Climate Changed

What is Mine to Do? with Eileen Flanagan

In this eye-opening episode of our podcast, we bring you an enlightening conversation with Eileen Flanagan — a Quaker author, activist, and organizer who strives to make activism more effective. Co-hosts Dr. Keisha McKenzie and Nicole Diroff dive deep into topics that challenge us on how we approach climate change, social justice, and activism.
Discussion Guide for Small Group Conversations: https://thebtscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Climate-Changed-S02-E03-Discussion-Guide.pdf
Full Transcript: https://thebtscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Eileen-Flanagan-What-is-Mine-to-Do_otter_ai.pdf
Official podcast page: https://thebtscenter.org/climate-changed/
Grounding Reflection:
The episode kicks off with a grounding reflection by The BTS Center's Executive Director, Reverend Dr. Allen Ewing-Merrill, featuring an evocative poem by Lori Hetteen that urges us to embrace joy even when the world feels like it's burning.
Main Conversation:
Nicole's rich dialogue with Eileen traverses diverse themes, from the interconnectedness of all life to the role of spiritual leaders in times of climate crisis. Eileen's commitment to a spiritually grounded and effective climate justice movement is as educational as it is inspiring. They discuss how systemic divisions perpetuated by those in power harm not just humans but the entire planet.
Four Rules of Social Change:
Eileen shares invaluable advice on effective activism, breaking it down into four roles: the Helper, the Advocate, the Organizer, and the Rebel. Find out which role you naturally fit into and how stepping out of your comfort zone can yield transformative change.
Wisdom and Courage:
In a thought-provoking moment, Eileen shares her love for the Serenity Prayer and how its essence has guided her in choosing battles wisely and courageously. She sheds light on how the plural version of the prayer, initially penned by Reinhold Niebuhr during World War II, encourages collective action, changing the question from "What can I do?" to "What can we do?"
Whether you're an activist fighting fatigue or a concerned individual yearning to make a difference, this episode has something for everyone.
Next Steps for Engaged Hope
By combining personal reflection with actionable steps, both individuals and organizations can identify their roles and take meaningful steps toward combating climate change and promoting sustainability.
Divestment Strategies for Faith-Based Communities:
Research Divestment Campaigns in Your Denomination: If you belong to a religious denomination, investigate whether there are existing campaigns or strategies for divesting from fossil fuels and other unsustainable investments. Examples include the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, and the Roman Catholic Church.
Join Local Church Efforts: Once you've identified an existing divestment program, find out how your local congregation can get involved.
Utilize Resources: Check the show notes for links to divestment guides and resources. For instance, a divestment guide for Presbyterians is mentioned, which has practical information applicable to many.
Explore Earth Quaker Action Team's Campaign: Earth Quaker Action Team (or EQAT) is running a campaign to persuade Vanguard to offer more ethical investment options. Learn more about how to get involved at their website (eqat.org).
Self and Organizational Reflection:
Identify Your Role as a Changemaker: Eileen suggests four roles you can assume — Rebel, Advocate, Helper, and Organizer. Consider journaling to explore which of these roles you've played in the past, especially concerning climate change and sustainability.
Evaluate Institutional Roles: If you are part of an organization (like a church, school, or community group), reflect on what role that institution plays in sustainability efforts. Is it a Rebel, an Advocate, a Helper, or an Organizer?
Contribute to the Mission: Decide how you can contribute to your organization's mission based on the role(s) that most appeal to you. For example, if your organization has a divestment program, consider how you can support or expand it.
Additional Resources:
Links to Organizations Mentioned:
Equat
Citizens Climate Lobby
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Climate Changed is a podcast about pursuing faith, life, and love in a climate-changed world. Hosted by Nicole Diroff and Ben Yosua-Davis. Climate Changed features guests who deepen the conversation while also stirring the waters. The Climate Changed podcast is a project of The BTS Center. The show is produced by Peterson Toscano.
Meet Eileen Flanagan
Eileen Flanagan is known nationally for her work as a climate activist and nonviolence trainer. As board chair of Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT), she helped to develop and execute the strategy that pressured a $4 billion-a-year bank to stop financing mountaintop removal coal mining. Later, as co-director of EQAT, she helped to build the ongoing grassroots campaign against Vanguard, the world’s #1 investor in fossil fuels. The award-winning author of three books, she tells the story of why she started doing civil disobedience for climate justice in Renewable: One Woman’s Search for Simplicity, Faithfulness, and Hope. She is now working on a book about the intersection of race, climate, and spirituality. Join her newsletter or check out her online courses at eileenflanagan.com.https://twitter.com/eileenflanaganhttps://www.facebook.com/eileenflanaganauthorInsta: @eileenflanaganauthorhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/eileenflanagan/Finding your Role online course: https://eileenflanagan.teachable.com/p/finding-your-role
Meet Keisha E. MacKenzie, PhD
Keisha E. McKenzie, PhD, (she/they) is a strategist who interprets communication, religion, spirituality, and politics as social change technologies. She has worked in communication and development strategy, faith organizing, research, facilitation, and management with nonprofit and educational organizations across the US since 2004. 
Keisha believes that all people have inherent worth and dignity, we deserve a world of connection and flourishing for all, and people of faith have a duty to help make that world real.
Keisha is a member of the Aspen Institute Religion and Society Program’s Powering Pluralism Network; a Rooted in Resilience Fellow at Faith Matters Network; and author at the newsletter On Tomorrow's Edge.
Fun Fact: Keisha's first climate action was the People's Climate March in New York in 2014 where she ended up between an Abraham Lincoln re-enactor and Canadians protesting tar sands.
website (mackenzian.com)Twitter and Insta: @mackenzianLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keishamckenzie/Mastodon: https://mastodon.online/@mackenzian
Meet Rev. Dr. Allen Ewing-Merril
Rev. Dr. Allen Ewing-Merrill serves as Executive Director of The BTS Center. Prior to this role, Allen taught high school English, pastored local churches, co-founded and led a small nonprofit, and organized faith leaders for advocacy and direct action around issues of justice and equity. A graduate of the University of Maine and of Boston University School of Theology, Allen recently earned a Doctor of Ministry program through Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC in partnership with Wesley House, Cambridge UK. Allen lives in Portland, Maine with his spouse, Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill, and they are the parents of three daughters.

