R eflections from the Editor Kneeling in the Garden with God Out there, they’re talking multilaterals, capacity building, and capital flows. In here, we’re talking soil, seeds, and sun. They’re talking global governance, poverty gap ratios, and welfare initiatives. We’re talking rural farmers putting trees back into their dusty land, city kids harvesting and marketing their own food, unschooled women electrifying their villages. I’m not putting down the former— those big ideas have their place among the suit-and-tie experts of the development world. But I am grateful that, in this issue, we get to hang out with the latter—the real experts, those cashpoor but experience-rich folks who are making a tangible and joyful difference in their own lives, with a little help from friends who are wise enough to know how to keep out of the way. So join me as we plunge our hands into the rich earth to plant saplings with farmers in Haiti, Kenya, and Mexico. See how they are reclaiming their barren hillsides, bettering their own lives, and providing a future for the next generations all at the same time. Learn how, for these men and women, trees do much more than provide shade, oxygen, and beauty—they are symbols of hope and inspire humans to reach higher and dig deeper. Planting trees in impoverished nations has wide-reaching spiritual and even political effects: As Kenyan Wangari Maathai, the first African woman ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize, says, “sustainable development [such as treeplanting], democracy, and peace are indivisible.” Then follow me to urban Detroit, where residents of all ages are raising asparagus and currants in the garden, whipping up artichoke dip and tomato soup in the kitchen, and making honey and organic compost in the heart of the inner city. Try a sip of elderberry juice, take a whiff of basil, sample a spoonful of homemade jam. The joy of connecting with the earth’s bounty is contagious, isn’t it? The smiles on the faces
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of the Earthworks community say it all. Now let’s soar to Rajasthan, India, where the charismatic but humble Bunker Roy has the honor of introducing the poorest of the poor to their heretofore unimagined potential. Become a solar engineer in just six months, he promises them; the less formal education you have the better. Sounds like a snake oil salesman, right? But this guy’s for real. His vision—and his track record—for training up “barefoot” engineers (and architects, healthcare providers, entrepreneurs) from among the world’s impoverished and least educated is nothing less than astonishing. Although not himself a Christian, Roy seems to understand Christ’s attraction to the poor (not to mention the latent power of a mustard seed) better than most believers I know, myself included. I thank God for him and the work he is doing to electrify—both literally and figuratively—the Creator’s most vulnerable populations. Then we’ll take a tour through church history to remind ourselves of the long legacy of Christian animal care and advocacy. From the forest to the farm, how we treat the animals who nourish and serve us has consequences for how we love the God who created them. Regardless of what one thinks about “animal rights,” when we mistreat creatures (or turn a blind eye when others do) we harm ourselves and disrespect both the Giver and his gifts. Jesus’ life was connected to the earth in ways that very few of us in the developed world can comprehend today. He talked to a fig tree, drank from fresh springs, prayed in a garden, and slept on a lake. He saw spiritual truths in every seed, flower, weed, thistle, vine, branch, tree, mountain, and gust of wind he encountered. He called his beloved children sheep and himself their shepherd; he said God knows and remembers each sparrow. He was announced by a dove, praised the ant, identified with the hen, and rendezvoused with a donkey. Sand,
Kristyn Komarnicki
soil, and stone were the very stuff of his stories. Jesus honored the natural world with his attention, and he was ministered to by the natural world in his enjoyment of it. It strikes me as genuinely tragic that we are today so unprecedentedly removed from the beauty, joy, and nourishment of creation. While many of us strive for political solutions and wrestle with methodological approaches to big problems like hunger, environmental degradation, generational poverty, and
gender injustice, God is content to kneel in the garden, focusing on the details and delighting in his creation one daisy, robin, and child at a time. While we fuss and fritter about results, God is patient, tending each part of his garden with great care and intention, fully present and unhurried. All praise to the Master Gardener who has hidden in the care of creation all the secrets we need—not only to save the planet but also to live victoriously in peace and plenty. Kristyn Komarnicki enjoys picking arugula and mint for her dinner salad and finds weeding to be the perfect companion to prayer (“Lord, dig those sins out of my heart— just look how tenacious the roots are!”). She confesses to entertaining murderous thoughts toward a certain ground hog, who has made a habit of breakfasting on her zucchini blossoms.