I would never make it as an accountant.
I tend to lose focus on details, and I’ve never been too
motivated about dollars and cents.
Plus I can get philosophical on something as simple as
mathematical functions like subtract or multiply.
What to some might look like subtraction, a reduction in the
bottom line, in God’s economy can be multiplication, compounding and expanding
in every direction.
It doesn’t make sense mathematically, but there’s a
spiritual reality that sets our zero-sum economy
on end.
I’ve been watching this happen in my garden, my backyard
workshop for theological reflection.
Exhibit one: Dicentra cucullaria, Dutchman’s Breeches, a
native woodland plant in the bleeding-heart family, with white spring blooms
shaped like tiny upside-down pantaloons.
Years ago someone gave me some corms to plant, little white
bulblets that rooted and grew into a small clump of feathery leaves and a handful
of early spring blooms.
And there it stayed: pretty for a few weeks in spring, not
expanding much. Hemmed in by wild ginger on one side, a rock on another, a tree
trunk on another.
Then last year I dug it up. I gave a few corms to someone
else, stuck a few in a new place, a few more in another. Dropped one or two and
left them for the squirrels to find.
Then forgot them.
This spring, as the snow finally melted and sunlight warmed
the hill behind my shed, I found a new bunch blooming.
Then another.
A few days later, another.
And another.
Fifteen patches in all, all bigger than the bunch I split
just last year.
All blooming merrily in new locations, some apparently
chosen by the squirrels, while the corms I put back into the same spot are back
to a bunch the same size as before.
In gardening, that’s often the case. Divide something up and
share it, and you end up with more yourself.
I gave a new friend a garden tour this week, and we ended by
potting up plants for her to take home to her own garden. Some bloodroot –
heirs of a clump my grandmother gave me decades ago, that grew and multiplied
in three different gardens in Virginia ,
and now is spreading through my garden here. Virginia
bluebells and ostrich fern from a friend’s garden here in Pennsylvania . Rue anemone and native
bleeding heart that are woven throughout my yard, even though I don’t remember
where they came from. And a bunch of Dicentra cucullaria, Dutchman’s Breeches,
the same size as the original I was given years ago.
This is the season of plant sales, garden giveaways, digging
and dividing. Real gardeners know that a large part of the fun is giving plants
away.
I check the USDA plant databases and plant native plants in
the park where I’m part of a Weed Warriors workgroup. A few years ago I bought
two elderberry bushes, and now, after giving away at least a dozen, I have
another dozen more to dig and plant in the park.
And golden ragwort – brilliant yellow this time of year – a small
bunch given by a friend now carpets whole areas under my trees, and under the
trees of several friends, and is growing into new patches along the pathways in
the park. (And yes, I have permission to plant there, as we take out invasive
aliens that don’t belong).
Paul wrote to the Corinthians about this expansive principal
in God’s economy.
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:
“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever.”
Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 9:6-11
I’ve written before about the extreme wording that runs
through this passage: "God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all
things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good
work. . . You will be enriched in every way to you can be generous on every
occasion."
As I’ve said, “I like the extravagance of Paul’s claim: every,
always, everything. There is no lack in God’s supply, no halfway measure in his
provision.”
We step into this reality tentatively: offering hospitality
with hesitation, giving generously, then rethinking, second-guessing.
Yet, when we’ve chosen as a family to believe it, we’ve seen
that any investment of home, money, time, attention, love, has yielded not
scarcity, but plenty, pressed down and overflowing.
I listen to discussions of our federal budget and grieve: by
some accounting measures it might make sense to cut back nutrition assistance
for poor families, or to shave our one percent international aid contribution
to ever smaller decimals. According to Bread for the World, while
the proposed 2016 budget would increase defense spending, trillions of dollars
in cuts would come from programs for low-income people.
I listen and grieve. And grieve again, at the discussion
surrounding minimum wage, living wage, how far below the poverty line manyfull-time workers live. By some accounting measure, the arguments for continuing at the current minimum wage might make sense. But surely there are business leaders
who could speak for another point of view? Sharing profits with the lowest
earning workers, in God’s economy, would not subtract from the bottom line, but
provide opportunity to see expanded provision.
Writing for last week’s Synchroblog post on “bearing fruit,”
I was reminded that the Bible has much to say about what we would call
agriculture: the division of land, the processes of sowing and harvesting, the
distribution of food, the value of pruning.
In many ways, that agricultural focus intersects with an economic
vision: one that calls our current material individualism to account, and
offers a radically different structure.
During this season of gardening and growth, I’m planning to
think and blog about God’s economy, and to examine the ways our theology finds
its way into checkbooks, business practice, policy, politics.
What would happen if we lived the words we say we believe?
And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.”
Earlier posts on agro-theology and/or Biblical economies:
Your thoughts and experiences in this are welcome. Look for the "__ comments" link below to leave your comments. And if you know of businesses incorporating alternative economics, I'd love to hear about them.
