A Faith that Lasts: Obtain a Yield

Perhaps one of the strangest, and most troubling, developments of the past hundred years in the West has been the shift in talking about ‘citizens’ and ‘the public’ to talking about ‘consumers’ and ‘tax-payers’, as though our sole purpose in life and society is to consume and to give back (as little as possible) to the state. To keep up with this focus on consumption, our economies became almost singularly focused on increasing production to keep up. It’s no wonder in such a dynamic that we now consume several Earths’ worth of resources a year. And, after nearly a century of this, it’s no wonder that we’re now seeing the disastrous consequences of this short-term thinking. But there are, of course, other ways.

One of David Holmgren’s essential permaculture principles is, simply, “Obtain a yield.”* This means that a healthy system creates something of use. It may be tangible, such as food, or intangible, such as beauty, but either way, a system is focused on production, not consumption. Toby Hemenway clarifies that the goal is to “design for both immediate and long-term returns from your efforts.” There can be no short-term thinking in a permaculture framework.

I’m not sure if this principle is obvious or surprising, and that’s mostly because of the way environmental movements have been discussed in the media. On the one hand, obtaining a sustainable yield is obvious. After all, we need to live off of something. But on the other hand, this cuts against the dominant messaging surrounding ecologists as being almost like modern day ascetics, preaching only reduction. But that has never been the point. The point has been to produce — and consume — in a sustainable way. And obtaining a yield is a critical part of this.

As long-time readers here will know, this is entirely in keeping with the spirit of Christianity. One of the major themes on this blog, particularly in its first few years, was the importance of bearing good fruit, that is, living a life that benefits ourselves and the world around us. As a reminder, when asked how to determine truth from error, Jesus did not tell us to have the right theology, or to follow Holy Tradition, or to have the right interpretation of the Bible, but to judge ideas based on what they produce:

Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but are inwardly hungry wolves. You will know them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?  In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits (Matthew 7.15-20).

Paul also uses this language when talking about the ways we might recognize a true Christian:

…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. (Galatians 5.22-25)

By no means are we limited to just these things. For example, in my series on bearing good fruit, I used not Paul’s list of nine virtues, but the twenty-four universal character strengths found by positive psychologists, as my starting-point. And, of course each of these values can be manifest in the world in myriad ways. Something as ethereal as ‘love’ is expressed in countless tangle ways, from a hug, to a kind word, to political advocacy, to a hot meal. Indeed, as Bill Mollison writes, “The yield of a system is theoretically unlimited (or only limited by the information and imagination of the designer).” Obtaining a yield (or bearing good fruit) is, then, not something we do once, but is an entire approach to how we live our life.

So, I encourage you to think through once again this week what it is your life is producing. If you’re not sure where to start, the positive psychology-based VIA Institute on Character Strengths offers a free online quiz that may be helpful. Once you get the results, you can think through the tangible ways these strengths are expressed in your life, and then how you might increase your yield, not just in the short term, but in a way that’s sustainable and lasting.

* For more information, please see the bibliography for this series.