Ragan Sutterfield - Cultivating Reality [Excerpt]

7/30/2019 Ragan Sutterfield - Cultivating Reality [Excerpt]

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Cutivating Raity

Hw th Si Might Sav Us

•

Ragan Suttrfi



CULIVAING REALIY

How the Sol Mght Save U

Copyrght © 2013 Raga Suttereld. All rght reerved. Except or re

quotato crtcal pulcato or revew, o part o th ook may

e reproduced ay maer wthout pror wrtte permo rom the

pulher. Wrte: Permo, Wp ad Stock Pulher, 199 W. 8th Ave.,

Sute 3, Eugee, OR 97401.

Cacade Book

A Imprt o Wp ad Stock Pulher

199 W. 8th Ave., Sute 3

Eugee, OR 97401

www.wpadtock.com

isbn 13: 978-1-59752-656-2

Cataloging-in-Publication data:

Raga Suttereld.

Cultvatg realty : how the ol mght ave u / Raga Suttereld.

v + 122 p.; 23 cm—Iclude lographcal reerece.

isbn 13: 978-1-59752-656-2

1. Agrculture—Uted State. 2. Agrculture—Socal apect. 3. Agrcul-ture—Relgou apect—Chrtaty. I. tle.

HD1761 .S89 2013

Mauactured the USA.



ab f Cntnts

1 Te Soterology o Sol | 1

2 Depedet, Lmted Creature | 19

3 Commowealth | 33

4 A Body o Earth | 48

5 No Small World | 65

6 Drt me | 80

7 Humlty: Te Recovery o Fear | 94

Eplogue | 115

Ackowledgemet | 117

Blography | 119



1

1

h Strigy f Si

“Tr ar tw siritua angrs in nt wning a farm. Onis th angr f susing that brakfast cms frm thgrcry an th thr that hat cms frm th furnac.”

—Aldo Leopold

I look orward to Feruary ecaue t that moth, wth the

day tll hort ad cold, that the hope o prg eg. We tart

plat eed tray, proutg ad urturg them wdow ll

ad greehoue, gettg ready or the late day o March ad early

Aprl whe the Arkaa garde eao eg wth orce. It

Feruary that I alo eg to work the ol, to add compot ad ma-ure, ad urture the groud that eceary or ay good garde-

g. Beeath the ol, llo o mcroe take the utret I add

ad uld whole etwork ad ytem o le. It thee mcroe

that wll delver much eeded troge to the root o the plat; t

th lvg ol that the egg o ay good growth. We call

th ol humu ad t coected to the very ature o ourelve

a huma, reectg the Herew dea that adam (humakd) waormed rom the adamah (humu). We are eetally humu-e-

g—people who ga our le rom ad are completely depedet

upo drt. T a truth we ca dey oly at our perl.



Cultivating Reality

2

But what doe th mea or Chrta ad what doe t mea

or the church? How are we to addre th realty our athropol-

ogy that alway modeled o the example ad pero o Chrt?

Here I wat to argue why a thg called agraram—a hat o

md ormed through the udertadg that our lve are depe-

det upo the ol— mportat or the church, partcularly th

age ad tme. I wat to how that the church eed agraram to

help t recall ad artculate t mplct athropology ad ecology.

T ot a ook where we wll explore the pecc thkg

o partcular agrara, ce there are already may good ook

that have doe o, ut rather th a explorato o ome com-mo agrara theme wth a eye to how thoe theme mght peak

to Chrta commute ad ther memer. We eg wth the

ac: realty.

Not log ago, I had a coverato, y old ahoed had-

wrtte letter, wth my red Fred Baho. Fred a armer, wrter,

ad ometme preacher. Fred eleve that armg a eetal

huma practce ad vocato, perhap our mot udametal work.What cocered Fred th partcular letter wa how to expre to

Chrta the mportace o the agrara hat o md—the crt-

cal ature o queto o armg, ood, ad tale to our Chrta

le. I thought a good deal aout Fred’ cocer ad t occurred to

me that what agraram really aout lvg the truth—t

realm at t et. Te call to Chrta to lear rom agrar-

a the a call to Chrta to orm a hat o md that wll

deepe our ee o realty. Ad th eetally what alvato—a delverace rom ale realte to ull realty a emoded

Chrt. Agraram ca help Chrta emrace th alvato. A

Fred wrote, “I thk the agrara le, grouded a t realty,

capale o rgg people out o Baylo ad trag them to lve

the New Jerualem.”

