As dairy farmers in Aotearoa New Zealand, we are part of an industry which tends to prioritise production and human economic benefit at the expense of the land and creatures we farm. Western farming industries, and societies in general, have lost sight of the reciprocal connection between land, people and God – a connection which would have been second nature to the ancient agrarian communities of biblical times, and remains so for many indigenous communities around the world. Theologian and writer H. Daniel Zacharias discusses how “traditional Indigenous culture and spirituality continues to emphasize practices that remind one of common creatureliness as well as connection to land, to remind oneself that you have been made from the land on which you and fellow creatures now walk and therefore have a kinship with them and with mother earth.”
Contrary to modern farming practice, our faith challenges us daily to foster this kinship with creation and to move towards stewardship in our work as farmers. I have come to understand that living in right relationship with God should involve living in right relationship with the land. By choosing to farm organically, in a way that works alongside the natural systems already in place, my husband and I hope to achieve a balance between economic human benefits and the impacts we have on creation. It is our goal to foster the flourishing of as much ecological life as possible with the decisions we make – human and non-human, wild and domestic, above and underground. This is a work in progress!
Being able to witness God’s action and providence in creation on a daily basis is truly a humbling honour. In our work it is impossible to not acknowledge God’s provision in creation over and above the control that we may feel we have as humans. When drought-hit pastures spring back to life seemingly overnight after long awaited rain; when the wind powers across our hills; when we learn of the billions of soil microbes working tirelessly beneath our feet; when a calf is born, standing and suckling within the space of an hour without human assistance – it is undeniable that “God sustains all that is, God works with all that is, and God is bringing all that is to God’s good ends.” I am reminded that, as humans made in the image of God with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we are called to participate with God in this purpose – to care for the land as it cares for us, and as God does for all of his glorious creation.
