June 1stLoving and caring for God's Good Creation
You can't love something you haven't met, and this much is true of loving and caring for God's Good Creation.
Sunday, June 1, the MCA Creation Care Working Group (CCWG) brought a small group of interested folks to an afternoon of learning and getting their hands dirty with our friends at the Land of Dreams (LoD) in Calgary. LoD is an urban farming project run by the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society, and it exists to connects new-to-Canada families with land to use their agricultural skills in the big city. The project leans on Indigenous wisdom and regenerative farming practices to make this project so much more than just a patch of dirt.
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Knowing the land we live upon
That is, in short, the mission of the Land of Dreams (LoD): to connect people with the share experience of the land, the dirt, the soil itself. It is a space where communities get to really know the land of our city, its strengths, its weaknesses, and its fruitfulness!
The excited group of us that made our way out to the LoD on June 1st got to see and learn about that connection and even got to be a part of it. We spread out topsoil, gathered rocks, and smoothed out mulch pathways. This work was to prepare a garden plot for a class of Indigenous first graders from the Niisitapi Learning Centre, who later in the week were going to come by and fill this soil with seeds and prayer stones. They will return in the fall to see how Creator grew it all into a bountiful garden. (Land of Dreams staff will care for their plot over the summer.)
And all the while we learned and had a taste (literally) of some of what is grown on the land!
Not everything grows in the harsh (cold) weather of our city right away, but we learned of the resilience of both some plants, and those passionate about caring for them. Maybe that is a lesson, an example that we may all learn much from; both when it comes to gardening, and when it comes to faith.
Check out all the photos HERE.