How Can I Keep Going? with Dr. Susanne Moser

In this episode of Climate Changed, listeners will hear from Dr. Susi Moser, an accomplished scientist and geographer. For Moser, any effort that builds community is actually significant climate work.
Moser has worked at the highest levels of climate science, including on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or the IPCC. This is the UN body responsible for assessing climate change, and their reports carry incredible weight around the world. Now Moser has been on an amazing journey from that work, helping equip people on the frontlines of climate change to engage in that work for the long term. 
“Humans and how they affect the environment, the earth and how they are affected by it — that is a central theme within geography,” Moser said. “That got me very quickly into this area of interest of, if we understand what we're doing to the environment, why are we not stopping it? Why are we not trying to prevent this, changing the earth in in profound fundamental ways. So very quickly, I got interested in climate change as sort of a topic of investigation and trying particularly to understand the human impact on the environment on the climate and then the other way around.”
But such a pivotal job takes a toll on mental health. Moser discusses how to handle burnout in a work culture that doesn’t encourage taking breaks. She offers advice on how Christians and climate activists can find the strength to keep going. 
Listeners will also get to participate in a meditative grounding practice, led by Katie Patrick, author of the book and podcast How to Make Changing the World the Greatest Game We’ve Ever Played. Patrick recognizes the critical role of creativity, optimism, and imagination in the craft of social and environmental change. Through this guided meditation, she reveals the big mistake so many of us make in our climate work, one that she made herself.
Climate Changed is a podcast about pursuing faith, life, and love in a climate-changed world, produced by the BTS Center. A special thanks to Citizens’ Climate Radio for providing a recording of Katie Patrick’s conversation. 
Check out Season 1 here.
Next Steps for Engaged Hope
Ask yourself: What do I love? How can I engage those loves in a way that cultivates caring community in a climate changed world?
Have a conversation this week where you listen and respond from the heart. If you need help getting started, check out these resources from StoryCorps.
About our guests
Dr. Susanne Moser
Dr. Suzi Moser is the Director and Principal Researcher of Susanne Moser Research & Consulting, based in Hadley, MA. In her research and work with various organizations and entities, Moser focuses on adaptation to climate change, especially in coastal areas, resilience, transformation, decision support, and effective climate change communication in support of social change.
Moser is co-editor of a groundbreaking anthology on climate change communication, called Creating a Climate for Change: Communicating Climate Change and Facilitating Social Change, published in 2006. In addition to being a prolific writer, she has done extensive work with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Katie Patrick
Katie Patrick is the author of the book and podcast How to Make Changing the World the Greatest Game We’ve Ever Played, as well as the book Zerowastify: Your Complete Tutorial to the Art of Zero Waste Living. Patrick is an environmental engineer and climate action designer. 
In addition to writing several books and hosting a podcast, Patrick is the co-founder of Energy Lollipop and Urban Canopy in San Francisco — two startups that are devoted to bringing down the peak CO2 released by the electricity grid.
Climate Changed is a podcast about pursuing faith, life, and love in a climate-changed world. Hosted by Nicole Diroff and Ben Yosua-Davis. Climate Changed features guests who deepen the conversation while also stirring the waters. The Climate Changed podcast is a project of The BTS Center. The show is produced by Peterson Toscano.
 

