Restoring the Laneways – Mary-Anne Rulfs
I LOVE watching Gardening Australia! Call me quaint or boring or whatever you like … I know I’m not alone! It’s amazing how many people I come across who are also GA fans. (You know who you are!)
GA has been running on the ABC since 1990. 35 years! Beginning as a 30 minute programme, it was extended to 60 minutes in 2018 and hasn’t looked back. What a gift during Covid, which was a catalyst for people to return to more home-grown, home-made ways of producing food and creating havens of natural beauty in and around their living space, whether a tiny inner city apartment, a suburban home, or a larger property.
So what is it that attracts me to this Friday night football or movie alternative?
For a start, the show opens with catchy, fun music and gorgeous, clever, joy-filled graphics. It paints a picture of something joyful in which we can all participate. A great antidote for end-of-week tiredness!
Then there are the presenters – a wonderfully eclectic crew if ever there was! A mix of age, gender, cultural backgrounds and gardening styles. Yet all so passionate about plants and gardening and helping others enjoy gardening too. They clearly enjoy their gardens and have fun experimenting with what works, paying careful attention to soil and plant quality as well as weather and seasonal changes. I love that they use easily accessible language, even when speaking about technical or very specialised aspects of gardening. Even a novice like me can understand what they are talking about!
The wide range of topics presented means there’s something for everyone. It seems gardening and a love of plants can speak into every aspect of human life:
Healthy physical activity
Calming beauty for relaxation and delight
The joyful challenge of creative design whether for aesthetic or practical purposes
An innate need to be connected with nature – connection with the earth that heals and nurtures through the divinely inspired cycle of death and resurrection
Food for nourishment and enjoyment
An endless array of colours and texture
(How I would love for all this to true of the church!)
One recent article really grabbed my attention. It was about restoring pedestrian laneways in inner-city Melbourne. Laneways that had become neglected and ugly were being rejuvenated by local communities to become beautiful thoroughfares that everyone could use and enjoy. Spontaneous and collaborative expressions of becoming more human, in the image of the divine Gardener, who breathes life and creativity into all things. You can watch the article here
https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/how-to/laneway-loving/104458344
For example, in one suburb, one woman began planting cuttings from her garden beside the footpath in a derelict laneway. Others soon joined her, bringing cuttings from whatever they had growing in their own gardens. Another person cleaned up the footpath and repaired where it was broken. Others painted murals on the fence. As people came from their back-yards to beautify the space or simply use it as a thoroughfare, they met up with neighbours who slowly became new friends.
No one was ‘in charge’. People simply contributed what they had, and the result was a shared space where everyone belonged, including some people with disabilities who could now access and enjoy the space.
It was a profoundly moving article and got me thinking … this was a beautiful analogy for mission – finding where God is already at work in the world and joining in.
What if our church communities could participate in restoring laneways – not only by inviting people to join with us in creating more beautiful spaces in physical localities that have become tired, neglected or polluted – but also restoring the metaphorical laneways of life by strengthening a sense of supportive, caring, inclusive community.
In a world where loneliness is now considered to be a social disease nearing epidemic proportions – the research tells us most especially among younger people – restoring the laneways of relationship and connection through the kindness and caring of healthy human relationships is a gospel imperative the church cannot ignore. When most young people are disenfranchised from the church, this may seem an impossible task. But what if we simply reached out, where we are, one person at a time, and began planting small cuttings of kindness, care, taking an interest in each person, extending generosity and hospitality … and what if we watered this new garden with the deep care of love and compassion … as Jesus did.
It’s been a great joy for Stewart, Eron and I to network amongst our parishes as we have led Sunday services, celebrated the Eucharist and spent time with each of our worshipping communities over the last 3 weeks. Our themes of transitions, truth-telling and compassion appear to have resonated with people. There’s been great feedback from each parish, and it seems people will welcome another rotation early next year perhaps during Lent.
