Andrew Mitchell, “Sowing Winter Wheal: Preparing Seed and Soil for the New Era” at Front Porch Republic, April 14, 2025.
Despite high political hopes in certain sectors of the land, Andrew Mitchell is concerned “about an encroaching Wintertime in the West.” He recalls the fall of the Soviet Union and the high hopes of some kind of rebirth that accompanied that, only to witness a rise of exploitation and corruption instead.
Mitchell cites “four signs that, left unchecked, presage the arrival of a wintry season”: “the spirit of a positional confusion” or a loss of “all sense of location and direction.” Second, “the emergence of a Cold Culture”, one lacking “Things Divine” and focusing instead on “raw efficiency”. Third, “sterility”, that is a stifling of imagination. And, finally, “exhaustion.”
The nihilists in the media and academe try to make sense of this situation, and for now, opposition to their pragmatic and political views is weak. In this situation, Mitchell wants to project a new vision of hope “by considering the grains of the field: in particular, winter wheat” (he seems to be playing on “weal” as in “common weal” in the title of his essay).
Winter wheat is a hardy crop. Besides being nutritious, it keeps weeds down, reduces pests and diseases, and helps to control erosion. It endures wintry seasons by anchoring deep in the soil and holding on. It must be sown “in advance of deadly cold weather.” Winter wheat can break up hard ground and, while its own yield is not bountiful, it can help spring wheat to flourish.
Mitchell calls us to ask, “Will our actions and words give greater energy and life to those around us?” And he urges us to “lean into the friction of human engagement. Start there, not with an image in your mind about what is going to come forth, but with a simple question—what is the most important thing I can do now to bring forth a bit more life in this area?”
For “in this area” think locally. What can we sow of “Things Divine” to enhance, enrich, and edify the social and cultural soil around us? Winter is coming, and we need to be sowing now, in advance of its cold and deadness, with a view to making it possible for the next generation to flourish. Let’s make sure that whatever we sow is hardy, restorative, catalyzing, selfless, and able to endure the harsh blasts that must come against it.