that the system will support. Life, therefore, must be understood as a communal project,
and is best done with an awareness of God’s work through it all.
This cooperative nature of life adds quite an interesting twist
to the idea of observing and then taking action for a desired future. By getting married, Cindee and I made
the commitment to build a future together through the rest of our lives. This future causes us to continually
work out how we will work together to build family, healthy spirituality,
friendships, community, and the very nature of “home.”
Permaculture also teaches that working with a place should
begin with the kind of observation that would work toward developing a 30-year
plan. The long-range nature of
such planning, it seems to me, has a lot in common with the long-range nature
of a marriage. Only by looking at
the long view, and its desired outcomes, can a group (or person) take the
small, intermediate steps necessary to get there in the short run.
However, in both marriage and permaculture, plans
change. As Mary
Doria Russel put in one of her novels, being married to one person for 30
years, in some ways, is like being married to three, different people—people
change. The long-range plans are essential if we are to take the needs of
future generations into account, but it is also essential to maintain a
willingness to be continually observing and continually modifying the plan in
the light of the new learning.
This fits well with the Christian view of self as one part
of a multi-relational universe under God.
God is always about healing relational wounds, developing the
relationships that are possible (often in new and unexpected ways!), enhancing
community, and doing it with and through the creatures of this universe that
God loves so much.
Some have described the rhythm of living with God
(observing, learning, acting) as being something of a dance. In it, God calls the tune and the song
and sets us free to respond to what God is doing through it all. There is often an intimacy to the
dance, when the individual becomes aware that God is very interested in the
individual person’s relationship and participation with God. But we dare not lose track of the fact
that the dance is about all of God’s creation, all creatures living and
contributing their part to God’s dance.
In many ways, God is the ultimate Permaculturist, observing us and
taking action in ways that open up the best future possible.
For Christians, who know themselves to be created in God’s
image, we must do our best to join that dance.
This year, we grew our first, self-tended peppers. This year we are observing and learning
about greenhouses and about natural building. Next year we will build a greenhouse. Only in the year after that will we
know what of our plans work well and what do not. Only then can we begin making adjustments. It’s a dance!
Romans 12:1-2 (The
Message paraphrase of the Bible)
So here’s what I want you
to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping,
eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an
offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.
Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even
thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside
out.
Let it Be a Dance: Hymn
by Ric
Masten
Chorus:
Let
it be a dance we do.
May
I have this dance with you?
Through
the good times
And
the bad times, too,
Let
it be a dance.
Let
a dancing song be heard.
Play
the music say the words,
Fill
the sky with sailing birds.
Let
it be a dance.
Let
it be a dance.
Let
it be a dance
Learn
to follow, learn to lead,
Feel
the rhythm, fill the need.
To
reap the harvest, plant the seed.
And
let it be a dance....
Chorus.
Everybody
turn and spin,
Let
your body learn to bend,
and,
like a willow with the wind,
Let
it be a dance.
Let
it be a dance.
Let
it be a dance
A
child is born, the old must die,
A
time for joy, a time to cry.
Take
it as it passes by.
And
let it be a dance....
Chorus.
Morning
star comes out at night,
Without
the dark there is no light.
If
nothing's wrong, then nothing's right.
Let
it be a dance.
Let
it be a dance.
Let
it be a dance.
Let
the sun shine, let it rain,
Share
the laughter, bare the pain,
And
round and round we go again.
Let
it be a dance....
Chorus.
(Wendell Berry: The Futility of Global Thinking)
Make a home. Help
make a community. Be loyal to what
you have made. Put the interests of your community first. Love your neighbors—not the neighbors
you pick out but the ones you have.
(Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch: The Faith of Leap)
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?
…missional churches must consider their context like an
ecosystem, an environment of interdependence and mutualism, and contribute
accordingly.
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