A new book by Norman Wirzba has redefined “agrarian” for me. He says that it shouldn’t be reduced to a “farmer” but instead include all people who work to promote the health and vitality of creatures in their places, understanding that “a human life cannot flourish apart from good food, clean water, amiable company, good work, excellent tools, fertile soil, pollinating bees, helpful neighbors, protein-producing herbivores, and strong traditions of memory that pass on essential insights and skills to following generations. Insofar as persons work to improve the lives of people and land at the same time, they are agrarians.”
Wirzba extends this definition with a convincing argument that Jesus was an agrarian because his ministries only make sense focused on birds of the air and lilies of the field as well as taking care of the most marginalized of humans. We can’t separate out good works; Jesus focused his love on the well-being of all creatures and the good of all creation.
Although the first section on the background of an agrarian spirit is important, I enjoyed even more the six chapters in Part II which are spiritual exercises centered around the concept of the agrarian spirit with each chapter concentrating on practical aspects of how we change our daily way of being through prayer, seeing, descent, humility, generosity, and hope.
As a contemplative, the chapter on prayer particularly struck home to me where Wirzba weaves the story of how praying without ceasing doesn’t just take on well-known forms like petition, adoration and confession, but instead prayer works on our own demeanor, reorienting us so that we can live in our world in a more compassionate manner coming to a fresh understanding of where we are, whom we are with, and how we should behave.
The last chapter, Learning to Hope is the perfect summary for the book. Wirzba writes, “Put another way, when people ask me about the grounds for hope, I often ask them to think about the grounds for love. What do you love, why do you love it, and what do you need to sustain your love?” He gives one example that if you love your family or community, it requires you to work for the flourishing of each of its members by making sure their varying needs are met.
In this anxious age, Wirzba’s words are comforting: “Hopeful people do not have it all figured out. What they have is the (sometimes unclear) desire and (sometimes unsteady) commitment to join their love with the divine loving going on around them. The ways of hope come down to people learning to participate in the sacred power that creates, nourishes, heals, and reconciles life.”
I highly recommend this book as nourishment for parched souls. It provides a roadmap to a better way of seeing ourselves so that we find joy in our role in this world as an agrarian spirit.
Blessings, my friend,
Agatha
(Note: I was provided a pdf copy of the final draft in return for this unpaid, unbiased review).