John Milbank on the London Riots

Over ABC's Religion and Ethics page, John Milbank has a great piece on the London Riots.  Give it a read. Even Adam Kotsko, who typically does not like Milbank, found the piece favorable.

Every Church Should Have a Garden: A Piece for my local Paper

Here is my piece for our local newspaper (The Pantagraph) called "Why Every Church Should Have a Garden."  Mind you, this could only be 400 words, but enjoy!

Why Every Church Should Have a Garden

Every church should have a garden.  Why this odd little prescription?  Because churches are sites of “religious” training. The word “religion” means “to bind back.”  Anything religious is meant to bind humans back to the source of life: God.  Gardening best drives this point home; gardening teaches that we are needy, life is mysterious, and the unexpected happens.  These three lessons teach us much about faith.   

First, we are needy.  Growing food binds us to our food sources.  By engaging the soil, seeds, weeds, and fruit, we learn what it takes to feed a family.  Our dirty hands clean our imagination; we see beyond the illusion that food comes in boxes and cellophane wrappers.  It comes from the earth; it is dirty.  Food costs – to eat means that something has to die – this should humble us.  Ultimately, growing food reminds us that food does not originate in a sterilized grocery store; we are dependent upon many variables for our daily survival.  This lesson binds us back to the creation, of which we are members, and to the creator.  Simply, gardening teaches grace.  

Second, life is mysterious.  Certainly, we know how things grow.  Acutely aware that their persistent care can assist in a plant’s flourishing, even the best gardeners know that they can’t actually make a plant grow, yet alone live. We may understand how things live, but producing life is always beyond our grasp.  All we can do is assist patiently by providing good conditions.  This is religious training at its best.  It’s here that we learn about our utter reliance on something else for our own flourishing.

Gardeners know that you cannot expect perfection.  Just when you have taken the proper care to prepare the soil, companion plant, water and weed, a bunny may hop in and feed off your crops.  The unexpected happens: hail falls, droughts parch, and hungry animals are always searching for a meal.  The unexpected is out of our control.  Good gardeners take precaution and learn from failures, and the best gardeners redeem these failures.  Even when a plant dies, its life is given back to the soil to make it richer for the future.  This profound truth teaches that all things can work together for good, especially for the gardener who faithfully loves what is under his or her care.  It awakens the religious imagination.  So if you want religious training, grow a garden.

And besides, have you ever eaten a garden fresh tomato? 

Theo-Blog links

Well, like most of you, my life has been busy.  That means that my blog has been a bit lifeless.  I promise to have some great posts up soon in the "Contemporary Thinkers You Should Read" series, but for now enjoy these links to some great blogs and bog posts:

The Call and Response blog has a great story from Patheos about Governor Rick Perry's Political Theology.

Brad East has an insightful reading of the phrase "personal relationship with Jesus" at Resident Theology.

Goannatree reflects, soberly, the London Riots.

Michael V. DiFuccia has two great posts on the Analogia Entis and Open Theism.

Over at ABC Religion and Ethics there are several great posts, including a piece on Protestant America by Stanley Hauerwas, and the New Evangelicals by Marcia Pally. 

David Bentley Hart reflects on wickedness in Don Juan at First Things.

Debra Dean Murphy writes on The More You Get, the More you Have on the Ekklesia Project Blog.

John Morehead offers a book review of Dracula Defanged at Theofantastique.

James K. A. Smith on McLuhan's The Medium is the Message.