WEBVTT 00:00:14.859 --> 00:00:17.920 Welcome to the Nonviolent Jesus Podcast. I'm 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:20.980 John, Father John Deere, and today I'm speaking 00:00:20.980 --> 00:00:24.260 with Amy Brooks Paradise of GreenFaith .org. 00:00:24.500 --> 00:00:28.780 This is a project of BeatitudeCenter .org, where 00:00:28.780 --> 00:00:31.500 you can find many other podcasts and regular 00:00:31.500 --> 00:00:34.659 Zoom programs on the nonviolence of Jesus and 00:00:34.659 --> 00:00:37.500 practicing nonviolence and working for a more 00:00:37.500 --> 00:00:41.229 just, more nonviolent world. So let's begin with 00:00:41.229 --> 00:00:43.729 a little prayer as we always do here. I just 00:00:43.729 --> 00:00:46.649 invite you, wherever you are, just to take a 00:00:46.649 --> 00:00:51.329 deep breath and to relax and to recenter yourself. 00:00:52.689 --> 00:00:55.530 And together let's enter into the presence of 00:00:55.530 --> 00:00:59.170 the God of peace who loves you personally, infinitely, 00:00:59.490 --> 00:01:03.229 in everyone, everywhere, and all of creation. 00:01:04.379 --> 00:01:06.599 And we welcome the nonviolent Jesus here. And 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:09.200 take a moment to ask for whatever blessings you 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:15.599 need to do God's will and be a peacemaker. God 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:18.340 of peace, thank you for all the blessings of 00:01:18.340 --> 00:01:23.409 life, love, creation, and peace. Be with us now 00:01:23.409 --> 00:01:26.549 as we reflect together on your call to be peacemakers, 00:01:26.650 --> 00:01:30.150 to follow the nonviolent Jesus and work for a 00:01:30.150 --> 00:01:34.069 more nonviolent, more just world. Bless us, inspire 00:01:34.069 --> 00:01:37.489 us, disarm us, strengthen us, and send us out 00:01:37.489 --> 00:01:41.370 to do your will, that we might do our part to 00:01:41.370 --> 00:01:45.739 protect all of creation. and make peace with 00:01:45.739 --> 00:01:48.939 all humanity, and that is to end war, poverty, 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:53.019 racism, greed, injustice, nuclear weapons, and 00:01:53.019 --> 00:01:55.120 all the various kinds of environmental destruction, 00:01:55.319 --> 00:01:58.439 that we might be the people you created us to 00:01:58.439 --> 00:02:01.680 be, your holy peacemakers, and welcome your reign 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:05.140 of universal love, nonviolence, and peace on 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:09.800 earth. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, it's a blessing 00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:13.319 today to welcome Reverend Amy Brooks Paradise 00:02:13.319 --> 00:02:17.460 of Green Faith. Amy is a Unitarian Universalist 00:02:17.460 --> 00:02:20.900 minister serving as the U .S. organizing coordinator 00:02:20.900 --> 00:02:25.139 for greenfaith .org. She previously served as 00:02:25.139 --> 00:02:27.460 the education director for the Regional AIDS 00:02:27.460 --> 00:02:30.560 Interfaith Network in Charlotte, North Carolina, 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:34.400 where she lives, and has also served as the pastor 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:38.099 for a UU fellowship in Lake Norman, North Carolina. 00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:42.199 She lives with her partner and daughter and was 00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:45.060 going to tell us about Green Faith, an ecumenical 00:02:45.060 --> 00:02:48.159 global grassroots network working to protect 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:51.259 creation. Amy, welcome to the Nonviolent Jesus 00:02:51.259 --> 00:02:56.120 Podcast. Oh, thank you so much, John. Hi, everybody. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:59.740 So glad to be here. I'm delighted, really, and 00:02:59.740 --> 00:03:02.120 honored to be here with all of you. Hey, Amy, 00:03:02.199 --> 00:03:05.139 I just really recently learned about greenfaith 00:03:05.139 --> 00:03:07.900 .org, so I thought we could just jump right into 00:03:07.900 --> 00:03:12.319 it and ask you to tell us all about it. What 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:16.210 is green faith? Okay, so Green Faith is actually 00:03:16.210 --> 00:03:18.710 a multi -faith organization that has a global 00:03:18.710 --> 00:03:22.189 reach. We are made up of small teams of people, 00:03:22.370 --> 00:03:25.969 organizers doing work in key countries all around 00:03:25.969 --> 00:03:28.650 the world. So we have a team here in the United 00:03:28.650 --> 00:03:31.990 States, but we have teams in a variety of African 00:03:31.990 --> 00:03:35.849 countries, also in Brazil, Japan, Indonesia, 00:03:36.250 --> 00:03:41.819 Germany, and... France, and I think we may be 00:03:41.819 --> 00:03:43.879 starting one in South Korea now too. So we're 00:03:43.879 --> 00:03:46.719 scattered around the world, but we do have a 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:49.159 small but mighty team here in the United States 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:53.020 with whom I work. And, you know, at the heart 00:03:53.020 --> 00:03:55.919 of our work, it's really to engage people of 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:58.379 faith to take public action for climate justice. 00:03:59.099 --> 00:04:02.659 So this is more than praying or recycling or 00:04:02.659 --> 00:04:05.340 planting a garden, although those are all really 00:04:05.340 --> 00:04:08.719 important. We really want to work in the public 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:11.919 square. And we also want, because we are a justice 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:14.919 -focused organization, we want to center the 00:04:14.919 --> 00:04:17.660 stories and the people who are most impacted 00:04:17.660 --> 00:04:22.240 by our changing climate. And we do that with 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:25.100 them by relying on the teachings of our faith 00:04:25.100 --> 00:04:28.000 traditions to basically challenge our society 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:32.740 to do better. Sometimes I just shake my head 00:04:32.740 --> 00:04:34.860 and think, you know, why is it okay to continue 00:04:34.860 --> 00:04:37.000 burning fossil fuels when they're damaging to 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:39.879 life? People are getting sick. People are dying. 00:04:40.740 --> 00:04:43.139 Why should more of these destructive industries 00:04:43.139 --> 00:04:45.660 be centered in poor and under -resourced communities? 00:04:46.180 --> 00:04:48.699 It's really only by the grace of God that we 00:04:48.699 --> 00:04:52.420 have what we do have. And why should people who 00:04:52.420 --> 00:04:56.689 already have so little be... sort of demonized 00:04:56.689 --> 00:04:58.509 for having so little, and people who have so 00:04:58.509 --> 00:05:02.990 much are thought to be amazing. I'm pretty sure 00:05:02.990 --> 00:05:05.649 it says something in the Bible about money, doesn't 00:05:05.649 --> 00:05:10.050 it? Yes. Anyway, by focusing on the moral teachings 00:05:10.050 --> 00:05:13.529 of our many faith traditions, and one of the 00:05:13.529 --> 00:05:15.490 things I've learned through this work is that 00:05:15.899 --> 00:05:18.500 So many of these teachings are very similar when 00:05:18.500 --> 00:05:20.740 it comes to how we're supposed to treat each 00:05:20.740 --> 00:05:23.620 other and how we're supposed to treat the earth. 