What Does Collective Truth Telling Look Like? with Rob Shetterly

In this enlightening episode, we explore the notion of collective truth-telling through a poetic introduction and a compelling conversation with Rob Shetterly, the artist behind the portrait series "Americans Who Tell the Truth." We begin with Lilace Mellin Guignard's evocative poem "The Great Reimagining," a heartfelt call to rekindle our imagination and respect for our planet and its intricate ecosystems.
NEW Discussion Guide for the episode!
View the Transcript 
Grounding
Lilace Mellin Guignard reads her poem, The Great Re-Imagining. She first shared it publicly at The BTS Center’s 2022 Convocation. 
Lilace Mellin Guignard is a poet who realized long after completing her MFA that she had, in fact, followed in her father’s footsteps. A pastor’s daughter, being raised in a liberal social justice church in the suburbs of Maryland meant her childhood was filled with music and art and faith. Her best memories of her father are when, on his weekends off, he’d take her with him to Greenbelt National Park where he’d lead outdoor worship for those camping. 
Lilace is the author of the memoir, When Everything Beyond the Walls Is Wild: Being a Woman Outdoors in America and the poetry chapbook Lost in the Homeland, winner of the 2015 Helen Kay Chapbook Poetry Prize. Her poems have appeared in the journals Calyx, Hawk & Handsaw: The Journal of Creative Sustainability, Northern Appalachia Review, The Fourth River: Climate Change Issue, and Poetry Magazine’s ecojustice issue. Her poems have also appeared in anthologies, including Facing the Change: Personal Encounters with Global Warming and Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology. She taught creative writing, outdoor recreation leadership, and women’s studies at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania. She is now Associate Publisher at Beagle Media, publisher of Mountain Home magazine. 
Lilace’s webpage: www.tentofonesown.com
Lilace on Facebook: www.facebook.com/lilace.guignard/
Lilace on Instagram: www.instagram.com/lilaceguignard/
Main Conversation
Our main conversation features Rob Shetterly, a Maine-based artist and social advocate. Rob opens up about how his portrait series, "Americans Who Tell the Truth," emerged as a response to feelings of grief, guilt, and alienation during the run-up to the Iraq war. His transformative project now boasts over 200 portraits, each portraying an American truth-teller, from historical figures like Henry David Thoreau to contemporary voices like Bryan Stevenson.
Shetterly's insights into environmental justice offer a profound perspective. He discusses the destructive tendencies of modern culture to commodify nature, mentioning examples like mountaintop removal and the importance of organizations like Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association in countering destructive practices. The episode expands on various forms of truth-telling — whether through art, civil disobedience, organization-building, or eloquent writing like Robin Wall Kimmerer's — and their vital role in establishing a more sustainable and equitable world.
Next Steps for Climate Change Engagement and Community Involvement
Take Local Action: Recognize that while one person can't solve the world's problems alone, individuals can make a significant impact at the local level. Whether it's green energy, sustainable transportation, or local politics, your efforts can make a difference.
Engage Emotionally: Taking on local projects not only contributes to solving climate issues but also changes your emotional relationship with them. Instead of feeling fearful, you become empowered, knowing you are making a difference.
Specific Action Steps
Connect with Local Groups: Identify local organizations, committees, school groups, etc., that are taking action on climate change and see how you can contribute.
Educate the Youth: Utilize educational programs like the Samantha Smith Challenge to inform young people about climate issues and empower them to take action.
Pressure Governments: While working on local projects, continue to put pressure on governments to make policy changes that address climate issues.
Additional Resources and Actions:
Watch Truth Tellers: After listening to the podcast, watch the documentary Truth Tellers to learn about individuals who are making a difference. Consider hosting a community screening to spur conversation and action.
Thank Someone: Write a note of thanks to someone in your community who is doing courageous work in tackling climate change or social issues, especially if their efforts are going unrecognized.
Visit AmericansWhoTellTheTruth.org: Learn more about individuals who are courageously telling the truth through Rob Shetterly's portraits and narratives.
By following these guidelines and specific actions, you can make a meaningful contribution to combating climate change and fostering community involvement.
Climate Changed is a podcast about pursuing faith, life, and love in a climate-changed world. Hosted by Nicole Diroff and Ben Yosua-Davis, Climate Changed features guests who deepen the conversation while also stirring the waters. The Climate Changed podcast is a project of The BTS Center. The show is produced by Peterson Toscano.