T alvc potetal o agraram may eem a old clam.

Te church aer all ha log ee the alvato ue—how ca agraram wth t atteto to drt ad garde ad lvetock

help ave the church? A Fred dcated, t t very groudg,

t atteto to thee ac, phycal realte o le that agraram



Te Soteriology of Soil

3

ca help call u “out o Baylo” ad tra u “to lve the New

Jerualem.”

Te church ha lved a cotat truggle throughout t h-

tory to ecape rom the grouded realte o drt. Te “prtual

le” ha ecome t doma ad whether explctly tated or ot,

alvato ha come to mea the delverace o oul ad ot ode,

pero ot plaet. We have come to gore the God who prome

the delverace o a world ad hope or the ato, the God who

ave a people whoe work to delver the creato that watg

eager logg or thee people to emrace ther call.

Whe we orget that God wat to ave creato, ad we dey our vocato to jo God th work, we are rought to ale

realte—powerul dolatre that lead u away rom eeg the

truth o ourelve, God, ad the creato o whch we are mem-

er. We eed cocrete practce that wll cultvate our alty to

lve realty, practce that wll eale u to tad o realty’ rm

groud rather tha evetually crah to t hard edge. Agraram

mply a ame or hat o md ad ody that call u to themot gcat terecto o our le ad the le o the whole o

creato—the tale at whch we eat.

Te realty o the tale ha ee a chagg oe, oe marked

y lluo ad dolatre that the church ha ar too oe doe

lttle to uvel, owg our head at the golde arche rather tha

the golde cal. Rather tha the tale eg a place where we eat the

audace God ha provded u through the careul maagemet

ad cultvato o creato, our tale are ow lled wth ood thatare wreakg havoc o our ode ad the creato. Tee ood are

audat, ut ther audace depedet o a mg o u-

tret rom the ol, the aue o amal, ad the explotato o

people. Agrara call th orm o ale audace “dutralm,”

a orm o ecoomy that the atoym o a ecoomy aed o

cra ad cultvato.



Cultivating Reality

4

An Economy of Icons or an Economy of Idols?

I decrg the dutral ecoomy a oppoed to the agrara

oe, t mght e helpul to orrow the mage o dol ad corom the phloopher Jea-Luc Maro. A Bruce Beo de-

cre Maro’ cocept o dol ad co, “the dol omethg

that merely reect our gaze, [whle] the co pot our ght to

omethg eyod t ad thu to omethg eyod ourelve

that we caot mater.”1 Te dutral ecoomy a ecoomy

o the dol. It reect the gaze o our ale udertadg, twted

through dordered dere ad addcto. Value th ecoomy dctated through upply ad demad, oth ealy mapulated

through property ytem ad advertg. T the ecoomy o

coumerm, drve y demad whatever thoe demad are. Te

agrara ecoomy o the other had a ecoomy o the co. It

a ecoomy where value receved rather tha made; t aolute

meaure alway teuou. A ecoomy o the co ee the world a

a place o audace rather tha carcty ad t doe ot propoe to

ame every good wth t.

Perhap the et agrara tatemet o the ecoome o the

dol ad the co Wedell Berry’ eay, “wo Ecoome.” Berry

decre a coverato he had wth ellow agrara We Jacko

aout a etter way to determe value tha that oered y the moey

ecoomy. Berry propoed that a ecoomy aed o a meaure o

eergy would e preerale, ut Jacko dagreed, ayg that uch

a meaure tll ot road eough. “Te what kd o ecoomy would e compreheve eough?” Berry aked. Jacko “hetated

a momet, ad the grg, ad, ‘Te Kgdom o God.’”2

Berry goe o to agree wth Jacko, ecaue the “kgdom

o God” doe properly ame a ecoomy whoe cale o value

compreheve eough to t wth realty. “Te thg that troule

u aout the dutral ecoomy,” wrte Berry, “ exactly that t

ot compreheve eough, that moreover, t ted to detroy whatt doe ot comprehed, ad that t dependent upo much that t

doe ot comprehed.” Tee tatemet are exactly the tatemet

1. Beo, “Jea-Luc Maro,” 22.

2. Berry, Home Economics, 54.




5

we could make o a dol—the prolem o a dol, whether made o

cocrete or cocept, that t ot compreheve eough, that t

lmt the dve to our outle ad udertadg, ad yet a dol

alo depedet upo what we caot udertad—t ale to

mata t preteo toward dvty ecaue o the orrowed

lght that t mrror ad mmc.

