God loves soil, says the writer Norman Wirzba. "God is the first, best, and essential gardener of the world." Humankind has long assumed that what is good for us is also good for the world; but where pride and greed are the primary measures of what is good, this assumption leads to disaster. What happens when we put soil and soul together, and live “by the contrary assumption that what is good for the world will be good for us. ... Making the effort to know the world and to learn what is good for it. Co-operating in its processes, and yielding to its limits.” [Wendell Berry]?
A talk for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity, 16 July 2023.
Find the text to this and all my talks at bit.ly/johndavies-talks.