Nicole Diroff Shares Highlights for Season Two

Nicole Diroff shares excerpts from Season Two of Climate Changed podcast featuring Rob Shetterly, Shanon Shah, Margaret Wheatley, and Debra Rienstra.
Nicole Diroff: Climate Changed podcast focuses on collective honesty and hope
Nicole Diroff: Hey there. I'm Nicole Diroff. Ben Yosua-Davis and I host the Climate Changed podcast. Over the past several months, we interviewed wise and insightful guests. We collected poems and songs to provide you with a chance to center. And now we are putting finishing touches on season two of Climate Changed.
Our focus for this new season is collective honesty and complicated hope in a climate changed world. Ben and I talk about this a lot in our work at The BTS Center, where we offer formative programs for spiritual leaders of diverse backgrounds. Season two includes people we've had the opportunity to work with through these BTS Center programs.
 

Ben Yosua-Davis shares season two details

Ben Yosua-Davis  00:00
Hi, I'm Ben Yosua-Davis, co host of the Climate Change Podcast. I am incredibly excited about season two of our show. In this season, we ask big questions about collective honesty and complicated hope, which feels really timely in a moment dominated by news of floods, wildfire, smoke and record breaking heat. I talk with Dr. Suzanne Moser about what it means to lead well in an era defined by accelerating traumatic and transformational change.
Dr. Susie Moser  00:31
When people are really, really threatened in their identity, they are pushed to change. And who of us wants to? Thank you very much. It was just fine before or you know, it's it's too hard. And I don't know how. So helping people frame that process and frame the dark night of the soul. I mean, that's your territory, right?
Ben Yosua-Davis  00:55
Indigenous writer and teacher Ray Buckley shares what it means to practice forgiveness and joy in the face of almost unthinkable, communal and personal tragedy.
Ray Buckley  01:08
There wasn't that moment in the understanding, didn't come through reading books, or anything that niche that in this case, one would cause a significant tragedy. Me and my family that there was a way past this for both of us.
Ben Yosua-Davis  01:28
And you will hear the amazing conversation I had with iconic author and organisational thinker Margaret Wheatley. She shares about what it means to do hope filled meaningful work, even in the face of genuinely insurmountable challenges.
Margaret Wheatley  01:49
It shifts from what do I think I need to feel fulfilled and purpose filled life to what does the world need from me. And it's not the big world. It's the world of your community, your congregation, your school, your family, your team. And I call those islands of sanity now because we're doing our very best to create sanity to create the conditions for people to be free of fear and express therefore our best human qualities of generosity, kindness, creativity, and community.
02:29
Do you want to be challenged and inspired? Join us for this amazing series of conversations. You can listen to climate change wherever you get your podcasts for visit The BTS Center. 

Announcing Season Two of Climate Changed

In season two of the climate changed podcast, Ben Yosua-Davis and Nicole Diroff will help you take an unflinching look at the devastating reality of climate change, not to scare the snot out of us. No, they and their amazing guests balance and honest view of the problems with clear direction about how we can take up our roles in this rapidly changing world.
The new season of Climate Changed podcast premieres on Tuesday September 26, 2023. Ben and Nicole ask big questions as they speak with thought leaders, climate change specialists, and people at the intersections of faith and climate action. 
Some questions and guests include:
What Does Collective Truth Telling Look Like? with artist Rob Shetterly
How Can I Keep Going? with Dr. Susi Moser,  a scientist and climate adaptation expert.
What Is Mine to Do? with Quicker author and environmental activist Eileen Flanagan
How Do You Love the World As It Is? with indigenous practitioner Ray Buckley
Am I the Right Person? with author Margaret Wheatley
What Roles Can Religions Play? with Shanon Shah, a British Muslim leader and the director of Faith for the Climate
Ben and Nicole are joined by conversation partners Dr. Keisha McKenzie and Debra Rienstra. 
Subscribe wherever you get podcasts and visit the BTS Center's Climate Changed page for Season One and full show notes once episodes premiere. 
 

Daddy Did We Hurt Them?

