“It all begins with Gratitude,” says Guillermo Vasquez, the head of the Bay Area nonprofit Indigenous Permaculture. “I give thanks one, two, three times to our creators and makers for everything.” This has been the attitude and action of Indigenous Permaculture since its creation in 2002. The idea behind this project is to form partnerships with local communities and indigenous peoples as a part of the “obligation to bring in Mother Earth’s way of thinking” to all systems, Guillermo reports from a yellow flowering field of mustard, groundcover in the Bay Area’s East Bay.

“We are all connected,” he continues. “We empower low-income peoples to understand and respond directly to how food, nutrition, health, and land are intertwined.” IP is more than a food production and gardening program, although the food they produce does provide free vegetables to local food pantries and other distribution sites. Guillermo is most interested in seeing how the connection between creation and the creator are formed through partnership with the land and the cycles of the Earth. He operates with an idea of Tiguanceguite, or, working together. “Always together, never out of alignment.”

“It is all related,” he explained, “food, energy, water, community.” Whether in rural or urban environments, permaculture, also known as biointensive polyculture, is a blend of traditional farming techniques that help people grow food while conserving water, land, and energy. It is a holistic way of examining gardening and the world, a process Guillermo calls “cosmovision.” When we share our most sacred meal, we are giving thanks for a system rooted in an ancient abundance, blessing upon blessing. We honor the life of the created land and the many lives who have touched it, sown, reaped, and shared its increase with a hungry world.

Question for Reflection:

The concept of alignment is a powerful one, allowing us to bring all our energies into focus. How do you seek alignment in your ministry?

Roots run deep in Appalachia. A college graduate was asked why she returned to Harlan, far from opportunities to use her degree. Smiling she said, “I came home because I want to pick blackberries off of the same bush my grandparents picked from.” Another graduate returned home and explained, ”If I don’t come home, who will take care of grandma?”

This rootedness reminds the Venerable Bryant Kibler, Priest-in-Partnership with St. Timothy’s Outreach Center in Estill County, KY, of the Syrian commander and leper Naaman, who took loads of dirt back to Syria with him because God’s healing presence was rooted in that soil (2 Kings 5). As Bryant ministers alongside communities in Appalachia, he witnesses how deeply rooted God’s people are to the land where they have known God’s healing through community and family. A place where abundance is known in caring for loved ones and tasting berries from ancestral bushes.

The mountains and valleys of Appalachia have abundantly provided resources to the rest of the world, especially coal that is used to create electricity elsewhere. Companies have taken from the abundance and cleared out as soon as resources grew scarce, leaving whole communities unemployed. Some families migrate elsewhere. Others stay on the land they love, in mountains and valleys abundant in natural beauty and family connection.

St. Timothy’s partners with many congregations to explore Appalachian culture and to repair homes during summer work weeks. When a team came to assist a homeowner rebuild after the devastating recent flooding along the Kentucky River, the homeowner graciously pointed the team to a neighbor’s house, whose home was more destroyed. “They need you more than we do,” the homeowner announced.

In this place, abundance is rooted in a community that trusts God’s grace to heal what is broken.

Questions for Reflection:

Where do you plant your roots? How does your location and history of being in or from a place impact your ministry?

A Conversation between The Rev. Charles L. Fischer III and the Rev. Sheleta Fomby

I am blessed to be able to have individuals in my life who are willing to discuss their faith lives. Over the course of my years in ministry, I have met some wonderful people. Recently, I have become acquainted with a powerful preaching sister from Washington, D.C., the Rev. Sheleta E. Fomby. She has become both a friend and a spiritual guide in my life. In a recent conversation, Rev. Fomby and I were discussing how blessed we were in our individual and collective lives. And in a quiet moment, she stated that she lives a great life because she has experienced God’s abundance. “If it were not for that, how could she be generous to others.”

I was intrigued by her comments and asked for her to explain further. She stated that for her there is a distinct difference between abundance and generosity. “Abundance is what God has made available. And generosity is what we do with what God has made available.”

When God created the earth, God deposited upon the earth and gave to its inhabitants all that they would need for survival. God provides more than enough for all to live fully and completely.

