First, the important news. Last night I used up the last head of garlic from our larder. A moment of panic. Then I went out to the garden and pulled up a stalk of garlic and, lo!, it was ready eat. Cooking with fresh garlic that hasn’t been hung and dried for a couple of weeks is a bit different, but still supplies our basic human need for garlic. Actually, it is better than the 12 month-old garlic I just finished.
When we designed our house, we converted the space that most designs have for a walk-in-robe to a small larder instead. Located in the middle of the house, insulated and with no external walls, it keeps the most even and cool temperature in the house. We have discovered that our crop of garlic, if treated right (dried well and kept airy) now lasts the whole twelve months till the next one is available (now!).
Garlic is a great crop to become self-sufficient in: easy to grow, doesn’t take up much space, and the stuff from the shop is smaller, full of chemicals and expensive.
If you don’t have a larder, or similar space, you can generally store garlic for 7-9 months before it starts going off. At that point, you can separate the cloves and freeze them. They are a little mushy when defrosted, but fine if you are just cooking with it.
Hard copy Manna Matters
Last edition I put out a call for feedback on whether Manna Matters should finally bite the bullet and go fully electronic, or whether we retain a hard copy and make a radical switch to brown paper—the only actual post-consumer waste paper that we know of. The response was overwhelming: Manna Matters readers were virtually unanimous in supporting the importance of a material product, both for reasons of good reading and deeper reasons as well. Thanks to all those who made contact.
We strongly encourage any who would actually prefer to get the hard copy to take the leap and sign up (go to the website). If you are uncomfortable about adding to the financial cost, you are always free to chip in a little donation.
Reflecting on the world
Once I resolved my garlic crisis, I had a little headspace to reflect on the the world crisis. At our recent Manna Gum AGM, the retiring Chair, Peter Chapman, gave an inspired reflection on the ebbs and flows of American democracy in the post-war period. He suggested that the election of Donald Trump for a second term could not have happenned at any previous period of American history, and yet it was the product of all that had gone before. In some respects, Donald Trump might be seen as the incarnation of the spirit that American culture has nurtured: worshipping the will to power, wealth, superior violence, and self-glorification; willing to sacrifice truth, ideals, and human lives to this cult.
I was reminded of W.B. Yeats’ imagining of a dark incarnation of the ‘Spiritus Mundi’ (the Spirit of the World) in his poem, ‘The Second Coming’:
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
In Australia we might derive some comfort that we have more social antibodies against ‘the Trump disease,’ but we should not imagine that we are immune. As the recent Halloween made clear, our receptivity to American influence grows year by year.
Re-thinking politics
Given the heaviness of the times, it is perhaps timely that Jacob Garrett and I are about to begin recording a series of podcasts on Christianity and politics. The fact that 80% of white American evangelicals support Trump is a cautionary reminder that mixing politics with religious zeal can be a potently destructive force. But rather than abandon the field of politics altogether (‘The best lack all conviction’), is there a way in which we might faithfully embody the Way of Christ—the crucified Messiah—into the political sphere? Full disclosure: we don’t have a neatly packaged answer (!), but we hope that laying out a bit of the biblical, theological, and historical map might be useful in these disoriented times. Keep your eye out for when the podcasts drop.
Other stuff
Between July and September we ran a 6-part webinar series on Christianity vs. Capitalism: a deep dive into a historical, analytical, and theological description of capitalism, and the challenges it poses for Christian witness. The webinars were recorded and can be found on Manna Gum’s YouTube chanel, which you can access through the website. If you are not into all the conceptual stuff (sad face emoji), part 6 of the series gives the practical pointy end of it all.
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For me, the last six months have been focussed on writing. Beyond Manna Matters and other bits and pieces, I currently have two books in production which I hope might see the light of day next year, inshallah.
Jonathan Cornford