Te awer to the dutral ecoomy, wrte Berry, “a

ecoomy that doe ot leave aythg out, ad we ca ay wth-

out preumg too much that the rt prcple o the Kgdom o

God that t clude everythg; t, the all o every parrow

a gcat evet.”3 Lke a co, whoe mage caot cotawhat repreeted, the agrara ecoomy wth the Kgdom o

God mut operate wth a ecoomy, whch cludg everythg,

“ca ever kow ether all the creature . . . or the whole patter or

order.”4 Our poto mut e oe o care ad cauto, jut a a good

Chrta mut e guded y a “ear o the Lord.” T ear, to or-

row a metaphor rom Dalla Wllard, ot ecaue God mea,

ut ecaue God dagerou.

5

God th ee lke electrc-ty—electrcty ot malcou, ut t dagerou—woe to the oe

who take t lghtly. It the ame wth the ecoomy o the Kgdom

o God. A Berry wrte, “Tough we caot produce a complete or

eve adequate decrpto o th order, evere pealte are tore

or u we preume upo t or volate t.”6

o eg ortg out the ecoomy o the dol ad the co,

how the dutral ecoomy ad the agrara ecoomy play out,

let u retur to the tale. Perhap the et way to expre how thmght eg to happe to ay that agraram requre u to take

accout o ad repolty or our gorace whle dutralm

clam that we have all the kowledge we eed. Tere o etter

way to explore th tha how oth way o eeg look at ood.

3. Id., 55.

4. Id.

5. Wllard, Renovation, 51.

6. Berry, Home Economics, 54–55.



Cultivating Reality

6

At the able with Our Ignorance

For agrara we are repole or our ood whether we grow t or

cook t ourelve or whether we let omeoe ele do thoe thg oru. A agrara ecoomy cetered o helpg u ecome etter

at ulllg thoe repolte rather tha thwartg them. Te

deal o the agrara ecoomy a armer market where armer

ad cutomer are cloe commucato, the cutomer eve

workg ome wth the armer to get a etter ee o how ther

ood grow. Queto are ecouraged ad opee ad tra-

parecy are deal. “How are the amal laughtered?” aweredwth “come ee.” “How are the crop grow” awered wth “come

help.”

I the dutral ecoomy, however, ood dvorced rom

t htory. Apple may have lael o whch coutre they came

rom, ut eyod the re magg o a plae rde there’ o tory

that the cutomer ca ecome a part o—t a le ragmet. A

upermarket, eve at t edge where the ood mot whole, a

ed pot o a great deal o proceg ad polhg. Vegetale

are hrk-wrapped, apple waxed, carrot trmmed ad cut o that

whatever productve part we mght play the eatg o our ood

take away. Te goal a product to e coumed.

O the other de o dutralm a ecretve ytem o ag-

rculture that rele o the large cale producto o tarche ad

prote that are edlely reormed to the may ood product

that ll the helve o grocery tore ale. From cor to pg, thedutral ytem talk term o atracto—yo o loger

a chcke ad ee compay, t a prote compay. Cargll doe’t

rae pg, t provde “prote oluto.” O coure amal—lter-

ally eg wth prt—do ot t wth uch a model ealy. Te

oly way that they do “t” through a credle level o aue

ad volece that lead to chroc outreak o deae that mut

e ought wth route atotc, whch tur create retatactera that erouly threate huma health.




7

A Life Lived Trough Proxy

Mot o u would e appalled at the volece that heret the

dutral ytem, ut th volece very dfcult to ee, eve orthoe who partcpate t, ecaue the dutral ytem each

part dvorced rom aother o that whole are made vle.

Agat th, agraram would remd u that we are repole

or th volece to the degree that we ejoy t product. Te urger

we eat quckly o a road trp drectly ted to erodg cor eld

Illo, the petcde rdde tomato eld o Mexco, geetcally

moded oyea Arkaa, water depletg wheat eld Ne-raka, ad lagoo o maure laced wth atotc Colorado.