In this episode of the Climate Changed podcast, you will experience:
The Wall, a poem read by podcast guest Hannah Malcolm. It was written by David Benjamin Blower, a musician, writer, and podcaster. It comes from his 2019 album We Really Existed and We Really Did This, and it appears in the anthology, Words for a Dying World: Stories of Grief and Courage from the Global Church, edited by Hannah Malcolm.
“Daddy, Did We Hurt Them?”, an audio essay written and voiced by co-host Ben Yosua-Davis and featuring his five year-old-son, Michael. Audio treatment by Peterson Toscano.
Two conversations about the essay:
Co-host Nicole Diroff and her father, Michael DiMonte. 
Hannah Malcolm and co-host Nicole Diroff 
Next Steps for Engaged Hope
About Hannah Malcolm
Hannah is an ordinand in the Church of England and is writing a PhD on a theology of climate and ecological grief. She is on the board of Operation Noah and regularly speaks and writes about climate justice and the church. She is the editor of Words for a Dying World: Stories of Grief and Courage from the Global Church (SCM Press, 2020).
About Michael DiMonte
Michael DiMonte is a Christian, husband, father, and grandfather.  He was raised Catholic, but has also attended Presbyterian, UCC, and United Methodist churches.  He currently acts as a lay leader for the Working for Justice Ministry at St. Paul’s UMC near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
While now retired, his professional career included working as an engineer, project manager, and executive in companies providing equipment to the electric power industry.  He holds engineering degrees from Bucknell University and Purdue University, and a management degree from the Hartford Graduate Center. 
Click here for full transcript of this episode
Some Highlights from the Conversation
“My children are the ones who keep me grounded and teach me joy. That's important for me. I work in climate, and I love my job. But sometimes, I have to stare into the abyss.”
 — Ben Yosua-Davis
“We don't know how to deal with problems that simply cannot be fixed. We have no way of hoping in the face of problems that cannot be fixed. Because hope for us must always be an expression of power. ” — Ben Yosua-Davis
“Don't be afraid to talk to people who may see things very differently. We need to garner  the courage to stick our necks out and engage people who see things differently.”
 — Michael DiMonte
“I found it very helpful to remember that in the Christian tradition, hope is a virtue, as much as it is a feeling that we can have that hope, like love is a virtue that, you know, you can't just have the virtue of hope by sort of wanting to be hopeful. You have to have the virtue of hope by practicing hopefulness; virtues come through the action of developing a habit.” — Hannah Malcolm
“There's quite a lot of danger in our grief becoming highly personalized. This kind of grief can make us nihilistic, it can make us selfish, it can make us behave in destructive ways, as well as compassionate ways. ” — Hannah Malcolm
 
Next Steps for Engaged Hope
Michael DiMonte says: 
“Vote! We need personal change. We need family, we need community change. We need systemic change too.”
“Don't be afraid to talk to people who may see things very differently. We need to garner the courage to stick our necks out and engage people who see things differently.”
Hannah Malcolm says:
“If you are a member of a religious community, whether Christian or otherwise, I think there's a couple of questions we can ask ourselves as we face up to what we're losing and what's coming ahead of us. And the first one is about this: how can my church community locally be a refuge for people in practical and spiritual ways? So how can we provide or facilitate support pastorally and spiritually for perhaps local climate activists, for young people, for those who are involved in local organizing, and then how can our building or our lands be a place of refuge, as people face increasingly precarious environments?“
“What kinds of assets does that denomination or religious council have in terms of land, in terms of investments? Are those things aligned with what we say we believe in terms of the goodness of the earth, in terms of our duty to care for or attend to what God has made?” 
Ben Yosua-Davis says:
“If you have a child in your life, you can find a way to talk to them about climate and our more than human community with them. Remembering that kids are capable of having much harder conversations than we adults give them credit for. Here are a couple places you could start: the next time you both see a bird, for instance, that catches your attention. Invite your child to imagine with you.” 
Nicole Diroff says: 
“As a way of connecting with all who are impacted, you could create a 72 hour emergency kit with a child in your life. In addition to the basics, you can customize it with suggestions from your child. These may include favorite snacks, games, books, and gifts to give to others. To learn more about 72 hour kits, visit ready.gov/kit.” 
Climate Changed is a podcast about pursuing faith, life, and love in a climate-changed world. Hosted by Nicole Diroff and Ben Yosua-Davis, Climate Changed features guests who deepen the conversation while also stirring the waters. The Climate Changed podcast is a project of The BTS Center. The show is produced by Peterson Toscano.

