God and Science Intertwined

By Sheila Fitzgerald, OP

There is something special here. Sinsinawa Mound Is located in the beautiful Driftless Region of Southwest Wisconsin, an area described by the indigenous people as “Manitoumie” or “Place Where the Spirit Dwells.”  Later, in the mid-19^th century, the Venerable Samuel Mazzuchelli, who founded the Dominican Sisters at the Mound, reportedly said, “This place was meant for God and Science.”  Indeed, this is holy ground where “God and Science” are intertwined.

This recognition by Father Mazzuchelli has been lived out in many ways during the 177 years the Sinsinawa Dominicans have cared for this 450-acre site. It has always been a place of learning and deepening the sense of the sacred as revealed in nature. It may have been through retreats, or youth education, or a support program for farmers in crises. It may have simply been a curious visitor who came to walk the grounds. We do know that those who come here experience it as a place where the Spirit, breathing through all of creation, is palpable.

Perhaps that insight is what ignited the energy and propelled the Sinsinawa Congregation to join with an enthusiastic and dedicated group of soil caretakers to create a learning hub here, where the ground is reverenced as holy. The well cared for organic farm fields at Sinsinawa Mound evoked a recognition in them that “there is something special here.” They began to envision a place where an approach to farming could be transformative. Farmers accompanying other farmers in transitioning to a more regenerative approach to land stewardship would be a key operating principle.  It would focus on the sacred science of nurturing healthy soil to benefit our Earth home! The sisters agreed, and so a partnership began and Fields of Sinsinawa was born on this site in 2023.

It felt so right!  Pope Francis, in Laudato Si’, his encyclical letter on Care of our Common Home, speaks of the soil as a “caress of God.” ^#34   To touch the soil is to be in God’s embrace!  The Sinsinawa Dominicans heard this as a call to mission and enthusiastically accepted the banner of preaching and teaching the good news of the life-giving soil beneath our feet. 

This message, it seems, is critical for our times as we come to grips with what is happening to our beautiful planet. None of us can escape the devastation of climate change as we are experiencing it. We hear our sacred Earth crying out because of the harm we have inflicted on her. Something needs to change. Turning once more to Pope Francis and Laudato Si’ the call for “new convictions and new attitudes” ^#202 is clear.  He speaks of an urgency to respond in order to bring about a change in how we care for our common home.

It was Aldo Leopold, a great land ethicist, who said many years ago, “Once we see land as a community to which we belong we will begin to treat it with care and respect.”  Fields of Sinsinawa is based on that belief. Its goal is to shift our consciousness to understanding soil as the source of all life. It is to experience the sacred soil as a community to which we belong. It is to respect an entire living community in the ground beneath us and to know our interdependence with it. This is transformational work. We are connecting our souls with the soul of the soil. As with all relationships, it is reciprocal in nature. We have a responsibility to keep these relationships strong and healthy. Building healthy soil leads to healthy food, healthy people, healthier communities, and a healthier planet!

This shift from treating soil as a resource that can be mined for profitability to understanding soil as a living community of bacteria, fungi, insects, earth worms, and other invisible critters all working together the way nature intended, is the focus underlying what is taking place at Fields of Sinsinawa.  It is a place where the soil has a voice and is allowed to speak.

We are living with the results of years of land use practices that focused on the soil as a resource for greater productivity.   How much can we get the soil to produce? What will the economic profit be? Improving crop yields often meant a chemical intensive approach, gradually degrading the soil and rendering the underground community life-less—without its soul. The community of life underground was being snuffed out through overuse of chemicals, insecticides, herbicides, and other additives that were considered state of the art practices for improving crop yields and perceived economic gain.   This has resulted in topsoil loss through wind and water erosion, loss of biodiversity through mono-cropping, damage to our natural systems through tillage practices which released carbon into the atmosphere.  These practices have also significantly impacted our capacity to produce healthy, nutrient-dense food.  We know now that something is out of balance.

The farmer-led learning hub at Sinsinawa is working to restore this balance through educational opportunities that include field demonstrations, highlighting principles and practices that work in harmony with natural systems. Farming using principles such as reducing or eliminating tillage, keeping living roots in the ground year-round, increased diversity of plant life and integrating livestock, leads to greater resilience and restored, functioning, healthy soil.  The way we care for the soil can become our greatest resource for pulling carbon out of the atmosphere, combating the effects of climate change, and restoring our capacity for healthy food production, improving human health and creating a healthier planet.   Regenerative farming is about working with and not against the ecological systems provided by Mother Nature.  We, the human community, must see ourselves as part of these processes, learning to be “soil caretakers” in order to assure that there will be life-giving soil for those who come after us.

There is no doubt that this is sacred work. Fields of Sinsinawa is connecting “God and Science” as envisioned by our founder, Father Samuel Mazzuchelli.  It is for the sake of preserving our common home for generations to come.