Rev. Fomby blessed me with sharing this simple lesson. The more she reflected upon her own life and the lives of those who have poured into her own ministry, I had a moment of understanding the distinction. She was generous in her sharing because of all that others had given to her out of their own abundance. And now the cycle continues because now I can share with others out of the abundance of love, care and prayers that others have showered upon me.

Question for Reflection:

How has God’s abundance formed your generosity?

A conversation between the Very Rev. Matthew Woodward and Dr. Don Taylor

DEAN MATTHEW: Don, so good to see you. I have really enjoyed moments with the Sierra Leonean community, even the somber moments. Most recently I have participated in funerals, but I recall a remarkable baptism last year. These events have been full of food, full of community, and full of generosity. The Sierra Leonean community is so generous when their members are in need. Is that always the way?

DR. TAYLOR: Yes, it is sad that you have experienced this recently around grief, but the same generosity takes place around weddings and baptisms also. The community gathers, supports one another, and gives what it can. This flows from a sense of community spirit, that I believe is at the root of humanity. Many believe that civilization spread out from Africa, and this generosity is at the heart of African culture.

DEAN MATTHEW: I remember when I was introduced at that baptism. Everyone who had been introduced had danced to the front of the Hall. I looked at you, and realized I had to dance as well. But as I did, drawing on dance experiences from my youth, you and other elders of the community joined me and danced as well. I felt deeply supported.

DR. TAYLOR: Yes, I had to dance and support you, you are the priest of my church. Dancing is a manifestation of belonging. From this sense of belonging flows generosity. Everyone belongs and everyone is supported, with food, with dancing, with fellowship and with financial support. To be rooted in abundance is to belong to a community who all want the best for you.

Questions for Reflection:

How does your family of origin express abundance at milestone events?

My family of origin is where I learned about love, respect and compassion, these values were the foundation of my familial relationships. When our family immigrated and there were constraints in our family situation, my mother worked in a factory and brought home “piece work” to sew (at 5 cents per zipper) for income. Regardless of those challenges I felt secure in her love and protection. As our situation improved and were blessed with more opportunities, my mother served as a source of hope for those that immigrated and those that did not. I was fortunate to grow up witnessing daily examples of love, respect, compassion, and solidarity.

With the passing of my mother’s generation including aunts and uncles, I have found that scripture has become more important in my life. In particular, my prayer group, friends and colleagues that strive for the beloved community are a source of strength and grounding; especially during these times when hard fought rights are being taken back as though universal rights somehow have to be rationed.

Through my reading of the book of Genesis, creation is the very essence of possibility and abundance. God, the source of abundance, makes it available to us because of His infinite love for us, his children. Because this belief is an integral part of my faith, I feel fortunate to be rooted in abundance, to feel loved, to have options.

To be rooted in abundance suggests that gratitude and generosity are a natural consequence of a loving environment, a space where possibility, generosity, and abundance thrive. Without love for God, self and others, you risk being trapped in an environment of scarcity.

Questions for Reflection:

Often those with limited means show great generosity and solidarity, why do you think this is?

Jack Wood is a co-founder of Growing Together Community Gardens, a group of eight sustainable gardens in the Fargo, ND and Moorhead, MN community. The gardens address food insecurity by cultivating volunteers, mentors, and leaders who respect and honor the integrity of one another and the earth. For Wood, the idea of being Rooted in Abundance means, “Being thankful for the gifts that God gives me and being able to share these talents with my family as well as the larger community. When I think about the word rooted, I think about something that is at the core of our existence, the thoughts and actions that are part of our everyday life and that grow from God as the source of life.”

From this trust that our lives are deeply rooted in God, Wood believes we can give ourselves fully and abundantly to others without holding back. He sees this in the volunteers who work in the community gardens. Through planting, nurturing, and harvesting, they discover in fresh ways how they are rooted in a source of life that they did not create but that they do share and participate in. This, in turn, makes them generous and giving people throughout their lives.

From long-time community residents to new immigrant citizens, Wood says, “I have seen an amazing abundance, gratitude, and generosity in people who, before they came together to garden, didn’t know each other but now have grown into a family that cares for one another and shares their life with each other. I think that gratitude and generosity work together to make us better human beings.”

Question for Reflection:

Think about a time in your life when working as a volunteer exposed you to new ideas and skills. How did meeting new people within the context of ministry add to your own gifts?