Agraram hold u repole or thee realte ecaue oe o

the cetral dea o agraram that we lve through proxe ad

we are repole or our proxe.

A proxy the traer o oe’ agecy to omeoe or ome-

thg to act o oe’ ehal. For agrara, whe we purchae ood

we are ot mply uyg a product that eg ad ed wth the

product, rather we are exchagg moey to pay omeoe to pro-

vde ood or u through proxy. I I do’t grow a cow myel, ut I

eat ee, I am rag a cow through proxy. I that cow aued

that too a part o my proxy—I am repole or what doe

o my ehal. My gorace o uch aue mply a wte to the

poor maagemet o my proxe or my rrepolty rather tha

my lack o ay repolty at all. Our proxe exted to all o the

ac o our le—the water we drk, the computer we ue, theclothe we wear.

o take the dcuo o proxe out o the cotext o ood,

let u look at computer lke the oe o whch I am ow wrtg.

May year ago, Wedell Berry made qute a tr whe he wrote

a eay pulhed Harpers Magazine explag why he wo’t

uy a computer.7 Amog the may reao outled wa Berry’

realzato that th techology would requre the ue o the very pollutg dutre he wa wrtg agat. He admtted the he wa

ot wthout cotruto to detructve ytem ad ecoome, ut

that whe t came to the choce o addg aother way whch he

7. Berry, What Are People For? , 170–77.



Cultivating Reality

8

would cotrute (y uyg a computer) he would do well to keep

to what had already ee workg (wrtg y had ad workg

wth h we to type up h maucrpt o a maual typewrter).

Te eay geerated a record umer o repoe to Harpers, may

people eemg peroally oeded that Berry would queto the

ethc o uyg a mache that wthout argumet lled wth

tox ad rele, or the mot part, o huge amout o electrcty

that largely geerated y coal urg or other evrometally

damagg orm o power geerato rom uclear to hydroelectrc.

At t heart, what people were reactg to wa Berry’ uggeto,

cadalou a t wa, that they had a repolty or the productthey uy ad the compae who act a proxe or them.

Dfcult a they may e to accept, the realty o proxe how

u part why a ura dweller New York Cty hould care a

much a a armer Illo aout the qualty o ol ad t ero-

o. Agraram ot jut or armer or rural people ecaue

though agraram rooted the tradto o oth, the cocer

o armer ad rural people hould e the cocer o all o u. Atthe ed o the day we are all depedet upo the ol ad ytem

that preerve ad urture the ol. For agrara we are all, to ome

degree, armer, whether practce or through proxy. Whe we

ay wth the agrara that we are all armer we make a tatemet

upo whch we ca e judged. It alo gve u a deal to whch

we ca lve—wherever we are ad a we udertad th role, ad

eg to take repolty or our proxe, we wll move rom

eg gorat coumer to klled practtoer ad producer.Some, lke Slow Food ouder Carlo Patr, have eve called or

a vo o ourelve a co-producer rather tha coumer. o

ecome co-producer we mut ecome actve partcpat the

maagemet o our proxe ad th requre that we ga ome o

the experece ad kll o armer.

Te local ood movemet that ha grow tremedouly over

the lat decade ha created a path or may to move rom the role o coumer to co-producer. A people eek to e more deeply aware

o the htory o ther ood ad care more ad more that ther ood

a part o a good ad truthul tory, they alo almot evtaly

eek to eg growg ome o ther ow ood, rae ther ow




9

chcke, ad make good compot wth the wate that come rom

ther ktche. Oe eg to ee people dg ther vocato—the

orgal huma call to arm that at t et the ervce o creato’

ourhg. We are ot called to e mply coumer, or are we

called to e extractve producer; we are called rom the egg

to e cultvator.

Te Priesthood of All Farmers,Or the Farmerhood of all People

Durg the Protetat Reormato Mart Luther artculated a

oe mudertood vew called “the prethood o all elever.”

I th vew Luther wa ot eekg to do away wth the pecal

vocato o pret, ut rather to ay that all o u who are Chrta

have a role to play a medator o God’ love ad preece the

world. o ay that we are all armer omethg lke the dea o

the “prethood o all elever”—t ot the dmhmet o the

vocato o thoe who ped every day, day ad day out ragood, ut rather t to ay that th terecto o creato ad

culture that d tel cetered at the tale we all have a role to play

ad a repolty or our place that role.

