living theologies

i've just started a book that is lighting me up. it's a theological and ethical text on eating called "food for life" by l. shannon jung. early in its pages it is teaching me and opening my mind in fundamental ways. in a discussion about the meaning and role of theology, the author presents the way some theologians speak from...

"their experiences of god's activity in the world, they call us to recognize where god is active rather than make us 'think god into the world' or 'apply' their theology to the world. most christians believe that god is already present in the world. thus, theology is a way of thinking about our religious experience of god."

i love this clarification, especially coming out of seminary training that, on its own, can't help be mostly divorced from the activity of real life. in an academic context concepts and learning structures often end up floating theoretically until one day they (hopefully) land in a mode of application.

as i read this my thoughts jumped to sunday when geoff, isaac and i worked in the garden. we planted our first seeds in the ground - spinach, arugula, swiss chard (silver beet), beets and lettuce. in between extracting worms from the rich black soil, isaac helped us with a focused intensity. as we blanketed the seeds with a row cover and the rain came we paused to pray together. we asked for god's blessings and remembered (from 1 corithians) that it is god that makes all things grow. in these moments, our sense of god, our theology, was alive and central to our garden practices and the life of our family. this is one way in which god's grace is manifest to us in developing new reflexes that join our understanding of god and life around us.