I recently interviewed Rev. Dr. Ken Whitt about his work writing for change. We talked about his book, God is Just Love. In this guest blog post, Ken writes about his work to help us all live God’s love and find ways to be resilient, build community and develop adaptive skills in the midst of climate change and collapsing structures.
Who Am I? My name is Ken Whitt. I am a retired American Baptist Pastor, having served local churches for over 45 years, and counting. I am a Spiritual Counselor, retreat leader, and the Executive Director of the spiritual formation ministry, “Traces of God.” I live in the community of Hide-Away Hills, Ohio, a neighborhood association of 740 families where I volunteer as the chair of the Children And Family Enrichment Committee (CAFÉ) and am responsible for communicating with our community on behalf of the Emergency Preparation Team (EPT). I am an artist in the medium of wood. I am happily and wonderfully married to Kathy, have four children and fourteen grandchildren.
My identity as I write this blog is that I am an author who has written a couple of books, a Doctoral dissertation on the subject of transformation, many articles and a few thousand sermons. The most relevant writing that led to my interview with Nancy Flinchbaugh, on the subject of writing for change, is my book, “God Is Just Love; Building Spiritual Resilience and Sustainable Communities for the Sake of Our Children and the Creation,” published at the very moment that a pandemic was overwhelming and disrupting our lives in so very many ways, including a severe disruption of our plans to promote the book.
What Change Was I Seeking When I Wrote, “God Is Just Love”? That’s easy. I was writing on behalf of, and in obedience to, God who is Just Love, to encourage the spiritual journeys of everyone who has learned that knowing God as Just Love,is the one and only way we can become this love. Being one with God, being Just Love, empowers us to live well no matter what circumstances we encounter in our lives. In the midst of suffering, grief, crisis, hopelessness, we can become love and be loving, no matter what is going on in our lives and our world. No exceptions.
Why is knowing Just Love and becoming this love so critical right now? This emotional and spiritual goal has always been the most important purpose of our lives. However, the collapse of empires—this being the ongoing reality of our lives and our world—and the collapse of the systems that we have come to depend on for our well-being—all kinds of systems, such as governments, economic institutions, environment, religious structures, and many more—guarantee that Just Love, knowing and being this love, is the only road that we can travel is we want to live well and confidently and with hope and joy, as the world crumbles..
Towards whom must I Be Love? In other words, specifically, to whom am I do direct my loving action in these dangerous days? I hope you will read my book, “God Is Just Love,” because I tried very hard to share what I have learned, often the very hard way, to know and to be love. First and foremost, I am to be love to my wife, our children and grandchildren. I am to, by words sometimes, but mostly by example, teach them to know and to be love. Second, I am to be this love to my communities. For me this primarily includes the community of Hide-Away Hills and the spiritual community of Carbon Hill Christian Church. My books, and other writings, certainly reach out towards larger communities. I participate in various conversations with some friends in international communities. But, where I can most effectively be an agent for transformational change in with my family, friends and neighborhood. Ultimately, all solutions to the crisis of our world will be local.
How do I put Just Love into practice in these communities? In a lot of ways. I bake bread and make soups and distribute them freely and widely, simply as random acts of kindness and sometimes in response to people who are suffering and need to know that someone cares. I become a leader who knows that all the people I serve have themselves the capacity to be kind and generous and filled with hope and love. I invite my grandchildren to spend a day and an overnight with Kathy and I. They learn to love and they learn skills that will help them to adapt to the changes they are likely to experience in their lifetimes; adaptive skills like building fires and cooking outdoors, building wood projects with hand tools, baking break, weaving rugs, knowing and loving the forests and the gardens and all of God’s creatures and the whole creation, foraging, and many more. I write articles for my community on how to be prepared for calamities, the kind that already happen frequently and the kind that humanity will inevitably face in a collapsing world.
Summary? God is Just Love. We can know and become this love. We can awaken everyday and find a way to be loving in a way that empowers us personally to not give into despair and fear. We can lead others to find the path that will lead them towards the fulfillment of the purpose of their lives, no matter the crisis they face.
In this blog post, Author Nancy Flinchbaugh discusses her recent interview with Author Leah Rampy, author of Earth and Soul: Reconnecting Amid Climate Chaos. Leah writes to reweave earth and soul on the edge of loss. Listen to Nancy’s interview with Leah on YouTube.