I thkg aout what th ca mea, I thk o my red

Claudo Olver Brazl. Claudo lve a eghorhood we’d call

uura, ut he dog ome radcal ad uverve thg there.

He ad everal red have egu a ura armg movemetthat rage rom apartmet the eghorhood to ackyard

where they are growg thouad o poud o ood, ad etter

yet, they are takg other people’ trah ad turg t to rch

compot o that they ca create more ood. Te people volved

th work are takg ther role a armer erouly; they are takg

repolty or ther proxe.

By opeg ourelve to a role a cultvator o creato, whch

what armg at t et really , we alo ope ourelve to wld

egagemet wth the gve world o whch we are a part. I th

a world o audace, well eyod our ow alty to cotrol or

cota or eve comprehed, the we hould approach t a uch.



Cultivating Reality

10

T ha two ac de. O the oe had we hould eek to make

our armg more wld ad o the other had we hould ee our

role a a cultvato o that wld. Tee two de are what eparate

agraram rom a kd o ecologcal vo that ocued purely

o the preervato o a wldere. Te ocu tead o le

workg ladcape that work or everythg rom ol mcroe to

people.

Gary Naha, a ethoologt who work wth Natve

people the Soora deert, ha wrtte aout the deert oa

Qutoaquto.8 T oa wa a tradtoal ource o rrgato or

the ohoo O’odham people, ut wa made a part o the OrgaPpe Natoal Moumet. Te atoal moumet a preerve

amed at protectg the deert ecoytem ad o the oa wa o

loger avalale to the ohoo O’odham or rrgato. Jut acro

the U.S.-Mexco order rom the Natoal Moumet, the ohoo

O’odham tll ue a very mlar oa or rrgato. Te amazg

thg that the odverty o the oa at the Orga Ppe Natoal

Moumet ha gcatly decled ce the tme t ecame a“preerve” whle the oa tll ued y the ohoo O’odham thrve

wth a wde varety o atve plat ad wldle.

Tee two oae llutrate the cetral agrara vo that a-

ture ot etter o wthout people, ut that people have a key role

to play wth the ladcape whe they ulll ther proper role a

cultvator. Uortuately, we have ot ee ervat o the lad

ecouragg t ourhg ad have tead ee mer o value

rom the ladcape. Natoal Park, coervace, ad preerveare the atural pde o a ecoomy aed o extracto—a

ecoomy that ee cultvato a the role o pecalt rather tha a

kll ad repolty that hould e developed y all people.

Grace and Works

Te kd o agrculture repreeted y the ohoo O’odham oth

placed ad mall cale—t agrculture that ha ee developed y

people lvg o the lad or ceture. Large cale agrculture o

8. Naha, Te Desert.




11

the ort that ega the Fertle Crecet ome te thouad year

ago o a etrely deret kd, a orm o agr-mg rather

tha agr-culture, aed o the preumpto o mauactured

audace that recall the amto o Bael. From the egg,

agrculture o th ort reulted mave ol eroo ad ega

the cycle o property ad ame that are tll wth u today.

Tere evdece that ome acet people were ormg ad

maagg ther ood upply way other tha th extractve agr-

culture. Lke huter today, Paleolthc people mot lkely maaged

ther ladcape ad eve cultvated plat order to attract game.

Tey were more ak to wldle maager tha armer, ut t alo key to ote that ther role wa ot actve o the ladcape.

Tere are ome archeologt that eve ugget that large part o

the Amazo Raoret were “deged”—a wld garde that pro-

vded a audace o ood or the people there a chrocled

ook lke Te Lost City o Z ad 1491.

