18th May
Living simply for me is, in part, about being self reliant such as being able to cook from scratch, growing food in fruit and vegetables, sew clothes etc. It is not that I don’t want to be part of the local economy – in fact being part of a community is highly important – and whilst I grow some vegetables I don’t grow enough to be self sufficient. Nor would I even contemplate growing all the cereal and other crops on which my diet depends. Nor would I contemplate rearing sheep for wool or growing flax for linens. Nor would I contemplate living without the valuable services provided by water and electricity suppliers, by the medical world, by the writers and publishers of books, by the manufactures of bikes and those who maintain the roads etc etc.
Yet I still value and make good use of my (sometimes limited) ability to make and mend clothes, knit jumpers, darn socks, grow spinach, make a greetings card, and do simple repairs around the house.
Again I have been encouraged by words from the Hazelnut Community, that endorse and make theological sense of what I do.
“Creation, in the biblical imagination, is not a finished project. It is an unfolding reality in which human beings are invited to participate through acts of care, cultivation and creativity.
“When we bake bread, repair a broken tool, ferment vegetables, plant seeds or cook a meal for others, we are responding to the gifts of the earth and extending their life into the world.” (1)
The Green Tau 