If I can’t make a difference, then what do I do? Rev. Dr. Veronice Miles

In this episode of the Climate Changed podcast, you will experience:
Aram Mitchell leads a guided reflection called Flood on the Horizon
A conversation with Rev. Dr. Veronice Miles
Next Steps for Engaged Hope
About Veronice Miles
The Rev. Dr. Veronice Miles is a preacher, teacher, scholar, mentor, and artist committed to a life of ministry in the church and in the academy. She serves as the Mary Elizabeth McGehee Joyce Professor of Preaching at the Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC. Answering the call to ordained ministry in 1994, she was licensed by the First Missionary Baptist Church, making her the first woman to be licensed without contestation in a Missionary Baptist Church, in Gainesville, Florida. She was ordained in 1999 at the Greater Bethany Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Miles has taught preaching for more than 16 years and has preached extensively. She has also contributed to various academic and church related journals, commentaries, and books. Her publication, Embodied Hope: A Homiletical Theology Reflection (CASCADE Books), explores the human capacity to live with Hope and the power and potential of preaching to amplify Hope’s resonance in our lives. Preaching, she believes, neither ignores nor concedes defeat to the despairing realities of life. Rather, preaching emboldens individuals and communities of faith to live with Hope and respond in the affirmative to God’s “yes” for creation and for our lives. With these thoughts as foci, her research highlights the formative and transformative potential of preaching, including the role of preaching in redressing persistently threatening challenges that pervade U.S. culture.
As a lifelong learner, Dr. Miles has earned several degrees, including the Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Education and Homiletics from Emory University’s Graduate Division of Religion in Atlanta, GA, and a Master of Divinity from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University with certificates in Religious Education and Black Church Studies. She also earned the Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Master of Education in Counseling, and Education Specialist in Student Personnel Services, all from the University of Florida.
Grounded in the belief that God still anoints women and men “to bring good news to the poor... to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19), Dr. Miles endeavors to embody these practices in her life and ministry.
Click here for full transcript of this episode
Some Highlights from the Conversation
“The people in my congregation are only the people in my community, but the world is our neighbor. And if we were to preserve, personify the earth and the environment, I feel like we almost have to, then the earth, these hands, and neighbor as well, is in the same care, compassion, concern that we have for one another.” — Veronice Miles
“It is an incarnational kind of understanding of hope, that hope is within us. It's not something that we go and get from a place out there somewhere. It's not even something that is motivated by whether or not things are well in this moment, or terrible in this moment.” — Veronice Miles
“So what happens if we get off the consumptive hamster wheel, and we have to start purchasing less things? What fills those spaces when we are no longer able to be addicted to our stuff, and it's actually beautiful things fill that space? It’s nature, it’s friends, it’s community, it’s art, it’s spaciousness?” — Ben Yosua-Davis
Next Steps for Engaged Hope
Nicole wants to recommend a book that has helped her understand what is going on. The Story of More by Hope Jahren. Jahren walks through many aspects of climate change and how it's affecting our world. It is very accessible and helped Nicole build her own knowledge base. 
Check out the on-line workshop Pursuing our Passions in a Climate Changed World, which is available for free through The BTS Center’s Leadership Commons. It was created by this podcast’s producer, Peterson Toscano. You will begin a process of discovering how to imagine a better world and use what they love to get there. This can be done on your own, but it is especially designed for groups. You will find a full facilitator’s guide, video, and more. 
Rob Hopkins’ book From What is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want. He outlines ways in which humans are inherently imaginative beings, and he points out how important it is to tap into the imaginative capacity today. 
Come to the on-line Convocation 2022: Imagination and Collective Liberation for a Climate-Changed World October 6 - 7, 2022. You will hear presentations with Rev. Dr. Veronice Miles, Rob Hopkins, and more. There will also be opportunities to connect with other participants in affinity groups and break-out sessions.  
Create 72-hour disaster supply kits for neighbors. According to ready.gov: “After an emergency, you may need to survive on your own for several days. Being prepared means having your own food, water and other supplies to last for several days. A disaster supply kit is a collection of basic items your household may need in the event of an emergency.” They provide a full list of the basics you want to have in your kit. And they suggest, “Once you take a look at the basic items, consider what unique needs your family might have, such as supplies for pets or seniors.” Creating a 72-hour kit for a neighbor is a practical way of showing love and building community. It will also help you to learn more about your neighbors as you talk to them about what they would like in their kit. Learn more at ready.gov/kit. 
Climate Changed is a podcast about pursuing faith, life, and love in a climate-changed world. Hosted by Nicole Diroff and Ben Yosua-Davis. Climate Changed features guests who deepen the conversation while also stirring the waters. The Climate Changed podcast is a project of The BTS Center. The show is produced by Peterson Toscano.
 