Recently, I interviewed Leah Rampy, a writer, speaker, retreat leader and educator. In her work, Leah weaves ecology, spirituality, personal stories, and practices to help others deepen their relationship to the natural world.
I first asked Leah about her background. She told me her past careers have included teaching and working in the corporate world. She led training and development departments as an executive coach and also did leadership development as an entrepreneur. Then, she led the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation for six years as the executive director. Now, in addition to her writing, she leads retreats and a monthly gathering of the Church of the Wild Two Rivers. She lives in Shepherdstown, West Virginia with her husband in a cohousing community. She’s also active in a local group called “Save our Soil.”
Leah has been very concerned about climate change for the past few decades and wondered what she could do about it. In 2013, she and her daughter attended Al Gore’s Climate Reality Training in Chicago which is based on an updated version of his book and movie An Inconvenient Truth.
While living in the DC area, she connected with the group “Biodiversity for a Livable Climate.” She learned more about how carbon dioxide is causing warming in the world and how detrimental this has been. She became aware of the challenges of ecosystem and species loss as well as the impacts including melting ice, rising oceans, increased storms, droughts, and floods.
She told me, “We can go on and on with that, because we know we’ve really changed the world significantly from the time that we were young. And then I became more aware or the incredible impact to lose all of these beautiful, wonderful, wild places.”
She began weaving the Earth issues into her retreats, inviting people into practices that would help them connect more deeply. She taught, “Love more. Love the earth more.”
Gradually she became clearer on what she wanted to say and began to write. She explained, “When you write, you have to put it on the page and that helps you clarify.” Her goal became offering spiritual practices to deal with the climate change situation that would also help people discern what is theirs to do.
Leah talks about spiritual practices involving both the inward and outward approach. The outward practices help us connect more deeply, more fully, with the world around us.
Leah laments that Western culture teaches that Earth is other, leading us into deep loneliness. We’re lonely for connections to the living Earth, but don’t even realize it.
Therefore, she advocates for practices that invite us to reconnect with the Earth.
One approach is to use our senses to connect, gazing and listening more deeply to the Earth, and opening to the senses of smell and touch. We can be aware while eating that we are actually eating the natural world. These very basic practices require slowing down and dropping from our head to our heart.
“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” [i] Leah recommends going outside and focusing on a very small area in nature, thinking about all that is happening and evolving in that little space. Whether you understand exactly what is happening scientifically or not, you can still be amazed. The call is to pay attention, seeking not only connection but communion.
We must also engage inward on the journey to heart and soul. She teaches us to cultivate openness and spaciousness, to listen in discernment for Wisdom deep within, for a true sense of who we are and who we’re called to be.
She explained, “In going out into the living world we become more deeply attuned to ourselves. And in becoming more deeply attuned to the essence of our soul, we are more open and available to that living world. So, it’s woven together. It’s not an either/or journey.”
We talked about grief. As we become more in tune with the living world, we are subjected to grief because the world is changing. We have changed the world, and also change is part of the natural cycle. She noted we are tempted to shut down and not connect, because we are afraid of the loss. Yet she explained, “When we dull ourselves to loss, we also dull ourselves to joy and beauty and wonder. I think those live together. As we bear witness to the losses and grieve for the many things that are no longer what they once were — for lands, for us, for waters, then I think we also need to be attentive to the beauty that is still around us, and the beauty that is within the losses. That helps sustain us.”
Mr. Rogers used to say that we can look for helpers when something is really difficult. She suggests we need support for our heart and soul when it’s breaking.
One of the spiritual practices Leah recommends in her book is to take a long strip of paper and on one side to write everything that you love about the Earth. On the other side, write your grief about climate change and the loss of the natural world. Then tape them together, like a mobius strip, to see that the joy and the grief are interconnected.
Leah talked about how each of us must find what is ours to do. We must ask: “How are we being called?” She believes our answers will evolve as spend time listening to the Earth.
Rather than making a list of 10 or 100 things to do, she encourages us to take the time in discernment to find what is written within us, what gifts are calling us to action in this time. A daily walk can be a good time to listen.
She cautioned, “We have such good intentions about things we want to fix, and try to move into fixing something, but this is human-centric.” We may think we are here to fix the earth, but the Earth has age and wisdom. Instead, we must listen for what wants to unfold and match that to our gifts and our calling. And it’s so important to join in community, particularly with our friends and neighbors. “I’m not suggesting that’s an easy process,” she added. “But this leads to helping birth what’s waiting to be born.”
