In July 2008 I attended two 5-day courses at Genesis Farm: Exploring the New Cosmology and Deepening the Great Work. Afterwards I stayed five more days to give service at the Farm. I am writing this reflection to share what I did and how the experience helped me to understand more about what it means in this time of ecological crisis to be a conscious human being living in harmony with the natural world.

 

I did a variety of chores, helping the small staff who work very hard and experiencing the day-to-day life at the Farm. There were household chores – cleaning and doing laundry – and tasks to organize program materials. I also weeded the Memorial Garden, sown with wildflower seeds during ceremonies in the spring and fall to honor the memory of individuals who have died that year.

 

Working in the Heirloom Garden was my favorite. Special varieties of tomatoes are grown and harvested for their seeds. It was so good to do this work, because seed stocks are being threatened all over the world by industrial agricultural methods and genetically modified seeds. (The Garden State Heirloom Seed Society is just a few miles down the road from the Farm.) During the Farm’s programs, we had weeded, staked and mulched the tomatoes. Now I removed the suckers from the plants, trimmed off premature flowers so the plant would get stronger, and labeled the plants with information about the variety. 

 

One morning I removed English Ivy from one of the trees that was almost suffocated with it. I also cut back a patch of Japanese knotweed to keep it from spreading. Doing this by hand is labor and time intensive, but herbicides and pesticides are not used at Genesis – a great thing for all the wildlife and the soils. Next to habitat loss, invasive species are the second most serious cause of the loss of native species. This was evident as I surveyed some of the native wildflowers, like Solomon seal, that had been overcome by the knotweed. As I worked, I reflected on what I had learned about how chemicals are so disastrous to nature.

 

Another day I spent helping a young staff member to refurbish a old camper that would be used at the farm. It wasn’t only about fixing the camper; at Genesis Farm, nature is taken into consideration in every project. How things are re-used and Earth is cared for was evident.

 

When I consider this summary of my volunteer work, it is really very humble – no great deeds were done. On reflection, however, perhaps the greatest thing that can be done now in this time of ecological crises is to be a conscious human being living in harmony with the natural world. This is what happens at Genesis Farm. Yes, the programs were very intense, enlightening and life changing. But what I found most powerful is the living out of the Universe Story and the Great Work in the thousand little details of our human lives. There are so many opportunities every day to live with an awareness of and respect for the whole web of life: how we eat, where we shop and what we buy, how we dispose of or recycle our trash, how we drive, how we inform ourselves and share this information and how we connect with others – to mention only a few. In all these ways that are often brushed aside in our culture as insignificant, the culture of the Farm is to pay attention and live in this bioregion with profound respect for nature and to form a viable, sustainable community. Thomas Berry’s six Earth processes of a bioregion are reflected in all the human activities here.

 

During the course Deepening the Great Work, we were introduced to minnows called alableps. These creatures live in freshwater lagoons in Central and South America. They have evolved eyes that can focus on objects that are above and below the water at the same time. The point was made that we need to be like anableps: seeing both our cultural story and the Universe Story and how it is alive in the Great Work. This is what I experienced at Genesis Farm – an environment which understands and communicates with the Western culture, not a sect cut off from the world, but one that is true to the deepest values of the Great Work.

Thomas Berry said: “To make ourselves worthy of the blessing by this continent is the task to which we dedicate ourselves… that all the children of Earth might walk serenely into the future as a single sacred community.” I feel privileged to have experienced that sacred community at Genesis Farm. I hope the memory of it will help me to stay true to the Great Work.