00:05:23.959 --> 00:05:26.300 And so we want to encourage people to live their 00:05:26.300 --> 00:05:29.459 faith and to embrace their own God -given agency 00:05:29.459 --> 00:05:32.879 to get involved and even invite people who may 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:35.259 not have thought about it before to consider 00:05:35.259 --> 00:05:37.439 how they might make different choices, how they 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:40.220 might get involved. And I would say that that 00:05:40.220 --> 00:05:43.620 even includes the businesses and financial leaders. 00:05:44.279 --> 00:05:47.680 and politicians, all of whom make decisions that 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:50.180 affect thousands of people's lives every day. 00:05:51.060 --> 00:05:56.680 So we get invited into communities and we start 00:05:56.680 --> 00:05:59.519 working with folks to figure out what is the 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:01.680 work that needs to be done in your community? 00:06:01.819 --> 00:06:04.480 What are the stories that are being told? What 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:07.879 are the needs? And where can we begin to build 00:06:07.879 --> 00:06:11.240 some energy and some power to put pressure to 00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:13.980 change what's happening? Well, it's very exciting, 00:06:14.060 --> 00:06:16.100 and that's why I wanted to invite you to speak 00:06:16.100 --> 00:06:19.959 here on this podcast. When I looked at your website, 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:25.259 greenfaith .org, you have pictures of, as you 00:06:25.259 --> 00:06:27.879 say, ecumenical and really interfaith groups 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:31.360 from all over the world, but locally engaged, 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:34.459 really trying to do something different and working 00:06:34.459 --> 00:06:37.560 for climate justice. And that gives me hope. 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:40.540 So tell me about some of the projects around 00:06:40.540 --> 00:06:43.459 the world that some green faith groups are involved 00:06:43.459 --> 00:06:48.430 in. So we have groups working on a variety of 00:06:48.430 --> 00:06:52.290 different things. In Japan and Indonesia, there's 00:06:52.290 --> 00:06:55.750 a lot of work being done trying to get the federal 00:06:55.750 --> 00:07:00.550 governments to stop producing coal. There's a 00:07:00.550 --> 00:07:02.709 lot of coal that's being used in those countries. 00:07:02.970 --> 00:07:05.970 It's often funded by banks, both in Japan and 00:07:05.970 --> 00:07:08.509 here in the United States, these fossil fuel 00:07:08.509 --> 00:07:11.170 endeavors. And so they're working both at the 00:07:11.170 --> 00:07:13.410 government level and at the local level trying 00:07:13.410 --> 00:07:16.709 to encourage. a transition away from such a dirty 00:07:16.709 --> 00:07:21.089 fossil fuel energy. In Indonesia, there's work 00:07:21.089 --> 00:07:23.490 being done to stop deforestation. I think we 00:07:23.490 --> 00:07:26.209 all have heard about the, and seen pictures, 00:07:26.350 --> 00:07:28.610 you know, on Facebook. You just go through and 00:07:28.610 --> 00:07:30.589 you can start seeing pictures of orangutans and 00:07:30.589 --> 00:07:32.850 things like that. The animals that are being 00:07:32.850 --> 00:07:35.269 displaced by cutting down all of the forests 00:07:35.269 --> 00:07:39.050 for a variety of things like big agribusiness 00:07:39.050 --> 00:07:44.129 or to lay a pipeline or to dig coal. They're 00:07:44.129 --> 00:07:46.790 working a lot on those things. When we talk about 00:07:46.790 --> 00:07:50.129 trees, we also move very quickly to Brazil, where 00:07:50.129 --> 00:07:53.389 the Amazon rainforest is continually under siege. 00:07:55.889 --> 00:07:58.589 to chop down the trees and to get the land to 00:07:58.589 --> 00:08:00.649 use for something else. So there's been a lot 00:08:00.649 --> 00:08:04.670 of work done there with local fishermen and local 00:08:04.670 --> 00:08:09.089 land farmers and people who are living in indigenous 00:08:09.089 --> 00:08:13.170 communities to all say, we want to do this differently. 00:08:13.310 --> 00:08:16.709 So they tell the story. Julia, one of our organizers 00:08:16.709 --> 00:08:18.850 there, produces some really beautiful videos. 00:08:19.110 --> 00:08:22.209 If you get on our Facebook or YouTube channel, 00:08:22.350 --> 00:08:24.310 you can probably find some of them. Some of them 00:08:24.310 --> 00:08:26.730 are important. but I think they have subtitles 00:08:26.730 --> 00:08:29.170 where they tell the stories of what's happening. 00:08:29.470 --> 00:08:33.230 And, you know, they've again gone to the federal 00:08:33.230 --> 00:08:35.610 government and talked about, you know, to the 00:08:35.610 --> 00:08:38.029 Minister of Agriculture about, you know, this 00:08:38.029 --> 00:08:42.090 needs to not happen and here's why. It might 00:08:42.090 --> 00:08:44.490 be a short -term gain to make some money, but 00:08:44.490 --> 00:08:47.769 the long -term impact on people's lives and the 00:08:47.769 --> 00:08:50.789 viability and the sustainability of our environments 00:08:50.789 --> 00:08:53.899 and our lives are at stake. Tell us about your 00:08:53.899 --> 00:08:56.759 work here in the U .S. I know that you said you're 00:08:56.759 --> 00:08:59.039 small but mighty. I just want to say one more 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:01.700 thing. I didn't say anything about Africa. And 00:09:01.700 --> 00:09:03.759 I wanted to mention them because this is a particularly 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:06.139 great example. For several years, we were fighting 00:09:06.139 --> 00:09:09.899 the East African crude oil pipeline. And the 00:09:09.899 --> 00:09:12.500 East African crude oil pipeline is funded by 00:09:12.500 --> 00:09:14.679 big banks, many of them in the United States. 00:09:15.100 --> 00:09:19.700 And the energy producer is a French company. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:24.440 So the French team. went to Total Energy, that's 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:28.120 the name of the company, and protested. In East 00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:30.440 Africa, they were also protesting. And then here, 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:32.799 right in Charlotte, North Carolina, we were protesting 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:36.240 at the Bank of America because they fund Total 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:39.299 Energy. So you can start to see how the connectivity 00:09:39.299 --> 00:09:44.820 happens between these things. Something that's 00:09:44.820 --> 00:09:48.700 going on in a rural community in Tanzania is 00:09:48.700 --> 00:09:51.059 being funded by... a bank in the united states 00:09:51.059 --> 00:09:53.620 maybe the bank that you bank at and so trying 00:09:53.620 --> 00:09:56.240 to make those really clear connections about 00:09:56.240 --> 00:10:00.580 how our money and what we do with our resources 00:10:00.580 --> 00:10:03.860 may actually impact somebody else's life and 00:10:03.860 --> 00:10:06.919 sometimes in really negative ways so here in 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:11.120 the us we've had a variety of um different campaigns. 