It’s March 21, 2019, so the Spring Solstice has arrived. The sun feels warmer, and we’ve even had a few cloudless days. I’ve already planted peas. Having some peas in the ground is a mood lifter for me. Even when it rains all day, my garden peas are happy, so I can’t be totally sad. Not everyone is wired this way, with a teensy bit of their emotional well-being in the ground, but I descend from generations of farmers. I’m convinced that the world would enjoy more mental health if everyone had a backyard garden. I encourage you to find the mood lifters that work for you and honor God, if it’s not peas, find out what it is.

The default mode for American culture-bound Christianity is spiritualized, escapist spirituality. It mis-reads the gospels and misses the primary theme of the Kingdom of God that formed the major emphasis of Jesus’ teaching.