wolves and bilbies

Yesterday I was introduced to the concept of ‘ecosystem engineers’ by Geoff Maddock at the ‘inspireSA’ conference.

Geoff showed the group a short documentary retelling the story of how wolves were reintroduced to the Yellowstone National Park and what a difference this made to the entire ecosystem.

After their initial impact on the overpopulation of deer in the area, over some years there was a cascading effect of natural revegetation and the gradual reintroduction of species, which in turn caused the environment to flourish even further.  Eventually the course of the rivers changed to a more direct and natural path due to the established nature of the renewed vegetation.

We were then shown a short clip of the reintroduction of bilbies in the Australian outback with their under-appreciated  practice of overturning the soil — this second clip was appreciated even more for the Aussie context (and it helped that the metaphor was far less apex-predator-like!)

Both wolves and bilbies are recognized as ‘ecosystem engineers’, and we were invited to consider what it might look like for us to bring a similar effect in our communities.

Not only was the concept compelling in that such an innocuous or unexpected introduction to the environment can make such a difference, but it also raised an important question:

“What needs to be ‘eaten’  or ‘overturned’ in my ecosystem?”

In reflection on our experience of little church, one of the key things that has created space for flourishing has been the removal of ‘busyness anxiety’.

Initially, Covid consumed the expectations surrounding church and enabled us to breathe, and re-imagine our experience of what church could be.

This leads me to two more important questions:

“How are we helping one another keep the ‘infestation’ of ‘busyness anxiety’ at bay?”, and,

“In our time-poor culture, in what ways can we provide place for people that is clear from ‘busyness anxiety’?

Maybe a leisurely Saturday morning sausage sizzle is a good place to start ;)