00:10:11.240 --> 00:10:13.980 One of the campaigns we worked on for quite a 00:10:13.980 --> 00:10:17.320 while was climate finance, where we were pressuring 00:10:17.320 --> 00:10:21.779 banks and retirement investment companies like 00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:25.940 BlackRock and Vanguard to take their money out 00:10:25.940 --> 00:10:29.919 of fossil fuels. And so when you start to follow 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:32.399 your money trail, like where is your money invested? 00:10:32.840 --> 00:10:34.980 What do they do with the money that you have 00:10:34.980 --> 00:10:37.580 in that little savings account for your grandchild's 00:10:37.580 --> 00:10:40.799 college? We all think we're doing a good thing 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:42.720 and we all have our hearts in the right place. 00:10:42.840 --> 00:10:45.960 And then you figure out, gosh, my savings is 00:10:45.960 --> 00:10:49.799 actually maybe worse than driving an SUV in terms 00:10:49.799 --> 00:10:52.299 of the impact that it has on the environment. 00:10:52.600 --> 00:10:55.600 So we did a lot of climate finance work for a 00:10:55.600 --> 00:11:01.220 while. Currently, we are engaged in a campaign 00:11:01.220 --> 00:11:05.139 in New Jersey, the Climate Superfund Act, which 00:11:05.139 --> 00:11:07.960 I think is being renamed the New Jersey Affordability 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:12.019 Act. And the focus of this legislation, and there's 00:11:12.019 --> 00:11:14.840 similar legislation in California, which we've 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:16.600 been paying attention to and some folks have 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:20.559 been working on, is to make sure that the climate 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:22.940 disasters that are happening, and they are happening 00:11:22.940 --> 00:11:25.179 in New Jersey. If you live in New Jersey, I didn't 00:11:25.179 --> 00:11:27.580 know this, there's so much flooding that happens 00:11:27.580 --> 00:11:31.220 in New Jersey, that you as a taxpayer aren't 00:11:31.220 --> 00:11:33.820 going to have to pay for those damages. We are 00:11:33.820 --> 00:11:37.279 seeking to make the folks who are causing the 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:39.759 damages to be. accountable. And when I say folks, 00:11:39.899 --> 00:11:42.559 I'm not talking about individual people per se, 00:11:42.659 --> 00:11:45.899 but companies that are making decisions that 00:11:45.899 --> 00:11:49.539 are causing these problems or are giving the 00:11:49.539 --> 00:11:52.460 funding that caused these problems. So there's 00:11:52.460 --> 00:11:54.639 been a lot of energy for that. Right now, I think 00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:57.980 we're almost up to 150 congregations in New Jersey 00:11:57.980 --> 00:11:59.980 that have signed on to this act, which is super 00:11:59.980 --> 00:12:05.379 exciting. We just finished up last year the project 00:12:05.379 --> 00:12:09.360 called Face for Climate Justice Sunday, where 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:11.440 we joined with a bunch of different organizations 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:15.700 around the country to really push for the transition 00:12:15.700 --> 00:12:19.120 to clean energy. And we called it Sunday because 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:22.080 solar energy is one of the big renewable energies 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:25.580 that is free and available everywhere if we just 00:12:25.580 --> 00:12:30.120 know how to use it well. So we did a lot of work 00:12:30.120 --> 00:12:32.679 with congregations, but other organizations also 00:12:32.679 --> 00:12:35.700 did work with in their communities to really 00:12:35.700 --> 00:12:38.679 talk about how important it would be to transition 00:12:38.679 --> 00:12:41.799 to solar and that it's actually cheaper than 00:12:41.799 --> 00:12:45.019 fossil fuels now. And it does less damage in 00:12:45.019 --> 00:12:49.580 terms of polluting our air. And it's cheaper 00:12:49.580 --> 00:12:51.639 in terms of, you know, you don't have to lay 00:12:51.639 --> 00:12:53.139 pipelines. There are a lot of things about it 00:12:53.139 --> 00:12:55.220 that are great. I won't pretend that it's perfect. 00:12:56.050 --> 00:12:59.049 Everything we do has an impact. But in terms 00:12:59.049 --> 00:13:02.710 of being a renewable resource, you can use that 00:13:02.710 --> 00:13:06.690 solar panel over and over again. It's all overwhelming, 00:13:06.950 --> 00:13:13.009 Amy. And so I'd like to ask you, just from your 00:13:13.009 --> 00:13:15.669 perspective and working on this full time and 00:13:15.669 --> 00:13:18.529 being in touch with folks around the U .S. and 00:13:18.529 --> 00:13:23.200 the world, to give us your perspective. on catastrophic 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:25.720 climate change and what is happening right now 00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:30.039 in 2026 and in the next few years, both in the 00:13:30.039 --> 00:13:32.399 U .S. and globally. Just review a few of the 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:35.759 basics for everybody. Okay, so I actually thought 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:38.220 about this a lot. And I have to say that, you 00:13:38.220 --> 00:13:40.159 know, you started out talking about it being 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:42.740 overwhelming, and it is. So I'm going to start 00:13:42.740 --> 00:13:45.320 with the overwhelm and hopefully move to the 00:13:45.320 --> 00:13:47.120 hopeful. So we'll get there. Does that make sense? 