how does your garden grow?

Spring is coming (almost) and some recent reading dovetailed nicely with the soon-to-be season. Nate Jones, a friend from college, wrote a book review/reflection on “gardening in the cracks” for the latest issue of Books & Culture. He argues that we need a “theology of gardening.” (My good friend Michelle reminds me we need a theology for everything.) An excerpt:

“Any theology of gardening must be first a project of recovery, exploring the place of the earth in the biblical narrative and the story of God’s people upon the land … we have too often regarded the land as essentially an object of production rather than a creation.”

Barbara Kingsolver makes a similar point about “land as object” in her 2007 book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I could write 1,000 words on my mixed feelings about this memoir, but overall I’m interested. The book helped me ask: How have I lost a connection to what I eat every day? Nate’s article helped me ask: What cultural attitudes about food and land do Christians have that we might have just adopted without thinking about it? I know this discussion ties into the larger evangelical turn toward environmentalism – and I like the moniker “creation care.” In terms of daily life, though, let’s face it: I’m looking for good food. And sharing it is the best part!