James Rebanks wrote a book called A Shepherd’s Life (2015), a book by a modern day shepherd on belonging to a community (the Lake District) and a vocation (shepherding) that comes with values and commitments that are handed down rather than chosen. Imagine if Wendell Berry moved to the United Kingdom and became a shepherd. Except the whole point is that Rebanks didn’t move anywhere.
This is a great post, and I too came across this book after hearing it recommended by a few folks - it's certainly well done.
I do want to note that in my reading of the book, Rebanks, while he says his family doesn't go on holidays (vacations), does in fact travel. He has a second job as a contract advisor with UNESCO, traveling to parts of the world that have gone heavy on tourism and trying to find a way for traditional ways of life to be preserved. Though he never says as much, I am guessing this is in part based on his life experience. As you allude to, much of the Lake District is in preservation (thanks in part to the estate of Beatrix Potter) and draws a lot of tourists, yet is also home to dozens of working sheep herders. Think of his reference to the sense of loss he detected in an Asian woman who could no longer tend flocks of ducks because the manure would get on tourists' shoes. "My shoes should be mucky."
All that to say, that is still relevant to the question of the church and the Christian today - which is, how can one be faithful to what one has been given, stewarding it well, and yet engaging faithfully with a culture? How too does the church hold on to its core articles of faith, yet witnessing in response to the specific needs and sins of the local community? I wouldn't be the first to point out the Bible starts in a garden and ends in a city, meaning there is a dynamic, technologic arc of history. Rebanks' musings on the long duration of it taking generations to know if breeding decisions pay off rhyme in a way with the Christian need to take a generational view of the redemptive arc of Scripture - the sometimes long in coming between sowing and reaping.
This is a great post, and I too came across this book after hearing it recommended by a few folks - it's certainly well done.
I do want to note that in my reading of the book, Rebanks, while he says his family doesn't go on holidays (vacations), does in fact travel. He has a second job as a contract advisor with UNESCO, traveling to parts of the world that have gone heavy on tourism and trying to find a way for traditional ways of life to be preserved. Though he never says as much, I am guessing this is in part based on his life experience. As you allude to, much of the Lake District is in preservation (thanks in part to the estate of Beatrix Potter) and draws a lot of tourists, yet is also home to dozens of working sheep herders. Think of his reference to the sense of loss he detected in an Asian woman who could no longer tend flocks of ducks because the manure would get on tourists' shoes. "My shoes should be mucky."
All that to say, that is still relevant to the question of the church and the Christian today - which is, how can one be faithful to what one has been given, stewarding it well, and yet engaging faithfully with a culture? How too does the church hold on to its core articles of faith, yet witnessing in response to the specific needs and sins of the local community? I wouldn't be the first to point out the Bible starts in a garden and ends in a city, meaning there is a dynamic, technologic arc of history. Rebanks' musings on the long duration of it taking generations to know if breeding decisions pay off rhyme in a way with the Christian need to take a generational view of the redemptive arc of Scripture - the sometimes long in coming between sowing and reaping.