We’re harvesting garlic at the farm. We save seed when we harvest in the summer to plant in the fall. We trust it will grow and that the harvest the following summer will be abundant. The act of planting garlic is to believe that in creation there is enough.
Most of us living in the Global North are disconnected from the rituals of saving seed to plant. Few of us have ever had to make the choice between eating or planting our seeds. But for billions of people who share in our kin-dom, the tension between scarcity and abundance plays out on a near daily basis. It’s no wonder world religions share so many similar stories about seeds, planting, and harvesting.
We’re living in extraordinary times. Three great waves of justice are washing across our land—and by “land” I mean our planet and by “our” I mean all of humankind. This is the time. Our faith calls us to action. How are we engaging with the movement for racial justice, the movement to stem the global pandemic, and the movement to solve climate change? While these three may seem related only in the fact they are all happening at the same time, as people of faith we can see they are deeply connected on many fronts. The shared values they require for just action are some of their most important connections. One of these values is that all three demand we embrace a vision of abundance and reject a vision of scarcity.
We must plant with a deep belief in a harvest that will provide enough. To horde seed in fear is to guarantee greater conflict, suffering, and death.
In these extraordinary times, what does this mean for those of us who will not starve as weather becomes more severe? For those of us who will have access to health care if we or our family members are afflicted with COVID-19? And for those of us born in bodies that are not subject to systemic racism?
It means that who we are is who the world needs. We must step up and divest every bit of our privilege as we proclaim there is enough! Some fear that existence is a zero-sum game. This fear of scarcity in the extreme can be amplified into hatred for others. As people of faith, we are called to love and to celebrate all being flows from abundance.
When Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) expand their platform, we get better communities. BIPOC leaders by expanding their platform, power, and leadership are not taking power away from others, unless we only see power as a zero-sum equation. When we focus our response to COVID-19 grounded in public health, communal responsibility, and economic investments in the most vulnerable, we embody the belief that our lives depend not solely on our own actions but on our interdependence with each other. And when we build a global community by expanding political and economic power and transforming systems to work with nature and for all people, we can stabilize our climate.
There are powerful political and economic forces using the images of scarcity to stoke fear in ways that are making racial injustice, the pandemic, and climate change all worse. Our strategies to fix the climate crisis have to intersect across issues if we are going to succeed. We must use images and acts of abundance in order to grow hope.
Make no mistake, those who benefit by keeping us locked in a scarcity mindset are pulling out all the stops, because if an abundance mindset takes hold, the transformation called for by these extraordinary times becomes possible.
At the farm, my spouse Patrick and I are planting more than just seeds. We’ve increased our giving to organizations we’ve been supporting and included new ones like The Movement for Black Lives. Those who can, now is the time to give to support the work and organizations you believe in. Do not plant your seeds out of fear there won’t be enough to eat. Plant them believing in an abundant harvest.
We invite you to support Iowa IPL as you can. We multiply contributions from supporters several times through grants and partnerships. Your support helps expand the vision of abundance to advance environmental justice.
Another way to advance a hopeful vision of abundance is to get involved in this election cycle. Send in your request for an absentee ballot. Volunteer with a campaign. Participate in organizational town halls, forums, and advocacy. Look to Iowa IPL in the coming weeks and months for ways to be involved. In these extraordinary times, our faith calls us to action.
As I finish up the garlic harvest, I’m offering prayers of gratitude. Creation has once again reinforced my belief in abundance. Thank you for joining your fellow Iowans in taking bold and just action on climate change and so many other related challenges. Together we are planting in anticipation of an abundant harvest.