She suggests that we are hospice workers and midwives asking the Earth, “How can we to help?” Perhaps a forest or woods nearby need guardianship, so protect it from being cut down. Or perhaps they need someone to weed out invasive plants, such as garlic mustard?
Keep listening for what the Earth is telling you about what’s invited. Some are invited to big things on the world stage. Many are invited to things that are very near home. Plant a garden. Give some food to the pollinators. Save the dandelions for the bees in spring. There are myriads of things that we can do when we are attentive, available and present.
Leah and some of her neighbors have started a group called “Save our Soil,” as they realized the importance of soil health. They support regenerative farming, raising awareness of those farms around them that are engaged in that practice. They support both growing and buying local food. They work at composting and encouraging others to do likewise. They plant native plants for pollinators. In the cohousing community where she lives, they have very small yards, so it’s easy to plant food of some sort, food for people and the critters, rather than grass. They give tours and presentations. She found these things to do very close to home, with friends, and they support one another.
She talked about the concept of biomimicry which involves asking what would Earth do here? You let the Earth be a model and a teacher as you observe the incredible things that Earth is already doing. For example, watch beavers bringing water back to the land. They can go into a place that seemingly has no water anywhere and go to work. All of the sudden there are streams everywhere. Look for how Earth would solve these challenges. Ask what the Earth wants to flourish.
Leah also seeks to give encouragement to people who work so hard in the environmental area and don’t see changes. She tells us that it’s okay to say that in our lifetimes we can’t do it all, but remember the Earth has miraculous ways to heal herself. This is not an invitation to do nothing, but to do what we can. We plant the seeds but may not live to see them harvested. We lay steppingstones to a future where there is more of a sense of mutual well-being and flourishing and less othering.
Leah reminds us that we are part of a huge history where the cosmic story is so important. We’re a part of that 13.8 billion years, not just this little hair on the timeline and not the end of the story. It’s still very important to do what we can, as we are called, and to not lose hope. There’s more that is possible beyond what we now know or understand. Leah explained that this is not a Disneyland sort of hope with beauty and balloons, but rather an active hard hope, knowing that you know we are doing everything that you believe you were called to do, in collaboration with the living world, for the collective well-being of all.
Leah is co-authoring another book with Beth Norcross, Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees, to be released in spring of 2025. This book grew out of a class they led together. Broadleaf Books approached them about writing it into a book. Leah said that she loves trees and that it’s a joy to be learning more and writing more about them with Beth.
Leah Rampy began the Church of the Wild Two Rivers five years ago, part of the wild church network extending across the United States and Canada. These churches have a common theme of inviting people into deeper spirituality in the living world. They meet once a month with people from different denominations and no denomination. People may have different religious traditions, but together they are focused on spirituality in the living world, connecting more deeply to the land, the trees, and the water around us. Leah explained, “We meet and connect around a theme for a little bit. For the sermon, we go for a forty-minute silent walk within nature. Then they come back together to share what they observed and noted during their walk. They might have a song or a dance. People share their own gifts. The important part is we’re in this practice together, connecting and learning from being open to the world around us.”
I am so grateful for Leah Rampy’s work in bringing this teaching to us. My life has been enriched by reading her book Earth and Soul: Reconnecting Amid Climate Chaos, listening and learning from her as I continue to live what is mine to do in these late days of the changing climate.
I encourage you to connect with Leah through her website at leahmoranrampy.com where you can sign up for her newsletter, find a link to purchase her book and find her upcoming events. For more information about Save our Soil, visit their website at https://www.saveoursoilwv.com/and learn more about the Church of the Wild Two Rivers at: www.churchofthewild2rivers.com. If you would like to listen to our full interview, you can find the podcast on YouTube, Spotify,Amazon or Apple Podcast.
And if you are also writing for the Earth, please do contact me at nancy.flinchbaugh@gmail.com so I can interview you about your work. Find out more about my own writing for change and the Earth on my website at nancyflinchbaugh.com.
[i] This quote is often attributed to the Irish poet, William B. Yeats.
