food

Book Review

Organic Prayer

A Spiritual Gardening Companion

reviewed by Brianna Wagner

Written by Brianna Wagner on November 12, 2014

Brianna Wagner

Brianna Wagner is a student at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas and a 2014 Church Health Reader intern.

See all articles by Brianna Wagner.

Nancy Roth provides just the right blend of practical organic gardening advice and prayerful guidance in her spiritual gardening companion, Organic Prayer. She speaks from years of experience as a gardener, a woman of faith, and a mother as she steers burgeoning planters past many obstacles, both within and without, that they will face. Organic gardeners of many faiths will likely find Roth’s book a peaceful, reflective read as well as a helpful guide for navigating the many challenges that come with working the land. A congregation implementing a gardening program will find endless possibilities to integrate her ideas into both worship and fellowship.

Beginning with nourishment of the soil and ending with the bounty of harvest, Roth links every stage and snare of organic gardening with aspects of ourselves that we must tend in order to get closer to God. She draws out each step with verses from scripture, quotes from theologians and mystics, and reflective exercises to engage readers with their spiritual development. Multiple chapters pass before Roth even comes to planting the seeds of the garden! She is firm in the belief that before activism and prayer can grow, like any flower or vegetable, one must first dig out the weeds of negativity and infuse the soil with the nutrients of open-mindedness and patience. Then, once one is finally ready to plant, one must consider both what one needs and what will flourish in a given environment. The gardener must be ready for death as well as new life, both in one’s garden and in one’s life, because it fertilizes the soil and leaves room for new growth. With plentiful metaphor and theological support, Roth walk can walk both individuals and communities through every aspect they must consider in cultivating, growing, and harvesting their own organic gardens.

As a mother, Nancy Roth has a collection of stories from her own life that she is able to apply to the principles of gardening. Her relationship with her husband supplies a number of parables on kinship and giving. Even her young children have lessons to teach about love and awe in the face of God’s creations. As a traveler, she even has stories to pass on about places she has visited that have sent her valuable messages about responsibility and the blessings that nature confers. Most of all, as a priest herself, she has so many insights on building organic prayerfulness in a congregation of all ages. Many of her gardening lessons are even comprehensible to the youngest generation of churchgoer: even a little child can understand that beautiful flowers and tasty fruits all come from God’s love. Each chapter wraps up with a prayer exercise that Roth finds productive when meditating on her place in nature and all the things for which she has to be thankful. Roth’s spiritual gardening companion will both uplift and humble its readers with its awe-inspiring take on God’s hand in nature.

Seabury Books, 2007

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