What is Wrong with Me? with Keyana Pardilla, Robin Wall Kimmerer and Sherri Mitchell

What is Wrong with Me? with Keyana Pardilla, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Sherri Mitchell 
In this episode of the Climate Changed podcast, you will experience:
A centering practice: Sean Dague helps us envision a world without fossil fuels. 
A conversation with Keyana Pardilla
Excerpts from live BTS Center Zoom programs featuring Robin Wall Kimmerer and Sherri Mitchell
Next Steps for Engaged Hope
About Keyana Pardilla
Keyana Pardilla graduated in 2020 from the University of Maine with a bachelor's degree in marine science. She grew up on a Penobscot reservation where she continues to live. Her current work is in the Youth Engagement Division at Wabanaki public health and wellness.
Keyana describes herself this way: “My name is Keyana Pardilla and my pronouns are she/her. I belong to where the rocks widen otherwise known as the Penobscot Nation. I come from an indigenous background. I love science and education. I also practice some traditional forms of art, like beading. I love to paint, and I also am starting to learn how to weave some baskets, some traditional baskets. I am also a dog mom of two rescue pups. I love to go outdoors and explore nature. I have a bachelor's degree in marine science. I'm very passionate about the ocean and how we can combat climate change.”
About Robin Wall Kimmerer
Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of the widely acclaimed book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants. Her first book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing, and her other work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and numerous scientific journals. 
She tours widely and has been featured on NPR’s On Being with Krista Trippett. In 2015, she addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations on the topic of “Healing Our Relationship with Nature.” Kimmerer lives in Syracuse, New York, where she is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. Learn more about Robin Wall Kimmerer and view her portrait as part of Rob Shetterly’s “Americans Who Tell the Truth” series.
About Sherri Mitchell
Sherri Mitchell – Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset, is a Native American attorney, teacher, activist and change maker who grew up on the Penobscot Indian Reservation. She is the author of the award-winning book Sacred Instructions; Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change, and is the visionary behind the global healing ceremony Healing the Wounds of Turtle Island, which has brought people together from six continents with a commitment to heal our collective wounds and forge a unified path forward.
Sherri is the founding director of the Land Peace Foundation, an organization dedicated to the protection of Indigenous land, water, and religious rights, and the preservation of the Indigenous way of life. She is an alumna of the American Indian Ambassador Program and the Udall Native American Congressional Internship Program. Her rights-based work has earned her the Mahoney Dunn International Human Rights and Humanitarian Award, the Spirit of Maine Award for International Human Rights, and the Peace and Justice Center’s Hands of Peace award.
Sherri has been a longtime advisor to the American Indian Institute’s Traditional Circle of Indian Elders and Youth and was a program coordinator for their Healing the Future Program. She has also served as an advisor to the Indigenous Elders and Medicine People’s Council of North and South America for the past 20 years and is a consultant and Advisory Committee member for Nia Tero’s International Indigenous Land Guardianship Program.
Sherri works at the intersections of our times, where she artfully weaves complex concepts into one unifying whole.  She currently speaks and teaches around the world on a multitude of issues, including: Indigenous rights, environmental justice, and Spirit-Based Change.
Click here for a full transcript of this episode. 
Some Highlights from the Conversation
“Just imagine this whole new world. Because if we can't imagine this world, we can't create it.” – Sean Dague, Citizens Climate Lobby.  
As part of the Centering Practice, Sean leads us through a thought experiment about envisioning a world without fossil fuels. He invites us to engage each one of our senses to see, smell, hear, and feel the world in a new way. 
 
“I would pick up on these feeling of melancholy, because their stories would always end up with, ‘But that's not how we do it anymore, or what we can't go there anymore, or simply just a lot has changed since then.’” –Keyana Pardilla  
Growing up in the Penobscot Nation, otherwise known as Indian Island, a small island located in Old Town Maine, Keyana speaks with elders as she seeks to find what was lost and bring this awareness to younger people. 
 
“But we are embedded In a world of relatives, relatives, not natural resources.” –Robin Wall Kimmerer
In talking about gratitude, Kimmerer shares a way to connect with all living things that is built on relationships, love, and care. She invites us to expand our spiritual imaginations. 
 
“…the process of feeling the pain, the process of feeling the anxiety, the process of feeling the grief, the process of feeling the loneliness, is part of our connectivity to life, where the natural world is really amplifying the signal so that we once again feel our connection to the rest of life…” –Sherri Mitchell
The title of this episode, What is Wrong with Me? comes from an observation Mitchell made during the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic. In a society that seeks to alleviate negative feelings, she invites us to consider how these strong emotions of pain, grief, and loneliness may be echoes of distress from the natural world.
 