Recently, I interviewed Joyce Gardner Hurd, an author of fiction, essays and short stories. Originally from Massachusetts, Joyce now lives on the seacoast in New Hampshire with her Maine Coon cat, Kiki. She enjoys traveling, reading, gardening, cooking, seeing friends. Growing up as a child of deaf parents gives her insight into the worlds of silence, physical disabilities, and the stereotypes they faced.
After retiring from her career as an advertising executive in the Boston area, Joyce decided to return to college to fulfill an earlier dream of becoming a writer. She completed a degree in creative writing. Her debut novel, Always Forward, was published by All Things That Matter Press in 2023. She also has published essays in the 2020 Spring issue of the SNHU Penman as well as in the 2020 Boston Book Festival. She enjoys writing both essays of current events and personal reflections as well as longer form fiction.
As the child of deaf adults (CODA), Joyce was motivated to write her first novel. She told me, “My parents were pretty remarkable. I think that deafness is very misunderstood, by people who don’t know anybody that’s deaf. My motivation was to write about my parents, mostly my dad.”
She explained to me that there are ranges of deafness and that you can’t define people just by their deafness, because deaf people are such a diverse group of individuals. She laments that often the label of being deaf is very limiting and unfair. Joyce knows that deaf people are amazing people, with their own culture and their own language. She wanted to explore this in her writing.
While the main character, Alex, was based on her dad, she cautions that his fictitious wife was not her mother. She had to warn her brother that ahead of publishing the work. When you read the novel, you’ll understand.
Many of the challenges her dad faced on a day-to-day basis included being dismissed out of hand because he was deaf. Another problem he faced was not being able to enter the military, which still happens today.
She also depicted Alex’s mother similar to her real-life paternal grandmother. Some book reviewers complained that this character wasn’t well-rounded enough and appeared too saintly. Joyce explained to me that was her grandmother’s true personality.
One of her goals in writing was to demonstrate what a deaf man could do, even in the 1940s and 1950s when there was much less awareness of deafness and much more discrimination.
I asked Joyce what change she wanted to see come from her writing. She told me that she hopes those who read the book will learn to be more open-minded about deaf people and realize that one size doesn’t fit all. Her own dad had a long career as a printer, which was a great occupation for deaf men at that time. They entered that profession because all that noise didn’t really bother them. He had a house, a family, a career, and friends. She also wants people who are deaf to see that about themselves. She wants them to know that they are seen, that they are heard, that they have a voice and that they can be represented in art.
I thought Joyce did a great job showing the intelligence of her main character, Alex. He was very capable of learning complicated mathematical theories, although people often assumed he was incapable because he was deaf. After reading this book myself, I do believe the next time I see some people signing in public, I’ll remember Alex, and think to myself, “I bet that person is very intelligent,” as I remember Alex.
Joyce also cautions that sometimes people with disabilities are put on a pedestal, assuming they have no faults. This is sometimes called the saintliness of a disability. She explained, “I wanted to show that just because you have a handicap, that does not mean that you’re always perfect or a good person. Deaf people are three-dimensional.”
Her father, born in 1927, used to tell them as he shared family stories that many children who were deaf in that period were institutionalized, such as his good friend’s sister. Her dad observed that as they got older, his friend had a difficult time trying to absorb the contrast between his sister’s life vs. Joyce’s father, who lived a very full life. She said that was very sad.
I recommend that you read Joyce’s book, Always Forward. It’s a great book and a riveting story, gently written and I really enjoyed it.
Look for Joyce’s next novel, a coming-of-age story of a young woman in the seventies in the New England. The story takes place in America and Nova Scotia, the places of Joyce’s family. The woman is not deaf but faces other challenges.
Steve Schlather is retired from careers in daily newspapers as a reporter and copy editor and from doing outreach and education for recycling and waste reduction. He is the leader of the Springfield, Ohio chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
Listen to Nancy’s interview with Steve Schlather on YouTube
The climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe says the most important thing we can do about climate change is to talk about it – bring up the subject of our changing planet in everyday conversation. If we don’t talk about something, no one realizes that other people like them are concerned about that issue.
I try to follow that advice. So, if someone asks me what I’ve been up to, I’ll often remark that I’m spending a lot of my time working on climate advocacy through Citizens’ Climate Lobby, then wait to see how the other person responds. Usually, their reactions fall into one of three categories:
1. Someone who quickly changes the subject or gives me a blank look, like I just said I’m learning to juggle weasels. These are people who don’t understand how serious climate change is and/or don’t want to think about it.
