Soil, Spirit, and Solidarity #21
A Weekly(ish) Series
“The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all...Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life.” -Wendell Berry
Soil, Spirit, and Solidarity (formerly “Soil Solidarity” ) is a weekly(ish) series that delivers ecologically oriented seeds straight to your inbox. On most Sundays I will share a handful of recommended reads and other resources that I am finding helpful, interesting, or important for tending the “soil” of my heart and faith, helping me become a fully ensoiled human. This weekly haphazard list of reads and resources includes things that I have recently been reading, watching, and listening to as I seek to cultivate a spirituality, and way of life rooted din the work of re/membering the soil. My hope is that this weekly email will provide essential ingredients for the work of composting your own theology, spirituality, and politics, becoming rich fertilizer for cultivating your own healthy relationship with the soil.
Soil, Spirit, and Solidarity #21
Article: The Bible Does Not Validate Endless Exploitation and Domination of the Environment
“It’s impossible to grasp the meaning of dominion without understanding the vision of Genesis I. The primary trope of Genesis I, the first biblical creation story, is that everything, every aspect of the creation, is designated good.[2] Everything created, all that exists, is called tov or good. The light is tov; the water, air, and earth are tov[3]; the trees and vegetation are tov; the stars and planets are tov; the fish and birds are tov, and the land animals are tov. Tov-ness or goodness is proclaimed seven times in the story. The rabbi, philosopher, and physician Maimonides, writing in the twelfth century, said that the goodness of all the creatures is a testament to their intrinsic value. Goodness does not rely on any human measure. Each organism is good in its essence, just as it is. Each has a purpose and a place. Each has integrity, each contributes to the whole and is required for the whole. The world is built on the foundation of the goodness of the creatures, without which it could not exist.”
You can read this article here.
Blog: Scientists Are Freaking Out About Ocean Temperatures
By David Gelles / The NY Times
“For the past year, oceans around the world have been substantially warmer than usual. Last month was the hottest January on record in the world’s oceans, and temperatures have continued to rise since then. The heat wave has been especially pronounced in the North Atlantic.”
You can read this blog here.
Book: Entangled Life- How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
by Merlin Sheldrake
From the Publisher:
“When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.
In the first edition of this mind-bending book, Sheldrake introduced us to this mysterious but massively diverse kingdom of life. This exquisitely designed volume, abridged from the original, features more than one hundred full-color images that bring the spectacular variety, strangeness, and beauty of fungi to life as never before.
Fungi throw our concepts of individuality and even intelligence into question. They are metabolic masters, earth makers, and key players in most of life’s processes. They can change our minds, heal our bodies, and even help us remediate environmental disaster. By examining fungi on their own terms, Sheldrake reveals how these extraordinary organisms—and our relationships with them—are changing our understanding of how life works.”
You can get this book here.
Blog: 9 charts that show US factory farming is even bigger than you realize
By Marina Bolotnikova and Kenny Torrella / Vox.com
“In a few generations, factory farming — the set of economic, genetic, chemical, and pharmaceutical innovations that enabled humanity to raise tens of billions of animals for food every year — has transformed America.”
You can read this blog here!