Next Steps for Engaged Hope
Share this conversation with someone who you think will appreciate it. Email or text them a link to today’s episode or post it on social media. If what you heard here today moved you, likely it will also move one of your friends. And as a trusted source, your opinion matters to your friends. 
You can make a difference by making a donation. we suggest Wabanaki Reach, a powerful organization that advocates for the Wabanaki tribes in Maine through education, truth telling restorative justice, and restorative practices
Climate Changed is a podcast about pursuing faith, life, and love in a climate-changed world. Hosted by Nicole Diroff and Ben Yosua-Davis. Climate Changed features guests who deepen the conversation while also stirring the waters. The Climate Changed podcast is a project of The BTS Center. The show is produced by Peterson Toscano.

What Do We Tell the Children? with Craig Santos Perez

In this episode of the Climate Changed podcast, you will experience:
A centering practice as Craig Santos Perez reads his poem, “Thanksgiving in the Anthropocene” from his book of poetry Habitat Threshold. Music: Hymn for the Brave by Miles Avida.
Ben Yosua-Davis and poet Craig Santos Perez have a moving conversation about raising children in a time of climate change. Craig also reads two of his original poems.
Ben and Nicole’s discussion and reflections about the conversation. 
Next Steps for Engaged Hope.
About Craig Santos Perez
Dr. Craig Santos Perez is an indigenous Chamoru from Guam. He is the co-editor of five anthologies and the author of five books of poetry and the academic monograph, Navigating Chamoru Poetry: Indigeneity, Aesthetics, and Decolonization. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the U of San Francisco and a PhD in Ethnic Studies from the U of California, Berkeley. He is a professor in the English department, and affiliate faculty with the Center for Pacific Islands Studies, at the U of Hawai'i at Manoa, where he teaches Pacific literature, creative writing, and eco-poetry. 
Click here for a full transcript of this episode. 
Some Highlights from the Conversation
“Butterball, Butterball, Butterball,” a line from “Thanksgiving in the Anthropocene”
One of the major themes Craig writes about is food, as well as agriculture and food supply systems. “I think food is such a wonderful way for us to think about these larger issues and think about diet and the ethics of eating, the use of plastic and other packaging materials, the routes that the food takes to get to our plate, the animals that are slaughtered, as well as the workers who are often exploited.” The poem offers a searing commentary, but Ben notes, “However, there's also something incredibly playful about the poem in the reading.”
"What am I supposed to do with this damaged future that I'm giving them?" — Ben Yosua-Davis
Ben and Craig pull back the curtains on parenting and reveal their own fears and concerns about possibly sharing too much too soon with their young children. When and how do you tell your children that the more-than-human world they love is at great risk? When do you shelter a child with silence and when do you begin the conversation?
“...it gives them a space for creative expression and for healing.” — Craig Santos Perez
Criag talks about his university students and how writing poetry that takes on ecological disasters helps them come closer to the issues and find a path forward. Craig explains, “I've also noticed how, you know, once students learn about these issues, once they write their own poetry about what is happening, they're much more inclined to actually, you know, go to a beach cleanup, or to march in the climate change rally or to attend other environmental events.”
“Knowing how to grieve teaches us how to love.” — Nicole Diroff 
Nicole Diroff joins Ben to discuss the themes that came up in the conversation. She explains the ways she talks to her eight-year-old, Elliot. “I've made a real commitment to finding the right language, because my child may be five, or six, or eight, or 12, to find the right language to have the conversation, but making sure that that my son knows that I'm the sort of person to talk about these topics with that I'm desiring to learn and live in this world at the same time that he is. It's really important with our children, and I say with our children, but I kind of mean just with other people to allow the space for authentic expression of emotion.”
 
Next Steps for Engaged Hope
Even if we are not poets like Craig, it is always helpful to do creative work around these topics. I imagine there are listeners who will benefit from writing a poem about one of the topics that came up in the podcast. If you write the poem, you can share it with others through social media or face to face with family or friends. You can even send us a copy. 
Craig suggests, “Spend some time those dawn and dusk hours outside with loved ones, with a favorite beverage to really just be in that moment and to connect to the deeper spirit of things.”
For any of you who are interested in playing with painting as compared to poetry, Nicole invites you to go to look at the Earthbound Practices on The BTS Center website.  There you learn about the creativity practices, led by our friend Bronwen Mayer Henry, where she invites you to take out some coloured pencils, or chalk, or pens, and play with a notebook.
To check out more of Craig Santos Perez's work, you can visit his website. You will find links to his books, including Habitat Threshold, which was published in 2020. You can also see videos, read essays, and learn more about his research.
Climate Changed is a brand new podcast about pursuing faith, life, and love in a climate-changed world. Hosted by Nicole Diroff and Ben Yosua-Davis. Climate Changed features guests who deepen the conversation while also stirring the waters. The Climate Changed podcast is a project of The BTS Center. The show is produced by Peterson Toscano