T perhap a etter mage o our call a cultvator—wld-

le maager rather tha cor armer o a come. T vorg wth t a kd o humlty. Our moder agrcultural ytem

would lke to mage that wth the rght kd o put, the rght

ort o geetcally moded eed, we ca mply come to the ol ad

make omethg grow. But the agrara vo there a dace

o eort ad grace to the work o armg, a acceptace o gve

a much a a mauacturg o uteace. We mut e prepared to

receve the grace o growth ad ourhg whe t come, ut that

grace caot e made. It a g that we mut receve.Oe mght thk that th ee o grace would lead to a atal-

tc vew o agrculture—a ee lke that o ome o the memer

o Paul’ churche that grace eured that they were ot requred

to work toward goode. Yet agraram, traed a t the

real work o armg, certaly attached to the eed to work. But

th work alway tempered y the udertadg that t caot

e hed or complete tel—that the work ted up wth awhole gatherg o eg ad that the work ot that o a pro

camp where t orced, ut rather lke a ar rag where laor

ocued o accomplhg oe tak ecaue t part o a greater



Cultivating Reality

12

whole. Work the agrara vo mut e awered wth dlee

a approprate rhythm.

I the agrara vo we work to ulll our repolty a

people, ut t ot the e all ad ed all o our eg or the al

ource o our uteace. A armer kow, the hardet work ca

tll reult a crop alure or other catatrophe. It a rejecto

o that realty that ha drve dutral agrculture a eort to

eure agat upredctale harvet—t model ot mercy ut

cotrol o the varale. For thoe who grew up whe uch alure

were real polte oe ca certaly udertad the dere,

ut rather tha acceptg wth humlty the realty o mercy adgrace, dutralm ha truck a Fauta arga or predctale

harvet—pooed aquer, ol uel depedecy, ad rural

uemploymet. Aer all o th, dutral agrculture extremely

vulerale to market uctuato o uel ad ertlzer. Such agr-

culture mply could’t urvve wthout a huge udy ytem.

Te New Monasteries of the New Dark Ages

At the cloe o Aladar MacItyre’ Afer Virtue he commet that

our world, lke that o the Roma eore u, eg acked y

the arara. Te troule or u, MacItyre ay, that we are

uaware that the arara are charge. T decre the -

dutral ecoomy—a ecoomy where value a a category ha ee

gcatly perverted. Whe omethg lke a mortgage deaultwap ca e protale (at leat or a tme) ad growg good ood

rom the earth ot protale, omethg ha goe erouly

akew—the arara are charge.

Te awer, ay MacItyre, ot all that deret rom the

way that Weter Cvlzato wa aved rom the Dark Age:

What matter at th tage the cotructo o local

orm o commuty wth whch cvlty ad the tel-lectual ad moral le ca e utaed through the ew dark age whch are already upo u. Ad the trad-

to o the vrtue wa ale to urvve the horror o thelat dark age, we are ot etrely wthout groud or




13

hope. T tme however the arara are ot watgeyod the roter; they have already ee govergu or qute ome tme. Ad t our lack o cocou-

e o th that cottute part o our predcamet. Weare watg ot or a Godot, ut or aother—doutle

very deret—St. Beedct. 9

St. Beedct, o coure, wa the ouder o Weter moatcm

ad t wa h “chool or Chrtlkee” that may htora

agree were reuge o cvlty ad the preerver o culture a the

tructure o the Roma Empre ell apart. We eed a ew Beedct

ad ew commute to preerve cra the ace o the very realcatatrophe that awat u.

Agraram provde a vo or what thee mall commu-

te mght look lke. A Gee Logdo wrte, “Sutaale arm

are to today’ headlog ruh toward gloal detructo what mo-

atere were to the Dark Age—place to preerve huma kll

ad cra utl ome emlace o commo ee ad commo

purpoe retur to the pulc md.”

10

Lke the New Moatc movemet, the agrara reurgece

provde a vo or a ew/old kd o commuty that help

remd u what t mea to e huma. I th, we mght ay that

agraram ot oly realm at t et, ut alo a kd o hu-

mam. It am to celerate ad remd u what eg huma

mea—ot a le o gaul employmet marketg product or

a compay whoe mauacturg practce ome oreg place

are detroyg the world, ut ged eg created rom the earthad grated, rom the mouth o God, the reath o le. T agrar-

a vo o what we mght call humatc evrometalm wa

expreed well y Mchael Braugart, a chemt, deger ad co-

author o the ook Cradle to Cradle. “I ca tell you, utaalty

org,” wrote Braugart, “It jut the mmum. Lke whe you

were aked: ‘How your relatohp wth your grlred?’ What

do you ay? Sutaale? I’d ay: ‘I am o orry or you.’ . . . Itead

9. MacItyre, Afer Virtue, 263.

10. Logdo, Living , xx.



Cultivating Reality

14

we hould celerate eg huma eg ad our creatvty, whch

ar more mportat tha utaalty.”11

Holistic vs. Industrial Environmentalism

T humatc vo ot oly ope u up to a more Chrta ad

joyul evrometalm, ut t alo help to protect u rom the -

creag utltaram eg expreed y ome evrometalt.