2. Someone who launches into a recitation of what they’re doing about climate change or what the real solution is. These are people who understand the gravity of the situation and are trying to respond to it. (This is a small group.)
3. Finally, some people ask me questions, such as “what is Citizens’ Climate Lobby?” or “does advocacy really make any difference?” These are folks who have some sense that the changing climate is a threat to people they love but are what to perplexed about what to do.
The folks in category 3 are the ones I really focus on, because they have a feeling they should be doing something to address climate change, but don’t know what would be effective. Citizens’ Climate Lobby exists for people like this, people very concerned about the changing climate, but unsure how they can make a difference. CCL brings people together to work on the climate issue, provides training and support, and identifies promising legislation to advocate for. When you join CCL, you get a variety of action items that you can do on your own or with others. These range from easy, quick things like making a phone call to longer things like tabling for two hours at a festival to really challenging efforts like planning a months-long campaign to influencing office holders. You decide what works for you and get involved in working for more sustainable society.
If you want to learn more about CCL, here’s a few options:
1. Explore the CCL website (citizensclimatelobby.org) to learn more about our approach. You can find your local chapter by going to the “About” tab and scrolling down to chapters.
2. A 45-minute informational session to introduce newcomers to CCL is held on Zoom every Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. Sign up and get the Zoom link on the website by going to the “Take Action” tab, scrolling over to “Get Started” and down to “Informational Session.”
3. If you want to learn more about the Miami Valley CCL group, email me at sschlather@sbcglobal.net. If you get involved with our group, you’ll meet some dedicated, thoughtful people who are also good company.
As Earth Day comes this year, I’m reflecting on my work to Write for Change in how we treat the Earth. And so today, I want to tell you why I wrote my most recent book, Mariah of the Wind.
First of all, let me say that I keep writing books because I believe that God is still speaking. I believe God speaks through us. I believe God and I write together. We are writing important things for people to hear today.
Every morning, I begin the day in God’s presence in meditation, and then I write. I let my book unfold as I write, rather than plotting it out. In Mariah of the Wind, I hoped to celebrate the beauty of God’s creation, and to speak up about climate change.
I started this book with a young woman, Mariah, who loves the Earth like I do. You’ll see her walking among autumn trees, taking fall leaves back to the diner to share with her customers. You’ll watch her twirl through the winter snow. You’ll see her planting seeds in the greenhouse, and later transplanting them into the ground in spring. You’ll accompany her as she enjoys spring wildflowers, tulips and daffodils. Later, comes summer. I wanted to celebrate the miraculous transformations of the seasons with my words.
She meets a grieving wind scientist, a target of a troll from the fossil fuel industry. And the story continued to unfold from there, during the pandemic.
As a Christian, I believe I am called to be a good steward of the Earth. I invested all the time to write, rewrite and edit this book to join the cacophony of voices calling us to change our ways, move away from fossil fuel use and take better care of God’s miraculous creation.
One of my early reviewers started her review saying, “if you like happy endings, you’ll like this book.” I have to admit that I do like happy endings. I choose to remain hopeful. But as the Catholic priest, Thomas Berry, once wrote, we live in the Ecozoic Age in which we must come to terms with our relationship with Earth. We must make needed changes now. He also said, “We will walk together into the future as one sacred community, or we will perish in the desert.”
Some of my readers tell me this is my best book yet. I hope you’ll read it and enjoy it and that it will inspire you to love and care for God’s magnificent creation!
Today, I’d like to ask a question. “Do books change lives?” As you think back over the books that you’ve read in the course of your life, consider to what extent books change you. It’s a curious question I ask, as an author, because one of my goals is to write for change.
Recently, I was leading a program at our local library on Writing for Change and I asked the question, “Is there a book that changed your life?” Every person in the room told us about a book that changed them.
I hope that my books will equip and inspire others to make the world a better place, to work more for peace, justice and the Earth and to take time to enjoy each moment and to dance.
I remember writing my first book on peace. I wanted to challenge Christians to think more carefully about the message of Jesus and the early church. During my youth, my country was embroiled in the Vietnam War. Americans were conflicted between supporting the troops and speaking up against a war that just seemed very wrong. Because young men were being drafted into this war, it became subject for much scrutiny.