00:13:47.340 --> 00:13:51.019 Sure. Okay. So first of all, I mean, you know, 00:13:51.289 --> 00:13:52.950 The question is, what's happening? I think we 00:13:52.950 --> 00:13:55.389 can all see what's happening. We all can see 00:13:55.389 --> 00:13:57.710 that natural disasters are bigger. They're more 00:13:57.710 --> 00:14:00.929 catastrophic. They're happening more often. And 00:14:00.929 --> 00:14:06.409 we also know that no place is immune. I mean, 00:14:06.429 --> 00:14:08.830 I live in Charlotte, which is only about an hour 00:14:08.830 --> 00:14:12.250 east of Western North Carolina. And entire towns 00:14:12.250 --> 00:14:15.009 there were destroyed. And even small cities like 00:14:15.009 --> 00:14:17.570 Asheville were incapacitated for months because 00:14:17.570 --> 00:14:20.980 of Hurricane Helene. And incidentally, Asheville 00:14:20.980 --> 00:14:23.039 was considered one of the best places in the 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:26.100 U .S. to avoid the worst impacts from climate 00:14:26.100 --> 00:14:29.600 change. So, you know, it's happening, it's happening 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:33.139 more often, and it's happening everywhere. I 00:14:33.139 --> 00:14:35.559 think it's really important to understand the 00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:40.039 context. Scientifically, it has been proven that 00:14:40.039 --> 00:14:43.679 our climate is getting warmer and that our continued 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:46.460 consumption of fossil fuels is the primary driver 00:14:46.460 --> 00:14:50.139 of this warming. If you share this understanding, 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:53.779 the way forward is quite clear. Reduce the usage 00:14:53.779 --> 00:14:56.639 of fossil fuels and transition as quickly as 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:00.860 possible to renewable energy. But if we don't 00:15:00.860 --> 00:15:03.279 understand what climate change is, or if we don't 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:05.919 believe it is happening, or we don't agree that 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:08.820 it's human -caused, it makes it really difficult. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:12.379 to deal with the situation effectively. And I 00:15:12.379 --> 00:15:13.820 think, unfortunately, that's what's happened 00:15:13.820 --> 00:15:17.039 in the United States. We once shared a very common 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:20.460 understanding, and then a lot of information 00:15:20.460 --> 00:15:23.320 started getting dispersed at first at the hands 00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:25.460 of the fossil fuel companies. And this is documented. 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:28.940 You can look up documentaries on this. Fossil 00:15:28.940 --> 00:15:30.980 fuel companies started doing a disinformation 00:15:30.980 --> 00:15:35.120 campaign. And unfortunately, it became politicized. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:38.379 And now we have politicians also continuing that. 00:15:39.049 --> 00:15:44.789 disinformation campaign. And it's not just the 00:15:44.789 --> 00:15:47.110 storms and the flooding. These impacts are upsetting 00:15:47.110 --> 00:15:50.870 livelihoods, are upsetting food security. It's 00:15:50.870 --> 00:15:52.889 causing people to get displaced, which leads 00:15:52.889 --> 00:15:55.830 to migration. And this puts stress on the people 00:15:55.830 --> 00:15:57.830 who are moving, but also the communities that 00:15:57.830 --> 00:16:01.149 seek to welcome the immigrants or in too many 00:16:01.149 --> 00:16:04.730 cases, not welcome the immigrants. Health is 00:16:04.730 --> 00:16:07.860 another huge area of concern. There are pandemics, 00:16:07.940 --> 00:16:10.179 but there's also something much more ordinary, 00:16:10.419 --> 00:16:14.240 cancer. So many people in their 30s and 40s are 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:18.139 now getting cancer. This is really troubling 00:16:18.139 --> 00:16:20.799 because it not only threatens their lives, but 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:23.440 also the stability of society. These are people 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:26.299 who are our prime workforce, and they are often 00:16:26.299 --> 00:16:31.480 parents. So in 2026, I think what we are experiencing 00:16:31.480 --> 00:16:34.700 are not just... the effects of climate change 00:16:34.700 --> 00:16:37.919 in terms of raw physical disasters and health, 00:16:38.100 --> 00:16:40.740 but we're also living in a society and a world 00:16:40.740 --> 00:16:43.860 that's breaking down because it rests on a global 00:16:43.860 --> 00:16:47.279 economy driven by fossil fuel. And we know this 00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:49.519 is true when we see that the administration is 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:51.860 focused on places like Venezuela or the Middle 00:16:51.860 --> 00:16:55.789 East. But I said I wasn't going to be... I was 00:16:55.789 --> 00:16:57.570 going to end on a moment of hope. I know it sounds 00:16:57.570 --> 00:17:00.049 depressing, but I want to say that I am super 00:17:00.049 --> 00:17:02.190 excited to see that so many countries around 00:17:02.190 --> 00:17:04.289 the world are actually embracing renewable energy. 00:17:04.869 --> 00:17:08.170 There are exciting statistics coming out of China, 00:17:08.329 --> 00:17:10.970 Pakistan, and many African countries that are 00:17:10.970 --> 00:17:15.140 rapidly moving to upscale solar. I also think 00:17:15.140 --> 00:17:17.220 that people are seeing the damage that's happening 00:17:17.220 --> 00:17:19.359 in their communities and they are getting organized 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:22.920 to respond. And I think that is hopeful. There 00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:25.619 are so many mutual aid groups. There are so many 00:17:25.619 --> 00:17:28.460 folks that are working together to create communities 00:17:28.460 --> 00:17:31.359 that are moving towards sustainability in all 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:34.259 kinds of ways. That to me is hopeful. And I'll 00:17:34.259 --> 00:17:36.460 say frankly, since I know I'm talking to at least 00:17:36.460 --> 00:17:41.369 in part. Christian audience and maybe some Catholics 00:17:41.369 --> 00:17:44.329 out there, I'm especially hopeful when I see 00:17:44.329 --> 00:17:46.509 what the new Pope is doing to continue the work 00:17:46.509 --> 00:17:50.329 of Laudato Si. We need the largest sectors of 00:17:50.329 --> 00:17:52.109 our faith communities, and that would be the 00:17:52.109 --> 00:17:54.630 Catholics, the Muslims, and the evangelicals 00:17:54.630 --> 00:17:57.430 to engage. It's a big problem, and we need everyone 00:17:57.430 --> 00:18:00.349 involved, and I think that we are seeing people 00:18:00.349 --> 00:18:03.839 of faith standing up. being leaders in this fight. 00:18:03.940 --> 00:18:06.140 And that gives me a lot of hope. That's so great. 