I uch a utltara approach holm crapped or a dutral

approach that olate goal ad target very pecc oluto. T

dutral evrometalm cocered wth olvg partcular

prolem rather tha a wholeale letyle chage toward lvg at

ature’ pace. It tereted coervg water, ut ot coerv-

g arm. It tereted toppg gloal warmg, ut wllg

to acrce a ecologcally gcat rver or a hydroelectrc dam.

T dutral evrometalm coveet or the gree-

g o corporato. A corporato ca ecome “gree” y pckg

ay gle prolem, creatg ome oluto to t, ad gog aoutdetroyg the ecoytem every other apect o t work. A a

example, Moato ha recetly emarked o a “utaalty”

campag ocued o creatg Geetcally Moded cor, oyea

ad cotto that wll yeld twce a much a curret eed ad wll

ue 30 percet le water. T a woderul thg rom the per-

pectve o dutral evrometalm, meag le lad could

e ued or growg more crop ad ewer water reource woulde requred or doule the yeld.

But there a cetral prolem here ad t ecome apparet

whe we tep out o the realm o the mple logc o utltara-

m. “I the earth holy, the the thg that grow out o the earth

are alo holy. Tey do ot elog to ma to do wth them a he

wll.”12 Tee le rom L. H. Baley’ coervato clac, Te Holy

Earth, cut through all o the trumetalm o Moato’ tred

PR trategy that t helpg eed the world, mprove the lve o the

poor, ad etter the evromet whle at the ame tme acqurg

11. Braugart, “Populato.”

12. Baley, Te Holy Earth, 12.




15

a moopoly o eed ad ug armer whoe plat do what plat

do ad cro-pollate.

For Baley the Earth omethg eyod u, omethg that

wa here eore u, omethg that we are a part o rather tha

poe. Moato ue otechology to create plat that caot

reproduce aer the rt geerato ad the patet the reultg

geetc code, etrayg the agrara tradto o eed avg ad

the ree avalalty o geetc materal. Ye, we mut olve huma

prolem, ut we mut do t wthout teppg out o the ac rule

o ature ad we hould proceed wth great cauto whe deter-

mg what ad where thoe rule le. A Baley wrte, “A goodpart o agrculture to lear how to adapt oe’ work to ature, to

t the crop-cheme to the clmate ad to the ol ad the aclte.

o lve rght relato wth h atural codto oe o the rt

leo that a we armer or ay we ma lear.”13 o e “rght

relato” to our atural codto, that the heart o true coer-

vato, t the heart o the deepet tradto o evrometalm.

Integrity

Whe we gore that tradto ad the dea o “rght relato” we

mply partcpate the ame mdet that ha alway drve the

detructo o the world. It the mdet that ay “ature ’t

good eough.” We have to do more tha cultvate t atural d-

poto accordg to t atural lmt a we do the tradtoalreedg o plat ad amal. We have to chage t udametal

DNA ecaue ature a gve doe’t meet our eed—the lmt o

ature are too cog.

Agraram the a call to tegrty—to le ad acto lved

wthout dvde ad wthout hypocry, where a rght relatohp

to ature tralate to a rght relatohp wth work ad a rght

lvelhood. “I ‘the earth the Lord’’ ad we are H teward,”

wrte Berry, “the ovouly ome lvelhood are ‘rght’ ad ome

are ot.”14 We caot et out to make our lvg, we are to e

13. Id., 7–8.

14. Berry, Gif , 275.



Cultivating Reality

16

eghorly, y deprvg ad detroyg our commowealth—our

commo g o good lad. “I there ot, Chrta ethc,” ak

Berry, “a mpled requremet o practcal eparato rom a de-

tructve or wateul ecoomy?”15

I callg u to tegrty ad a practcal eparato rom a

wateul ecoomy, agraram remd u to lve our lve o a

proper cale—that the cope o our actoale care ca oly exted

o ar ad to work way that reach eyod that cope wll evta-

ly e detructve. Te home ad the parh—thee are the level at

whch our le hould operate. Rather tha eekg the g oluto

we mut rt meet ad awer the queto o our ow lve, here.A good llutrato o th came a rllat trp rom the

