pat loughery

I’ve found myself reading and learning broadly about theology and geography in recent months.

Part of this comes from the deeply place-oriented theology of early Celtic Christian spirituality, where pilgrimage and sacred sites are important and prayers abound for milking the cow and for launching the fishing skiff.

I’m not the only one ruminating in this field.  Len Hjalmarson at NextReformation is also.  His post is very worthwhile.

It’s coming to rest in a deep desire to feel grounded in geography – something like what the wandering Celtic monks called “finding your place of resurrection”.  I can’t say that I’ve found it yet, but I trust that the desire is a good thing.

I’m feeling drawn to space and land, partly as we’re thinking about buying property to put a cabin on that is warmer and sunnier than where our home is, and which has trees and fishable water and access to good motorcycle roads (whether dirt or street).

I’m noticing that I feel drawn to plants and birds, watching both from my back deck as I look at the mountain and listen to them all speak.  We’ve put up four bird feeders and are cleaning up the landscaping in our overgrown backyard jungle, and even in the midst of being eaten by thornbushes, I feel a sense of accomplishment.

These books have been especially helpful to me recently:

• Making Peace with the Land: God’s Call to Reconcile with Creation (Resources for Reconciliation)  //  (Goodreads)

• Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible  // (Goodreads)

I’m also thinking hard about the themes in work by Wendell Berry and by Kathleen Norris.  Place matters.  Dirt matters.