00:18:06.220 --> 00:18:08.819 Thank you for that. And I want to keep unpacking 00:18:08.819 --> 00:18:11.819 that a little bit further. But I want to start 00:18:11.819 --> 00:18:16.599 with a grim kind of just anecdotal take on the... 00:18:17.660 --> 00:18:20.920 I guess the movement or people of faith and conscience 00:18:20.920 --> 00:18:22.799 in the U .S. right now and just see what you 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:26.319 think about it. As an activist and someone who's 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:29.279 been involved for a long time, I wrote a book 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:31.579 on the connection between nonviolence and the 00:18:31.579 --> 00:18:34.519 environment 15 years ago. I think everything 00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:37.240 has changed since I wrote that book. And here's 00:18:37.240 --> 00:18:40.559 my thought. Buckle your seatbelt, Amy. Okay. 00:18:41.099 --> 00:18:44.619 I think most people are giving up now. And we 00:18:44.619 --> 00:18:48.980 think we're way past the deadline of trying to 00:18:48.980 --> 00:18:52.720 stop or slow climate chaos. So, for example, 00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:56.920 I think it was a year ago, the New York Times 00:18:56.920 --> 00:19:02.640 did this massive report and said things are bad, 00:19:02.660 --> 00:19:06.180 but we haven't. really noticed the big tipping 00:19:06.180 --> 00:19:09.700 point, and it's going to happen in 2030. Well, 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:12.359 I mean, people can Google it and look it up and 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:14.859 read it, and it goes on for page after page. 00:19:15.220 --> 00:19:18.000 Others say we're way past the tipping point now. 00:19:18.220 --> 00:19:20.779 And so I think a lot of people are just kind 00:19:20.779 --> 00:19:23.839 of throwing their hands up in the air. And meanwhile, 00:19:24.119 --> 00:19:26.900 the country is collapsing in so many ways. There's 00:19:26.900 --> 00:19:29.700 so many wars, and there's the threat of nuclear 00:19:29.700 --> 00:19:33.230 war. So everybody's just... getting by or choosing 00:19:33.230 --> 00:19:37.230 their battles. And I'm not sure as people of 00:19:37.230 --> 00:19:39.609 faith and conscience that's acceptable. I think 00:19:39.609 --> 00:19:41.789 we still have to do what we can. But I wanted 00:19:41.789 --> 00:19:44.730 to ask you about this question of the deadline 00:19:44.730 --> 00:19:49.789 or continuing to take action even if you don't 00:19:49.789 --> 00:19:52.069 think it's going to have any positive effect. 00:19:52.970 --> 00:19:55.890 It's really like Jesus going to the cross. We 00:19:55.890 --> 00:19:58.410 do the good because it's good. We do what's right 00:19:58.410 --> 00:20:02.000 because it's right. to stand up for the environment. 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:05.779 What do you think about that? So my answer to 00:20:05.779 --> 00:20:09.359 that question was yes. You agree with me about 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:11.839 the country that most people are giving up? Well, 00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:14.680 I think that there's so many pieces to this, 00:20:14.700 --> 00:20:17.720 and yes, in many ways. I don't know if everybody's 00:20:17.720 --> 00:20:20.579 giving up. I think people, I think a lot of people 00:20:20.579 --> 00:20:22.480 are reading the same literature that you are, 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:25.759 and they do feel very frustrated and hopeless 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:29.700 about. preventing a tipping point from happening. 00:20:29.859 --> 00:20:32.720 But I also think that tipping point is something 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:35.380 that's happening by degrees. I mean, we've already 00:20:35.380 --> 00:20:37.880 seen things change. I just talked about it, right? 00:20:37.980 --> 00:20:41.619 We already know things have changed. But if we 00:20:41.619 --> 00:20:44.819 just say, okay, I give up, and I'm not saying 00:20:44.819 --> 00:20:47.140 that's what folks are doing, but if that's what 00:20:47.140 --> 00:20:50.920 we say, then we lose all chance of keeping it 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:54.660 from becoming worse. When I think about it in 00:20:54.660 --> 00:20:56.880 terms of human suffering, when I think about 00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:59.599 it in terms of destruction of all of the beautiful 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:02.819 creatures that this planet is gifted with, when 00:21:02.819 --> 00:21:05.680 I think about my daughter and everybody else's 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:10.339 children, I don't think I have, I don't know 00:21:10.339 --> 00:21:11.900 if I want to say this, I don't know if I have 00:21:11.900 --> 00:21:14.640 the right to sit still and just give up. Maybe 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:16.160 that is the right word. I certainly don't think 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:18.079 as a person of faith that that is the response 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:23.930 I want to demonstrate. I feel like my life has 00:21:23.930 --> 00:21:29.049 been a gift. I want my legacy to be forwarding 00:21:29.049 --> 00:21:31.430 that gift in the best way that I can now. And 00:21:31.430 --> 00:21:33.529 that means I get up every day and do what I can. 00:21:33.750 --> 00:21:36.670 That's great. I'm so glad I asked you that. You 00:21:36.670 --> 00:21:41.069 know, I've had Bill McKibben, my friend on this 00:21:41.069 --> 00:21:44.970 podcast, and he's been at this forever. And, 00:21:45.130 --> 00:21:48.569 you know, like 15 years ago, you may remember, 00:21:48.789 --> 00:21:52.559 there was a time when For a couple years, there 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:54.319 was a little window that everybody was talking 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:56.980 about changing the light bulbs. Boy, has that 00:21:56.980 --> 00:22:00.680 gone. Nobody's talking about that anymore. And 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:03.920 Bill's message, he's just hammering away, is 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:07.000 everything comes down now to political will. 00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:09.819 We all have to stand up and organize. We can 00:22:09.819 --> 00:22:13.480 make a... massive difference if we all organize. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:15.819 And that's what I like what you're doing. You're 00:22:15.819 --> 00:22:18.539 trying to organize people of faith to take public 00:22:18.539 --> 00:22:23.019 action. So thank you for that. What are some 00:22:23.019 --> 00:22:26.440 things that our listeners can do? How can people 00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:30.900 of faith and conscience take action in just ordinary 00:22:30.900 --> 00:22:35.660 ways? What might you suggest? Can I just circle 00:22:35.660 --> 00:22:37.779 back on one thing I wanted to say about the previous 00:22:37.779 --> 00:22:40.549 question? I think that some of the people who've 00:22:40.549 --> 00:22:42.869 given up on some of the public actions and fighting 00:22:42.869 --> 00:22:45.089 back aren't apathetic. I think they're still 00:22:45.089 --> 00:22:47.690 organizing in their communities and doing other 00:22:47.690 --> 00:22:51.430 things to create supports, local supports. A 00:22:51.430 --> 00:22:54.029 lot of the pastors that I've talked to may not 00:22:54.029 --> 00:22:56.509 be doing what I'm doing, but they are still organizing 00:22:56.509 --> 00:22:59.529 in their communities around responsiveness to 00:22:59.529 --> 00:23:02.569 the needs that are at hand. So I just want to 00:23:02.569 --> 00:23:05.140 say that. While there may be some people who 00:23:05.140 --> 00:23:06.960 have just given up and said, I'm not going to 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:10.440 do anything. I think so many faithful people 00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:13.960 