Opening up relational paths and laneways between parishes will help us strengthen our capacity for mission. Sharing our resources and building connections is a more spacious way of being church. There are more possibilities and we can see a little further. It’s less lonely and we find joy in sharing.
‘Spacious’ is a word I find myself using a lot these days. Looking upwards and outwards helps me see what God is doing in spaces other than my own little world. And more and more, especially through our ‘Conversations’ groups at Robina and Palm Beach, we are discovering the scriptures to be far more spacious and welcoming and hospitable than we may have once thought.
As we consider ‘where to now in our parishes?’, let’s keep in mind this question:
How can we best be the Anglican church together in 2025, making Christ known in ways that care deeply for all?
How can we be people who transition well into the next season God is inviting us into?
How can we be truth-tellers about who Jesus is, with compassion?
How can we care deeply for all through our words, our actions, and our relationships, as Christian community?
How can caring deeply for all include caring deeply for the natural world gifted to us by our loving and generous creator?
Let’s not forget the attractiveness of outdoor spaces for people who may be sceptical of our buildings and what they represent! Our church properties are well-placed to have gardens that welcome in those from the wider community. One of the enduring messages of GA is that in a garden, we are all simply people, coming as we are, to connect with the natural world, and in doing so, connecting better with ourselves. People can be wary of buildings. A doorway can be intimidating. A garden invites and welcomes and nurtures.
Burleigh Heads parish does have a community garden that produces food, run by and for locals experiencing food scarcity. St Francis Theological College in Milton has turned their unused tennis courts into an urban farm project with a vision to ‘grow food and community with and for the nutritionally vulnerable’. This ministry of Anglican Church Southern Qld seeks to build community and nurture people in heart, soul, mind and strength. Check out Baroona Farm Milton online.
When we celebrated the Feast of St Francis at Palm Beach a month ago, Rev’d Greg McGrory preached a wonderful sermon that couldn’t have been a better introduction to our 3-week series. Greg concluded with the following challenge:
… we need to hear the words of St Francis: ‘rebuild my church, rebuild yourselves, discover your true self, for I have called you and love you and desire you to know my love and my mercy, so that through you, others may also come to know and rebuild’
But how?
Francis says:
- gaze upon Christ crucified and resurrected
- discover a new heart, a new self, a new courage
- consider Christ, contemplate Christ, imitate Christ, for then, in friend and stranger, in someone you want to socialise with and someone you never want to meet, you will see Christ Jesus.
- you will be renewed! Not fossilised.
- you will be living for both today and the future.
We can rebuild.
We can be rebuilt.
Jesus was always ‘on the way’. And so are we.
Fr Greg suggests:
- let’s be authentic in our love for those around us, perhaps through a hug, a word of encouragement, or a gentle challenge to allow God to feel closer 2.
- Share the good news of Jesus Christ – as a gospel truth-teller. You are here because Christ has made a difference in your life. Be ready, willing and able to share your story of God’s love, mercy, forgiveness and being made whole as you encounter others in the laneways of life. People are hungry for spiritual things, in their heart of hearts.
- Rekindle reverence for the sacred – recognising that all of life is made sacred by the sanctifying presence of God’s spirit. Our buildings and the sacraments are not only relics from the past – they can be living entities of God’s love of when we allow them to be. The sacredness of life expressed in the natural world, especially in gardens, also draws us closer to the heart of God.
- Renewing our life of prayer and relationship with God helps us to be more present so that we can encourage others to renew their life
As we rebuild and restore the laneways of life that have been neglected by our fast-paced and self-focussed lifestyle, how might we meet others and share with them the good news that they too have a name, a place and attributes to share that will be valued in community and become a gift to others?
How can we restore the ‘laneways of life’ so that people encounter God’s life and love not only on Sundays, but every day as we engage in life together with care and compassion, wherever the laneway is leading.
Grace and peace,
Mary-Anne