During this time, the Bible influenced me greatly. I learned about Jesus, accepted him as my personal savior, was baptized and joined the church. A I listened to war narratives, felt the fear of young men being drafted, I also learned about Jesus. Jesus very clearly taught the greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves. I simply did not see a place for war in the teachings of Jesus.
The Jewish scripture predicted a coming Messiah. Many believed he would be a military leader. Jesus chose nonviolence, healing and love. He told his followers, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” (Matthew 5: 38-39).
In that Sermon on the Mount, Jesus also taught, “Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be called the Children of God.” (Matthew 38:9). And, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 38: 43-48)
The message of the Bible to me as a young Christian seemed very clear. The book influenced me also in that I answered a call to serve God and people in my life. I studied the Bible further in church and college and began to work for peace. I earned my teacher certification, hoping to teach peace. I became a mediator, wanting to make peace. I spoke up against war and promoted nonviolence.
Some people say the first book you write is autobiographical. When I wrote my first book, I decided to write about peace. I hoped that it might change people, to encourage them to work for peace, as well.
While the Bible taught me the path of nonviolence, others read the Bible and believe it teaches a path to war. The myriad interpretations of the Bible are astounding. I live in the United States of America, a country that was founded on the principle of separation of church and state.I But various interpretations of the Bible influences much of the politics in America today. It’s central to the political debate on many topics.
Currently, we are at war in the Middle East. Some Christians believe that the Bible predicts this as the final war, centered in Israel. Defending Israel, at all costs, even obliterating the neighboring Palestinians is justified for some in the name of God. And some think they are interpreting the Bible literally in this belief. I beg to differ.
That is why I wrote my first book, Revelation in the Cave. Albeit a work of fiction, I sought to address the interpretation of the book of Revelation that is often used to justify war. Did you know that more books have been written about the Book of Revelation than any other book?
My first book is complicated. I was learning to write. I may have buried the theme of peace too deeply in the story to change lives. An evangelical Christian friend who read the book said that evangelicals would not accept the story as valid for several reasons, including that the benevolent Muslim in the story seemed nicer than some of the Christians. I wanted to ask him, didn’t Jesus tell a story about the Good Samaritan, a person of a different religion and culture who was much more loving to his neighbors than the rabbi and supposed religious ones?
A local Christian bookstore that proudly displayed the fictional Left Behind series, which I challenged in my book, refused to shelf my book. Like John the Baptist, I felt like a voice crying in the wilderness, speaking of peace. I join others like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. who teach nonviolence.
I believe books can change lives. They’ve certainly changed mine. I continue to write for change. I continue to read books that change my life, motivate me to make the world a better place and do good.
I will be exploring this this topic in future blogs and podcasts. Will you join me? Leave a comment or email me at nancy.flinchbaugh@gmail.com if you’d like to share a guest blog or interview with me.
Several years ago, I began to become concerned about climate change and our plight on Planet Earth. We’ve been blessed with a beautiful planet, but somehow, we seem hellbent on destroying it. Here in the United States, we’ve had ample natural resources for several centuries. Now things are catching up with us. Our planet is warming, our resources are being depleted, species are going extinct.
As a Christian, I believe it’s our responsibility to be good stewards of what was entrusted to us. At this time, I believe we must repent of our sinfulness and turn around and start taking care of our environment, God’s amazing creation before it’s too late. And so I ask myself, “What is mine to do?”
When I first asked this question, I didn’t think Nancy could do anything about it. But as I prayed each day, fingering prayer beads I made in a Spiritual Ecology class, God began to teach me there is much I can do. I began to incorporate Earth issues into my spiritual leadership. I became involved in Citizens’ Climate Lobby, advocating for a bipartisan response to address climate change, and I decided to write for the Earth.
At the time, I had written one book, Revelation in the Cave, about the Magnificent and Marvelous Book Club, the MAMs. I began to dream about their second adventure. I created the scenario for them where the fictitious MAMs began reading books about Earth issues and became concerned about climate change, too. Then one of them heard a call to start an organic farm for re-entry women in recovery. In this book, they open the FARM, Farming and Restoring with the MAMs. Climate change impacts their farm. They also develop a second group home for men called the Sun Power House. The son of a main character comes up with a solution for climate change. This book became Revelation in the Labyrinth, published in 2017 by eLectio Publishing.