are still very engaged in different aspects of 00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:16.460 this struggle. So I just wanted to name that. 00:23:16.579 --> 00:23:19.980 Good. And I hope it's true. And all of us, as 00:23:19.980 --> 00:23:22.500 you said. We don't have the right to give up. 00:23:22.579 --> 00:23:26.259 We don't have the luxury of giving up. But as 00:23:26.259 --> 00:23:29.799 a requirement of faith, we can't give up. What 00:23:29.799 --> 00:23:32.099 are we going to say? Hey, sorry, Creator. We 00:23:32.099 --> 00:23:34.240 destroyed your creation, and there's nothing 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:38.160 we can do. No. So tell me some things we can 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:45.140 do. I think it's very important to build relationships 00:23:45.140 --> 00:23:47.480 with people in your community who are engaged 00:23:47.480 --> 00:23:50.819 in this kind of work. So the first thing to do 00:23:50.819 --> 00:23:54.880 may be to just find your people and start having 00:23:54.880 --> 00:23:57.319 conversations about what work needs to be done. 00:23:57.619 --> 00:24:00.980 I think that we have a lot of folks in our communities 00:24:00.980 --> 00:24:02.920 that have been engaged in these kinds of struggles 00:24:02.920 --> 00:24:06.839 for a very long time. And there's a lot of overlap 00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:09.380 in this work. One of the things that I thought 00:24:09.380 --> 00:24:11.859 about when I was thinking about my journey into 00:24:11.859 --> 00:24:15.420 this work is the AIDS work that I used to do. 00:24:15.539 --> 00:24:22.940 The first thing I learned about was how disproportionate 00:24:22.940 --> 00:24:25.579 it is that different people get sick based on 00:24:25.579 --> 00:24:28.519 what they have or they don't have, so that communities 00:24:28.519 --> 00:24:31.299 that are less resourced tend to have more HIV 00:24:31.299 --> 00:24:36.390 and AIDS than communities that don't. And so 00:24:36.390 --> 00:24:38.849 that actually has an environmental component 00:24:38.849 --> 00:24:41.390 to it. So there are people who've been fighting 00:24:41.390 --> 00:24:44.109 what I think are related fights for a very long 00:24:44.109 --> 00:24:46.769 time. So finding your people in your community 00:24:46.769 --> 00:24:49.789 who are working on, you know, it could be something 00:24:49.789 --> 00:24:55.119 even like housing or... access to healthcare. 00:24:55.420 --> 00:24:57.819 These are all related to the environment. That's 00:24:57.819 --> 00:25:00.339 the amazing thing. I don't know if you've ever 00:25:00.339 --> 00:25:02.500 heard of Dr. Mindy Fullylove, but she's done 00:25:02.500 --> 00:25:04.940 some really amazing work that shows how much 00:25:04.940 --> 00:25:07.079 our environment and how we live and where we 00:25:07.079 --> 00:25:10.539 live relates to our health and wellbeing. And 00:25:10.539 --> 00:25:12.779 that's just always stuck with me. So find your 00:25:12.779 --> 00:25:15.599 people in your community who are doing good work 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:19.000 and get involved, learn the stories and figure 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:22.099 out if your interest is environmental, what's 00:25:22.099 --> 00:25:26.259 the environmental aspect? of that story. Of course, 00:25:26.259 --> 00:25:28.980 there are many fights happening everywhere. I 00:25:28.980 --> 00:25:32.759 think all of us can find a local pipeline or 00:25:32.759 --> 00:25:36.240 one of my organizers in New Jersey is talking 00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:39.720 about safe rail transit for toxic chemicals or 00:25:39.720 --> 00:25:42.859 whether or not we're going to have wind farms 00:25:42.859 --> 00:25:45.940 off the coast of North Carolina or whether or 00:25:45.940 --> 00:25:48.000 not Duke Energy, I'm here in North Carolina. 00:25:48.119 --> 00:25:51.740 So Duke Energy is, how are they going to support? 00:25:52.250 --> 00:25:54.509 transitioning to solar or are they going to stand 00:25:54.509 --> 00:25:57.049 in the way of transitioning to solar? So find 00:25:57.049 --> 00:25:59.990 the issue that's important. Find your people, 00:26:00.089 --> 00:26:02.869 find the issue. And then if you need to get some 00:26:02.869 --> 00:26:05.549 training, figure out how to organize. If you 00:26:05.549 --> 00:26:08.329 don't know how to be an organizer, learn. It's 00:26:08.329 --> 00:26:12.269 not hard. There are literally dozens of organizations 00:26:12.269 --> 00:26:15.230 that have trainings on simple, basic organizing. 00:26:15.910 --> 00:26:18.970 And then start having some fun with it. Figure 00:26:18.970 --> 00:26:20.990 out what your action is going to be and start 00:26:20.990 --> 00:26:24.089 showing up in public and doing the work. It's 00:26:24.089 --> 00:26:26.549 a great release. You can make some really great 00:26:26.549 --> 00:26:29.589 friends and it gives your life purpose. And hopefully 00:26:29.589 --> 00:26:32.390 if enough of us do it, we will change what happens 00:26:32.390 --> 00:26:34.410 in our communities and even in this country. 00:26:34.529 --> 00:26:36.490 Thank you so much for that. Tell me about some 00:26:36.490 --> 00:26:40.329 of your journey. How did you get to the place 00:26:40.329 --> 00:26:42.430 where you're working full time on climate justice 00:26:42.430 --> 00:26:47.190 and speaking out and organizing? Well, it's been 00:26:47.190 --> 00:26:49.509 a really long journey, so I'll try to be brief. 00:26:49.650 --> 00:26:52.430 The first part of it had to do with growing up 00:26:52.430 --> 00:26:55.650 in rural Pennsylvania where so many people made 00:26:55.650 --> 00:26:58.150 their living off the land as farmers. I lived 00:26:58.150 --> 00:27:00.849 for four years with my family on an organic family 00:27:00.849 --> 00:27:03.930 farm, which was super fun and super hard work. 00:27:05.470 --> 00:27:07.950 Western Pennsylvania is also really known for 00:27:07.950 --> 00:27:13.349 fossil fuels and Bessemer Steel was probably 00:27:13.349 --> 00:27:16.640 the main. business in my little town of Greenville, 00:27:16.680 --> 00:27:19.440 Pennsylvania. And I didn't make all of those 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:21.359 connections until later, but I certainly grew 00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:25.279 up with this profound sense of the sacred in 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:28.779 nature. That's just always been with me. I alluded 00:27:28.779 --> 00:27:32.000 a little bit to my work in HIV and AIDS, where 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:35.339 I started learning about justice and the disproportionate 00:27:35.339 --> 00:27:40.200 impacts of injustice. how that relates to the 00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:43.940 environment became increasingly clear as I learned 00:27:43.940 --> 00:27:47.559 about the work of Mindy Fully Love and how displacement 00:27:47.559 --> 00:27:50.660 of African -American communities caused so many 00:27:50.660 --> 00:27:55.240 problems for those communities, depression, decreased 00:27:55.240 --> 00:27:59.480 health, increased use of drugs, obesity. There's 00:27:59.480 --> 00:28:02.539 so many things that you can relate to the destruction 00:28:02.539 --> 00:28:06.660 of a community and the social network that sustains 00:28:06.660 --> 00:28:12.480 people. And so I just began thinking about how 00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:15.539 could my ministry focus on the environment and 00:28:15.539 --> 00:28:18.759 on nature, which I love so very much. And I found 00:28:18.759 --> 00:28:22.339 Green Faith and I took the fellowship program 00:28:22.339 --> 00:28:26.279 that they had back in 2010. And it took me a 00:28:26.279 --> 00:28:28.960 while, but I looped back in 2018 and started 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:31.900 working on this full time. I think the catalyst 00:28:31.900 --> 00:28:36.240 was twofold. One was... I'd spent some time in 00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:39.460 India and it was 2017 and I was very depressed. 