ole comc “Coee wth Jeu.” Illutrated a tyle remcet

o xte-era tract, a woma talkg wth Jeu complag that

world peace ha ot yet ee accomplhed. Jeu repod, “How

aout you lear to get alog wth your co-worker ad ex-huad

rt? World peace a ew year o, ter.”16 Te reply the reply

o agraram to the grad prolem we ace the evromet. I we do’t lve etter lve, lve o greater tegrty, the how ca we

call out the coal compae ad ol compae or ot awerg

our demad?

T prcple o dealg wth mall thg rt cetral to

Jeu’ teachg. I the Sermo o the Mout Jeu tell h dcple

that they are gog to worhp God, other word get rght wth

God, ad rememer o ther way to the temple that they are ot

rght wth ther eghor, the they hould rt get rght wth thereghor. Rght relatohp are cetral ot oly to ecology ut

the gopel, ad we caot expect to truly lve to the kgdom o

God we do’t lve rght relatohp to the creato whch the

cotext o our collectve eghorhood.

Agraram call u to get rght wth our eghor ad our

eghorhood, ad jut a Jeu realzed, t through that ac-

to that the g chage come. World peace tart ot wth gradtreate, ut wth people learg to get rght wth the people they

15. Id.

16. Rado Free Baylo, “World Peace.”




17

ecouter every day. A healthy ecoytem tart whe we qut drv-

g, top lvg a throwaway ecoomy, ad tart to tur wate

to ew ol ad reource aroud our houehold. Wrte your

cogre pero, ure, or what lttle t’ worth try to top Baylo

rom eg Baylo, ut what matter more that we care rom a

place o tegrty ad careul work—that we act rom our home-

lad ad parhe, place that exted to much maller radu’ tha

atoal order ult o the Elghtemet mperalt amto

o maet dete.

Te Soil Saves

Whe Fred Baho wrote h letter that a care or the ol mght

ave u, that agraram “capale o rgg people out o Bay-

lo ad trag them to lve the New Jerualem” that mght have

eemed a g clam. But a world lled wth dol agraram o-

er u co—vo ad practce that ope u to realty, whch

the place that the God who real lve.We ow lve Baylo—a culture o captvty—ad mot o

u have ecome comortale wth le here. Food avalale every-

where, clea water ru rom our aucet, we ca ealy drve rom

oe place to aother, the ecoomy or whatever t mometary

woe tll provde or the mot part. o lve here comortaly we

oly have to ow our head ad pay homage wth our moey to

the mauactured audace that make up th kgdom. We haveto preerve our gorace ad make ure that o oe volate the

acred ow o ol or electrcty that we mply caot lve wthout.

What happe outde o Baylo o o cocer a log a Bay-

lo lled wth audace, wealth, ad health.

But jut a the Iraelte were called out o ther comortale

lve o accommodato, we too mut leave th ale world o

mauactured audace to lve the prome lad. It a lad

that mght ot eem o woderul at rt; our had ad eet ad

ode are o rom lve lved lluo. But oce we’ve leared

to lve a huma eg oce more—to ue our mucle, our md,

our heart to egage wth the humu rom whch we were ormed,



Cultivating Reality

18

there wll e o logg or Baylo, oly or the ull retorato o

Jerualem.

Salvato hould urely e the ue o the church, ut our

udertadg o alvato ha ee ormed y a dere to cotue

our lve ervce to the dol o Empre. We have come to ee

alvato ot a a radcal call to lve ully to realty, ut rather a

matter o the prtual, a doma we ca peak o paoately whle

lettg t realty tay comortaly rrelevat.

Forget the alvato o the oul—let u preach God’ alvato

o huma eg. o ave huma eg we mut ave the creato

they are a part o ecaue huma le make o ee wthout hu-mu. Te church eed agraram ecaue the church eed drt,

the prt eed a ody or ele t jut a ghot. It wa the prt o

God gve to humu that gave rth to the huma. It upo God

ad drt that we are depedet.

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Ragan Sutterfield - Cultivating Reality [Excerpt]

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