The relevance of Anglican agrarianism

Spending time connecting with the natural world is the perfect antidote to the pressures of modern life. Getting close to nature – and especially listening to birdsong – doesn’t just bring us physical benefits – it also helps improve our mental and emotional health, happiness and wellbeing. And this isn’t just some warm, fuzzy feeling. Scientists at the University of Surrey have been studying the “restorative benefits of birdsong”, testing whether it really does improve our mood. They discovered that, of all the natural sounds, bird songs and calls were those most often cited as helping people recover from stress, and allowing them to restore and refocus their attention. So said a Guardian article on Saturday, ahead of International Dawn Chorus Day on Sunday. It is another reminder that criticism of the Anglican imagination being shaped by agrarian experience is itself now a rather dated and woefully narrow understanding. Rachel Mann , for example, has critic...