organic garden

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Thursday night was fun! I was personally excited to see The Real Dirt on Farmer John with a few friends at Liberty Station. I thought I would meet some new people and try some new fare from the H-town StrEATS food truck. But it was better than that, and I'm not just talking about the oysters from the Shrimp Boat Projects.

While we were learning about one farmer's struggles with how to save his family farm and the amazing learnings he discovered long the way, we were doing a little exploratory gardening on our own. At a recent workshop on creative evangelism, I mentioned that while our culture has adjusted to the huge shift that took place in the 60's, the church still hasn't quite adjusted. Now is the time when I remind you and myself that I love the Episcopal Church: our liturgy, our theology, our identity, and our history. It is because of that love that I am really interested in how we remember to be the Body of Christ in the world. How do we embrace the shift that has taken place (and can't be undone.)

There are some who see church very separate from culture. I believe (more and more) that we are called to be in conversation with culture, and to learn what the Spirit is already doing all around us. The story of Farmer John was about a farmer learning to bring his farm into a new era. It involved being open to people showing up on his farm who had never "hoed a row" in their lives. They brought a willingness to learn, energy to try, and a new creativity. It was not a smooth path, and they had some failed attempts along the way. In the end, though,  the farm thrived as an organic farm supported by individuals who bought shares, bought more land for the farm, and came out to volunteer. Many of the farms around Farmer John's farm failed. Farmer John's farm became vibrant. There was a wider variety of produce, families came out to teach their children about farming, and they even made a cool movie out of it!

On Thursday night, the church, a bar, Urban Harvest, and a handful of interested people worked together to hear a story, reflect, and break bread together. It began with a conversation with Rebecca Verm at Catalina Coffee, and grew into an event that brought folks together for community fun. At the end we took turns introducing ourselves and naming an image that stuck with us from the movie (the first step of lectio divina.)

Gardening requires planting seeds, and I hope a few seeds were planted. I'm not sure what will grow from that event, but I hope if nothing else you will have a little idea that starts bouncing around in your mind that will grow into more community fun like this.

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