Hello friends!

“Time to plant, time to press my nails
in dirt,
         Resurrect the earth with chives
Swiss chard, basil, beans.”

-Abigail Carroll, A Gathering of Larks

Entangled Life and Agrarian Spirit

It has been a delight to explore “entangled existence” in our Spring learning cohort, which was enhanced by welcoming Dr. Norman Wirzba to our last gathering. Wirzba is a professor of theology at Duke University who specializes in the intersection of theology, philosophy, ecology, and agrarian studies. His latest book, This Sacred Life, is a wonderful introduction to these themes.

In his upcoming book Agrarian Spirit: Cultivating Faith, Community, and the Land, Wirzba explains how we are all invited to the agrarian life, not in the sense of living rurally or on a farm, but by embracing our essential entanglement with place, land, and neighborhoods. “Agrarians are distinguished by their commitment to work for the well-being of their places and communities…To be an agrarian is to do the work that nourishes life in its many material, physiological, environmental, social, and cultural dimensions. It is to know and act upon the fundamental truth that people are landed beings and so cannot possibly thrive apart from the thriving of the land and its many creatures.”

In this sense, Kinship Plot is seeking to imagine and embody this “agrarian spirit,” and we are grateful for Wirzba’s vision, which also points to Christ as our hope. Following Christ leads us deeper into entanglement with God, others, and the land, for as Wirzba writes in Agrarian Spirit, “The goal of a Christian life is not to escape from our entangled embodiment but to practice the divine touch that cherishes our life together.”

Click here to listen to a couple snippets from our last cohort meeting with Dr. Wirzba.

New Life in the Garden

We had a delightful garden community work day on April 9. Friends new and old came out to co-labor, prep garden beds, plant seeds, and connect with each other. Through our communal efforts we planted beans, onions, beets, radishes, squash, tomatoes, kale, mustard greens, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, and a variety of herbs and flowers. We want to extend a special thanks to Fiona Harlan who is Kinship Plot’s volunteer lead garden keeper also affectionately known as the “Scot of the Plot” (pictured with Steph and the compost pile below). We are grateful for her co-shaping and leadership in caring for the space we are cultivating together.

 Community Conversation on Racism

On April 7, about 30 people gathered in West Charlotte to discuss the report on the history of systemic racism in Mecklenburg County. We shared stories about the impact of these wounds and brainstormed ideas for repair and rebuilding. We look forward to sharing our communal letter with our elected officials soon, which we will also share publicly. We hope that the next step in this process will involve a movement of repentance and repair led by the Christian church. There will be more invitations to engage in this contemplative action and covenantal organizing work, so stay tuned and please reach out if you would like to be more intimately involved.