Ideas for Tending

Written By Joshua VonGunten

By Sarah Westfall

In Joy Unspeakable, Barbara Holmes writes, “It is not only the head that wants to dwell with God, but also the feet, the heart, and the hands.” And I don’t know about you, but I know that longing in my bones. I ache for a substantive faith based on a fleshy knowing of God, not theory alone. I hunger to know what the psalmist wrote when he said, “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8). 

Toward that end, as we continue in the Tend series, we want to provide some resources and ideas for us to expand our contemplation and practice of these themes—fleshy ways to bring our heads, hearts, hands, and senses closer together. This list is certainly not exhaustive or prescriptive. It is not a to-do list, meant for us to work our way through each one. No, no. 

These ideas are like a potluck—a variety of good things we have placed out upon the table for us to sample and to enjoy. What we hope is that these activities and resources can spur our imaginations for all the ways that our experience of God can move into the fullness of our bodies and our beings. We hope they help us stay tender and attentive to how God is moving around and within us.

And we’d love to keep this list growing! If you think of a resource or idea not mentioned here, please reach out so we can add it to the list. 

Activities

  • Visit your go-to home improvement store or a greenhouse and pick a houseplant you can care for as an experiment. (If you’re just starting out, a pothos or a spider plant are usually pretty resilient and forgiving.)

  • Hike one of the preserves that are part of the Land Acres Trust and simply notice your noticing. What catches your attention?

  • Go fishing, explore a trail, or visit the nature center at Fox Island Park (or one of our other Allen County Parks).

  • Head on out to one of the many local Farmer’s Markets and talk with the people who grew the food or goods you buy. Connect with a face or a name.

  • Regularly step outside and simply take a few deep breaths. Notice how the fresh air feels coming in and out of your lungs and how your body responds.

  • Take a walk around your neighborhood, paying attention to what is green and growing and what is brittle or dying. Reflect on what these outside elements reveal about being human or about God.

Films/Documentaries

Poems & Essays

Songs

  • “Evidence” by Taylor Leonhardt (Hosanna album, 2026)

  • “Lilies & Sparrows” by Jess Ray (Born Again album, 2022)

  • “I See the Birds” by Jon Guerra (Jesus album, 2025)

  • “Gravity of Love” by The Brilliance (All Is Not Lost album, 2017)

Books

  • The Understory: An Invitation to Rootedness and Resilience from the Forest Floor by Lore Ferguson Wilbert

  • The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer

  • The First Nations Version: An Indigenous Bible Translation of the New Testament by Terry Wildman (published by InterVarsity Press)

  • Sacred Pathways: Nine Ways to Connect with God by Gary Thomas

Podcasts

  • “Jeff Chu, Compost, and His New Book on Good Soil” (podcast: So We Bought a Book Shop, Ep. 021)

Joshua VonGunten
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Slow Theology