After reading the book, I hope that readers will take climate change more seriously and take action, join Citizens’ Climate Lobby and work toward solutions, like the characters in the book.
Later, I read Active Hope: How to Address the Mess We’re in Without Going Crazy by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone. They recommended writing a letter to yourself from the Earth. When I did this, I received a wonderful letter and agreed to receive more. These letters became a book, a memoir about a year in my life when I grappled with climate change, the cancer journey of my friend and the sudden death of my brother. My book, Letters from the Earth, was published in 2018 by Higher Ground Books and Media. Although I wrote the letters, the Earth signs them “Gaia” and I believe they come from God, the loving Spirit who created and sustains our universe.
I hope that the letters will encourage and help readers, as they did me. They provide helpful advice on how to live in this difficult time. They also call us to speak up and take action. I hope readers will hear and respond to this call to do this important work.
My third MAMs book, Revelation in the Roots: Emerald Isle, published by All Things That Matter Press in 2022, is yet another effort to write for the Earth. The story line involves genealogy, racism and political division. In the United States today, our deeply divided political situation makes cooperation to address climate change difficult. I believe we must come together as a country. That’s what this book is about. I want people who read this book to look for ways to bridge our great divide.
With my last book, I decided to write about the beauty of the Earth. My friend, Pastor Tom Carr, likes to remind us that we save what we love. I created the character of Mariah, a young woman in love with the Earth. The story journeys with her through the seasons. She collects fall leaves, dances in the snow, plants seeds in the spring and enjoys the summer. It’s her love story with Max, a wind scientist. Max and his fellow wind scientist, Buck, get harassed by a troll from the fossil fuel industry. I wrote this to call attention to the fact that in real life climate scientists receive death threats from trolls paid by the fossil fuel industry, trying to silence the truth about how our fossil fuel use is warming the earth. Mariah of the Wind was published by All Things That Matter Press in 2023.
I hope readers will also celebrate the beauty of the Earth and work to save it, like Max and Buck and Mariah. I also hope to expose the evil practice of the fossil fuel industry and wake people up to the problem we have with misinformation about climate science.
You can find more information about my books on my website at SpiritualSeedlings.com and nancyflinchbaugh.com. Follow me on Facebook at Nancy Flinchbaugh Author and on https://www.youtube.com/@nancyflinchbaugh. I hope you’ll read my books, but more importantly, I hope you will also speak up and take action for our beautiful Earth, for us all.
Today, I’m launching my Writing for Change Blog and Podcast.
My aim is to create a public place for those of us writing for change to share our hearts and our work.
People write for many different reasons. Some to entertain, some to educate, some to express themselves, others to create art, and some of us write primarily to bring change.
As I consider my own writing career, from the beginning I’ve been writing for change. Specifically, I write to express the love of God and plant seeds for transformation leading to peace, justice and care/connections with the Earth.
I’m also writing to encourage fellow activists with spiritual practices to help in these quests.
Today, I invite fellow writers for change to come share your story. Write a blog post, let me interview you about your work and/or speak your own truth as you write for change.
I invite you to follow this blog and podcast. Here, let us learn together from writers leading us into change.
The 21st century poses many challenges for us all. Looming concerns are climate change, racial discrimination, hate, political division and war. Let us listen for answers.
I believe that together we can find answers given our incredible intelligence and creativity.
I traveled to Accra, Ghana in August of 2023. I recently interviewed the people who traveled with me on the Black and Abroad Tour. I also asked a friend to interview me. Before I release these interviews, I’m sharing their insights on my blog. Here are our comments on what surprised us about Ghana. Personally, I’d heard so many things about Africa. I didn’t know quite what to expect.
When I went to get my required Yellow Fever vaccine, the Montgomery County Health Department nurse told me not to drink the water. This worried me, but actually once in Ghana I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t have any problem drinking as much clean water as I wanted, and I do drink a lot of water. Our hotel filtered their water at the buffet where we ate breakfast every morning. They provided bottled water in our rooms and also on our tour bus.
Another surprise came when we visited a memorial to Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana. A book I read in preparation praised him for his early days in office, but faulted him for becoming a socialist dictator which led to a coup. Our tour guide told a different story. He explained that President Nkrumah focused on education and health care for all, building the infrastructure needed for industrialization and also claimed the natural resources for the people. This upset the American corporations who wanted control of the natural resources of Ghana. He told us they helped engineer the coup — a completely different story!