00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:43.920 Certainly India has a lot of infrastructure problems 00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:47.160 and a lot of pollution. So by day I was learning 00:28:47.160 --> 00:28:49.579 about all of that. And at night I was watching 00:28:49.579 --> 00:28:52.880 California burn. It was that fall when all those 00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:56.079 fires happened. And at the time my daughter was 00:28:56.079 --> 00:28:58.500 nine years old and I became quite depressed. 00:28:59.140 --> 00:29:01.220 And I really didn't know what I was going to 00:29:01.220 --> 00:29:06.710 do, but I knew I had to do something. And I got 00:29:06.710 --> 00:29:10.329 a phone call from Reverend Fletcher Harper, who 00:29:10.329 --> 00:29:12.470 is the executive director of Green Faith. And 00:29:12.470 --> 00:29:14.950 he started telling me that he wanted to do some 00:29:14.950 --> 00:29:18.069 work in North Carolina. And I said, yes. And 00:29:18.069 --> 00:29:23.069 here I am. Oh, that's great. You said yes. Yes, 00:29:23.130 --> 00:29:26.990 I said yes. I was asked and I said yes. I mean, 00:29:27.009 --> 00:29:29.609 I'm doing it in my heart of hearts, you know, 00:29:29.609 --> 00:29:34.890 for my daughter. I can't imagine leaving her 00:29:34.890 --> 00:29:38.730 a place that is not going to sustain her. And 00:29:38.730 --> 00:29:40.549 so I'm going to do everything I can to make that 00:29:40.549 --> 00:29:43.509 true. And then I extend that to all beings and 00:29:43.509 --> 00:29:46.269 certainly to all children. Let me ask you then 00:29:46.269 --> 00:29:49.930 to reflect with me as a person of faith living 00:29:49.930 --> 00:29:52.269 in this time of catastrophic climate change, 00:29:52.349 --> 00:29:54.630 something that I could never have imagined as 00:29:54.630 --> 00:29:59.150 a kid that would happen in my lifetime. What 00:29:59.150 --> 00:30:02.589 does faith in a creator God, who's all good, 00:30:02.769 --> 00:30:06.470 universally loving, just, merciful? In fact, 00:30:06.490 --> 00:30:08.630 I think the scandal of Jesus about the scandal 00:30:08.630 --> 00:30:12.309 of God is that God is totally nonviolent. God 00:30:12.309 --> 00:30:15.769 loves us infinitely and therefore has to give 00:30:15.769 --> 00:30:20.589 us the free will to reject love because God is 00:30:20.589 --> 00:30:23.329 nonviolent. So we're destroying creation. What 00:30:23.329 --> 00:30:25.890 does it mean, as people of faith, in such a good, 00:30:25.910 --> 00:30:33.809 loving God, creator? mean when we are actively 00:30:33.809 --> 00:30:39.150 working or allowing or just living in a country 00:30:39.150 --> 00:30:43.569 that is actively destroying God's creation? I 00:30:43.569 --> 00:30:47.210 think it's a very serious question about the 00:30:47.210 --> 00:30:51.650 depths of faith in this time. And that's why 00:30:51.650 --> 00:30:55.640 I wanted to speak with you because We can't sit 00:30:55.640 --> 00:30:58.099 back if we truly believe in a loving creator 00:30:58.099 --> 00:31:02.019 God, not to mention the nonviolent Jesus who 00:31:02.019 --> 00:31:05.279 gave his life for humanity and creation. We have 00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:08.759 to do the same, don't you think? So when you 00:31:08.759 --> 00:31:11.359 shared that question with me, the words that 00:31:11.359 --> 00:31:15.259 came to me were, forgive them, Father, for they 00:31:15.259 --> 00:31:19.779 know not what they do. That's what came to my 00:31:19.779 --> 00:31:30.349 mind. In my heart of hearts, my Unitarian Universalist 00:31:30.349 --> 00:31:32.329 teachings is that we are basically good also. 00:31:32.970 --> 00:31:38.769 And we don't always act that way. That doesn't 00:31:38.769 --> 00:31:42.269 mean that we're evil. It means that we are not 00:31:42.269 --> 00:31:45.710 doing the best that maybe we could and that God 00:31:45.710 --> 00:31:48.609 loves us anyway. And so I am called to continue 00:31:48.609 --> 00:31:53.069 to try. And I'm not saying that there aren't 00:31:53.069 --> 00:31:56.789 some people that maybe are. or doing things that 00:31:56.789 --> 00:32:00.430 they shouldn't be and they know it. But I guess 00:32:00.430 --> 00:32:02.789 in my heart of hearts, I do believe that humanity 00:32:02.789 --> 00:32:05.769 is good, that life is good, that people are good, 00:32:05.849 --> 00:32:09.829 and that I'm going to get up every day and seek 00:32:09.829 --> 00:32:12.730 to reflect that goodness and to believe in that 00:32:12.730 --> 00:32:16.069 goodness. I don't know if I'm answering your 00:32:16.069 --> 00:32:22.150 question fully, but I guess this goodness that 00:32:22.150 --> 00:32:25.799 we have been gifted. Which shows up in terms 00:32:25.799 --> 00:32:29.079 of our lives and the gift of the earth is something 00:32:29.079 --> 00:32:33.980 that I'm going to work to hand on and to treat 00:32:33.980 --> 00:32:37.059 as well as I can. You know, you said you stress 00:32:37.059 --> 00:32:40.339 this as the nonviolent Jesus podcast. And, you 00:32:40.339 --> 00:32:42.980 know, for me, what resonates is the ideas that 00:32:42.980 --> 00:32:45.740 also show up in other traditions like do no harm 00:32:45.740 --> 00:32:49.339 and the Buddhist tradition. And I also think 00:32:49.339 --> 00:32:52.900 about the beautiful indigenous traditions of. 00:32:54.730 --> 00:32:59.789 gift economy and reciprocity. We give and we 00:32:59.789 --> 00:33:02.190 receive all the time from the earth and from 00:33:02.190 --> 00:33:08.130 each other. And when we do that, we are rich. 00:33:08.190 --> 00:33:12.049 We are rich in love. We are rich in physical 00:33:12.049 --> 00:33:16.430 items. We are rich in relationships. And when 00:33:16.430 --> 00:33:21.430 we only think about ourselves and we only take 00:33:21.430 --> 00:33:25.029 care of ourselves, then we're isolated, alone, 00:33:25.369 --> 00:33:30.730 afraid, and we do dumb things. We do things that 00:33:30.730 --> 00:33:33.809 only, we only think about ourselves. And so I 00:33:33.809 --> 00:33:37.690 think somehow opening up, and that's in the gospel, 00:33:37.750 --> 00:33:40.369 that idea of opening up, you know, it's called 00:33:40.369 --> 00:33:43.190 caring for your neighbor, welcoming the stranger, 00:33:43.430 --> 00:33:48.849 visiting the sick, feeding the hungry. So however, 00:33:49.029 --> 00:33:54.799 whatever tradition you have. Those are the precepts. 