The Cultivator's Manifesto
W
ho are "we" as a tribe? What mysterious DNA do we share of the soul and spirit? What is it in us that
is the same, that pulls us toward the same horizon, pulls us together with the quiet astonishment of “What? You, too?”
Who are we as a tribe of Christ followers bent toward making? Writers and artists and craftsman of every kind who have suffered, loved, pressed on for the sake of Beauty, and kept reaching for the Light.
Who are we who cherish every representation of Goodness, and guard it fiercely when it is placed in our keeping?
Who are we who swear allegiance to a High King we cannot yet see with our mortal eyes, who know His voice speaking without sound, who hold the ground for Him as we wait for His return?
Who are we who worship our God and Maker through our making and our living?
Who are "we" as a tribe? What mysterious DNA do we share of the soul and spirit?
What is it in us that is the same, that pulls us toward the same horizon, pulls us together with the quiet astonishment of “What? You, too?”
Who are we as a tribe of Christ followers bent toward making? Writers and artists and craftsman of every kind who have suffered, loved, pressed on for the sake of Beauty, and kept reaching for the Light.
Who are we who cherish every representation of Goodness, and guard it fiercely when it is placed in our keeping?
Who are we who swear allegiance to a High King we cannot yet see with our mortal eyes, who know His voice speaking without sound, who hold the ground for Him as we wait for His return?
Who are we who worship our God and Maker through our making and our living?
We are Cultivators, oaks of righteousness, planted by the Lord, for the display of His splendour and for His joy.
Rooted and grounded in Christ, the Vine and the Oak, we cultivate our lives as a planted field to produce the fruit of the Spirit as much as we cultivate it to produce art.
We cultivate healthy marriages and healthy children.
We cultivate circles of nourished friends, and honourable ways to make a living.
We cultivate by choice. We cultivate by discipline.
We cultivate the conditions in which goodness, truth, and beauty thrive.
We cultivate spaces for others to find refuge, healing, and places to flourish of their own.
We cultivate planting, growth, harvest, and Sabbath in their seasons.
We tend and we defend.
We labour wholeheartedly to reclaim what was given us but was lost.
We work to rebuild, restore, and renew whole lives reflecting the mending of all that has been broken.
We labour for the restoration of what is meant to be ~ people made whole, right, mended, and free.
We are namers and makers, prayers and labourers, envisioners and incarnators.
We are Cultivators tending to the business of both earth and Heaven, walking with God as we are made to in the fields of our lives and the Kingdom that is coming.
“For we are God’s fellow workers [His servants working together]; you are God’s cultivated field [His garden, His vineyard], God’s building.”
1 Corinthians 3:9
What We Believe
The Nicene Creed
“I believe in one God the Father, the Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and of all that is, seen and unseen.
“I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried. On the third day He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.
“I believe in one Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son He is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.
“I believe in one, holy, catholic* and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.”
* catholic (with a small c) means “universal” or “worldwide.”
From Founder, Lancia E. Smith
Why "cultivate"?
As the founder of Cultivating and The Cultivating Project, the word ‘cultivate’ has particular significance to me. It not only represents the deep love that I hold for planting and tending the land, but in a single word it describes how I choose to live: tending, defending, and practicing what is Good, True and Beautiful.
To cultivate with deliberate intention is an act of choice, courage, and creative hope. It is costly. It is an act of love and a step of faith. By definition it means to break up hard ground, to remove stones and obstacles, to prepare for planting, to nurture with intention, to plan for a harvest. By practice it means to choose what I focus on, what I invest my life, energy, heart and strength in, and what I then to pass on to others. It also means guarding against those elements that threaten what I have chosen to nurture and steward.
I cultivate as an offering of worship to our Creator and obedience to Him as my God and King.
An essential tenet of what I believe in Christ is that Good will always overcome evil — even when we do not live to see that in this world; that Light overcomes the darkness and the darkness will NEVER put it out; that Beauty triumphs over destruction; that He Who is Life has prevailed over death, and that
this great Story we are living in has the very best of endings.
“Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].
The things which you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things [in daily life], and the God [who is the source] of peace and well-being will be with you.”
I am anchored and motivated by Philippians 4.8-9
And I am grounded on Deuteronomy 30.19
“I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live ….”
A Field Guide to Cultivating ~ Essentials to Cultivating a Whole Life, Rooted in Christ, and Flourishing in Fellowship
Enjoy our gift to you as our Welcome to Cultivating! Discover the purpose of The Cultivating Project, and how you might find a "What, you too?" experience here with this fellowship of makers!