My fellow traveler, Selena Singletary, who had been to Africa before, didn’t have any big surprises, but told me she appreciated the whole experience of being there. My husband, Steve Schlather, did some research in advance, so he wasn’t too surprised either, except for the size and population of Accra with a population of 2.7 million people. However, my other traveling companions, found more surprise in Ghana.
Diane Sanders told me that what surprised her the most is that what is portrayed in our American media about Africa is not the total truth. She said she often sees appeals for money to help the children with pictures and videos of starving children with big bellies and flies around. But, she said, the capital of Ghana was a huge city, much like any capital city in the United States. And there we stayed in a five star hotel. Gauging from what she’d seen in the media, she wouldn’t imagine they even had a five star hotel.
Diane’s son, Cleavon Blair (Blair), agreed with his mom. Especially he said that the things we hear in the United States about Ghana and other African nations simply aren’t true. One example he gave was how welcoming the people were there. He’s still in contact with many people he meant there.
Blair explained that for him, as a person of color living in the United States or any of the Western nations, there’s always this a backdrop of stress that’s on him. Once in Ghana, getting there, getting off the plane, walking through the airport and arriving at the hotel something felt totally different.
Blair describes himself as somewhat of a snob. He likes to stay in the nicest places possible when he travels. He works hard for his money and he wants good experiences. In this country or other Western nations, as a person of color walking into a new place, he always knows racism will come, whether it’s direct or subtle. He didn’t have any of that in Ghana. He said it was a pleasant surprise and a good feeling. Blair said, “It allowed me to relax in the way I’ve never relaxed a day in my life.”
Adora and Keita also talked about the surprises they found in Africa. They noted that while their African American ancestors were enslaved, the Africans remaining in Africa were colonized, so both experienced trauma at the hands of the Europeans.
They have been told lies such as Africans don’t like African Americans. They experienced none of that in Africa. In fact the Ghanaians were actually kind and loving toward them. Keita said he’s experienced the same love from a Ghanian neighbor here in the US. Once he was putting some furniture together in his backyard shortly after moving in and a brother came over to ask if he could help.
Keita said, “So it’s not just the land. It’s not just the air or not just the food, it’s the people. And it’s obvious wherever they go, they’re the same. They were welcoming and loving to me and they didn’t have to be. We felt that same spirit when we got to the motherland. They were just so loving and welcoming to us everywhere we went. Everybody was so good to us. I didn’t feel afraid. I was not scared.”
Unlike here, where Keita explained, “I feel afraid every day of my life for 60 some years here in the United States, every single day.”
Adora added, “We have all these grandchildren and I fear for my grandsons and my great-grandsons, every day.”
Keita also said, “I did not sense at any time that we were in any danger or under threat from the police. That’s a fear here in America. I got locks in my hair. I’m not really big in stature, but, amazingly, whenever I have been stopped by the police here in America, it’s always been some drama. They always call about six or seven squad cars just for little old me. So I didn’t experience that fear. If I get emotional on this interview, I apologize, but wasn’t scared of the police in Ghana.”
“In Ghana,” Keita said, “I wasn’t scared of of any white supremacist coming out of the woods. I finally had found a place where I could be at peace.”
They explained that in America, they (African Americans) are still enslaved. We just don’t know we are. It’s redlining and the police, always something that’s happening. We just call it different stuff, but it’s never the same for us as for anybody else. Never.”
Adora said, “Yes, to go there and see the grandmothers (because I’m a great grandmother), and to see the older women very respected was something else again. Because here in this country older people were not really respected. And also you don’t expect to see elders living long lives. But there they said in some of the villages we visited that the elders live to 126 years. They live older because they’re living off the land, eating healthy food. The entire village takes care of the elders, yeah. That’s amazing.
“There were a lot of positive things that we don’t have here in the United States.” Keita said, “There was the best food ever for me. We felt better. We felt healthier. Our life was different, the food was doing some other things. Should I say that? And our everything and our our whole being, if you know what I mean, our whole being was different. Our husband and wife being, if you know what I mean. It was just something else again.”
Stay tuned to learn more about our trip. My next blog will be about the highlights of the trip for us all. Follow me on YouTube to listen to the interviews as they are posted.