00:33:54.799 --> 00:33:57.000 Those are the mandates that we are given. And 00:33:57.000 --> 00:33:59.539 the other thing I wanted to say about this is 00:33:59.539 --> 00:34:03.000 it's easier to be good when things are easy. 00:34:03.460 --> 00:34:05.779 It is harder to be good when things are hard. 00:34:06.910 --> 00:34:09.329 I think we are called more than ever in moments 00:34:09.329 --> 00:34:12.070 that are difficult to act on our faith. So as 00:34:12.070 --> 00:34:14.690 we love to say in Unitarian Universalist circles 00:34:14.690 --> 00:34:17.309 and maybe in others as well, we are made for 00:34:17.309 --> 00:34:19.409 times like this. This is exactly what people 00:34:19.409 --> 00:34:22.170 of faith are for. Wow. Okay. Well, then what 00:34:22.170 --> 00:34:27.429 sustains you in this hard work? Oh, my gosh. 00:34:27.590 --> 00:34:30.849 So many things. And it takes all of them because 00:34:30.849 --> 00:34:33.590 I won't pretend ever that I have days where I 00:34:33.590 --> 00:34:37.739 don't feel overwhelmed or sad. And maybe honoring 00:34:37.739 --> 00:34:40.420 that is also part of how we sustain ourselves. 00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:46.260 Being able to say, I need a break is truly okay. 00:34:46.980 --> 00:34:51.019 Being able to cry and be angry about things not 00:34:51.019 --> 00:34:55.079 going well is okay. So taking the space we need 00:34:55.079 --> 00:34:57.679 to process the difficult emotions, I think actually 00:34:57.679 --> 00:35:03.940 helps us get them outside of us, like express 00:35:03.940 --> 00:35:07.139 them and be able to... feel better from that. 00:35:07.900 --> 00:35:11.440 But some of the things too are, I've already 00:35:11.440 --> 00:35:15.460 mentioned my daughter, my husband. If he didn't 00:35:15.460 --> 00:35:17.780 do the work that he does, I couldn't do my ministry. 00:35:17.900 --> 00:35:22.300 So I'm grateful every day to my husband. I have 00:35:22.300 --> 00:35:24.639 a reading and spiritual reflection group that 00:35:24.639 --> 00:35:27.480 I meet with twice a week. That's really helpful 00:35:27.480 --> 00:35:31.199 to me to have those people that I just spend 00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:34.639 time with. And the readings that we choose are 00:35:34.639 --> 00:35:37.780 often. you know, related to spiritual development 00:35:37.780 --> 00:35:42.619 and sometimes environment. My congregation and 00:35:42.619 --> 00:35:46.400 my denomination are both super supportive of 00:35:46.400 --> 00:35:50.159 environmental, of justice in general and environmental 00:35:50.159 --> 00:35:54.139 justice as well. So my home congregation has 00:35:54.139 --> 00:35:58.130 a green faith circle. And they do this work with 00:35:58.130 --> 00:36:01.389 me and other UU congregations around the country 00:36:01.389 --> 00:36:04.409 are incredibly involved in environmental justice 00:36:04.409 --> 00:36:08.210 work. So that's really helpful. I meet beautiful 00:36:08.210 --> 00:36:10.389 people from all faiths every day that are doing 00:36:10.389 --> 00:36:13.550 this work. So I'm inspired by their traditions, 00:36:13.630 --> 00:36:15.949 the teachings of their traditions, and also the 00:36:15.949 --> 00:36:18.829 work they're doing. And then I just like to be 00:36:18.829 --> 00:36:21.110 outside as much as I can, gardening, exercising, 00:36:21.690 --> 00:36:27.090 hiking. daydreaming, sitting on my porch. These 00:36:27.090 --> 00:36:29.090 are all things that help me. Thank you so much. 00:36:29.210 --> 00:36:32.150 I'm so glad you mentioned the last because I 00:36:32.150 --> 00:36:35.690 think that's critical to this work, that part 00:36:35.690 --> 00:36:39.690 of the whole question of how we turn to the path 00:36:39.690 --> 00:36:41.909 of destroying the planet is because we became... 00:36:42.349 --> 00:36:45.230 unlike the indigenous brothers and sisters, disconnected 00:36:45.230 --> 00:36:48.570 with the planet. And all of us have to now spend 00:36:48.570 --> 00:36:51.869 time outdoors every day, really, but definitely 00:36:51.869 --> 00:36:54.969 once a week where we're really at one with creation. 00:36:55.449 --> 00:36:57.710 Well, is there any last word of encouragement 00:36:57.710 --> 00:37:01.929 you might have for us listeners today, Amy? So 00:37:01.929 --> 00:37:04.590 I'd really love to invite folks to join an upcoming 00:37:04.590 --> 00:37:07.190 campaign that we have going on called Covenant 00:37:07.190 --> 00:37:10.849 for Our Future. This is an opportunity to come 00:37:10.849 --> 00:37:14.929 together this year to create a circle, to do 00:37:14.929 --> 00:37:18.260 work together, to promote. a covenant for our 00:37:18.260 --> 00:37:20.699 future. And we've chosen that language specifically 00:37:20.699 --> 00:37:24.440 because we feel like we are pushing back against 00:37:24.440 --> 00:37:26.760 what's been happening in this country, not just 00:37:26.760 --> 00:37:29.559 around climate, but also around so many other 00:37:29.559 --> 00:37:32.639 issues. So there's going to be a platform for 00:37:32.639 --> 00:37:34.659 this covenant. We're going to invite people to 00:37:34.659 --> 00:37:38.500 sign on. And I encourage you to go to our website 00:37:38.500 --> 00:37:44.420 at www .greenfaith .org slash USA and sign up. 00:37:44.480 --> 00:37:47.550 So as soon as that launches, we'll be able to 00:37:47.550 --> 00:37:49.429 send you the information and you can get started. 00:37:50.949 --> 00:37:54.210 Find your people, find your community, people 00:37:54.210 --> 00:37:57.670 who are willing to do work with you. Sometimes 00:37:57.670 --> 00:37:59.710 we don't feel like we know enough or we don't 00:37:59.710 --> 00:38:02.409 have, you know, sometimes even physical abilities 00:38:02.409 --> 00:38:04.869 to do all the things that need to be done. So 00:38:04.869 --> 00:38:09.530 ask for help, ask for ideas. You maybe can do 00:38:09.530 --> 00:38:14.239 more than you realize. And remember to rest. 00:38:14.340 --> 00:38:16.840 We all deserve time to renew, so don't feel guilty 00:38:16.840 --> 00:38:19.159 about it. Well, thank you so much, Amy Brooks 00:38:19.159 --> 00:38:21.460 Paradise, for speaking with me today. And thank 00:38:21.460 --> 00:38:24.079 you, friends, for listening to this episode of 00:38:24.079 --> 00:38:27.559 the Nonviolent Jesus Podcast. And you can hear 00:38:27.559 --> 00:38:30.500 many more podcasts and find other upcoming Zoom 00:38:30.500 --> 00:38:35.179 programs at BeatitudesCenter .org. You can offer 00:38:35.179 --> 00:38:37.760 a donation there to support this free work or 00:38:37.760 --> 00:38:41.920 give us some feedback. Sign up to get our free 00:38:41.920 --> 00:38:46.119 e -blast newsletter, which tells about upcoming 00:38:46.119 --> 00:38:49.559 podcasts and guests and upcoming Zoom programs. 00:38:49.900 --> 00:38:52.820 But mainly I ask everyone to help spread the 00:38:52.820 --> 00:38:56.099 word about the Nonviolent Jesus podcast by telling 00:38:56.099 --> 00:38:59.019 your friends and congregations and fellow churchgoers. 00:38:59.079 --> 00:39:02.719 May the God of peace bless you all. Keep on following 00:39:02.719 --> 00:39:05.559 the Nonviolent Jesus and see you next time.