Archives For Nathan Aaberg

A Calling to Honey Creek – Part 1

Nathan Aaberg —  March 16, 2019 — Leave a comment

As people like you work to change how churches act towards God’s earth, weaving mindfulness of God’s earth into the culture of our churches is vital. When we do so, we enable the Spirit to more truly shape our hearts and souls.

For cultural change to happen, we can’t just say a prayer like a magic incantation. Someone needs to actually carry the ball forward. That someone needs to sense that it is their calling, even if it is not their place of expertise. That someone needs to be willing to dive into the details that can be less than sexy.

With that in mind, I want to share the story of Joe Whittaker over several blog posts. Joe played a key role in launching Honey Creek Woodlands, Georgia’s only green burial ground. It is owned and operated by the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, a Roman Catholic contemplative religious community in the Trappist tradition. 

More than one thousand people have been buried at Honey Creek Woodlands since it opened for business in 2008 in Conyers, Georgia. What makes Honey Creek Woodlands distinct from some other green burial grounds is that the land above ground is managed to be as ecologically healthy as possible as well. Conservation efforts there are part of a larger constellation of conservation and cultural activities happening in the 8,000-acre Arabia Mountain Natural Heritage Area.

I interviewed Joe because of my own interest in green burials and was planning just to write a blog about Honey Creek Woodlands. But his story was fascinating, and I was struck by his big heart and humility. I discovered he is Episcopalian, and he has also long loved the outdoors. He seems to have been destined to do what he did at Honey Creek Woodlands. 

I believe Joe was answering God’s call. I believe you and I are hearing the call of God to preserve and renew God’s earth. We can be inspired by Joe’s faith and courage. He helped accomplish accomplish a great deal, despite his nervousness about stepping into the unknown. That’s what building God’s Kingdom looks like. It requires real faith and action.

 I hope you will be inspired and also take away insights about the challenges and rewards of launching a green burial cemetery. Moving to green burials is, I believe, one way for Christians to create a culture that truly lives out a conviction that the earth is God’s.

A Monastery Needs Help 

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit had a challenge at the end of the 20thcentury. How could the Monastery use its 2,260 acres of land to generate needed revenue while still stewarding that land in a way pleasing to God? In the past, there had been some clearcutting for timber. This was not something the fathers considered a good option going forward. The abbott at the time – Francis Michael – was, among many things, a naturalist. He understood that growing monocultures of pine trees on that land was not how you stewarded a healthy ecosystem.

Yet, how could that land be conserved as natural habitat when restoration efforts take money instead of generating revenue?

“Your options are limited,” says Joe. “You can exploit the land or you can sell off the land. Neither one of those were too appealing to the monastery.”

A way out of this conundrum presented itself when Francis Michael and others at the monastery heard of the first conservation-oriented green burial cemetery. Dr. Billy and Kimberley Campbell had launched it in South Carolina. It was a place where people could bury their loved ones simply and humbly. The Campbells used some of the revenue for management of the land as a healthy natural area.

The monastery came to the conclusion if they should look into doing this on their land. They could meet people’s desire for natural burial, steward the land, and support the Monastery as a whole financially.

They began exploring the idea more seriously. The metro Atlanta community showed great support as little wilderness has been spared from development in the past decades. The city and Rockdale County were also very supportive.

They were ready to go but who would actually make it happen?

Joe’s Call

Back in 2005, Joe was working in South Carolina for a company based in Chicago that did consumer research on what people buy in grocery stores. He traveled a lot and worked to understand the connection between food sale trends and what stores were doing with promotions. While he was driving he heard a story on National Public Radio (NPR) about green burial. It so happened that Joe had long been telling his family, in a half joking way, that when he died he just wanted them to put his body out into the swamps.

The green burial story on NPR riveted his attention.

“Holy smokes!” he thought, “This is exactly what I wanted my whole life.”

His excitement was tempered a bit by the assumption that the green cemetery they were talking about must be somewhere out on the West Coast. Then the radio host noted that they were talking with Dr. Billy Campbell. He was operataing the only green burial nature preserve in the country at Ramsey Creek Preserve in Westminster, South Carolina. This was in Joe’s own backyard, just an hour away.

So Joe contacted the Campbells, met them in 2007 and initially just talked through his own burial plans with them. But the relationship deepened. He began helping them as a volunteer.

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit contacted Dr. Billy Campbell about their plans to convert 80 acres of clearcut land to a green burial cemetery. They asked if he knew of anyone who could get their green burial cemetery off the ground, Billy connected them with Joe.

“That’s kind of crazy,” thought Joe when he first heard of the monastery’s interest. “I don’t live in Georgia, and I have a job.” It would also mean commuting back and forth to Georgia and living there for ten days at a time.

He and his wife. however, gave it some more thought. In the end, they decided that he would go to Georgia to help get the cemetery up and running. They realized it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“It’s almost like going to a Rolling Stone concert and saying I really like this band and then writing them an email saying, ”You guys are great.” And then they say, “Well, hey, do you want to come and help us out?”  And the next thing you know you’re playing backup guitar for the Rolling Stones.”

“I don’t think I could have created a more perfect position for myself. I’ve always felt very blessed. I don’t think a lot of people get to do things that they’re passionate about and that they enjoy and that they get a lot of meaning from.”

You’ll read more about how Joe helped to launch Honey Creek Woodlands despite many challenges in the next installment. Be sure to read the chapter “Life is Changed not Ended” in the book Sacred Acts: How Churches Are Working to Protect Earth’s Climate. It provides more details about Honey Creek Woodlands.

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First Blessing in Genesis

Nathan Aaberg —  February 28, 2019 — Leave a comment

Who receives God’s first blessing?

When you read Genesis 1:20-22 you’ll find it isn’t mankind or Adam. It is all of the living creatures of the sea and all of the birds.

How remarkable. How beautiful.

And that’s easy to miss. We tend to focus, in a self-centered way, on God’s blessing to humanity later in the chapter. It’s similarly easy to miss that in Genesis the rainbow is intended as a sign of God’s covenant with humanity and Creation.

Christians have tended to miss a fundamental point. God’s earth matters to God.

But miss it we do. Even when Creation is right there in the front of us in the Bible and all around us.

I had a good conversation recently with a middle-aged Christian. She shared something startling. Until she spent the last summer at the Au Sable Institute, she had not heard of the concept of Creation care.

How can that be?

How could a Christian spend years going to church and in fellowship with other Christians and not be aware of something so fundamental?

If Chrisitans aren’t hearing about it, is it any wonder that Christians are largely not engaged in actively stewarding God’s earth? Worse yet, is it any wonder that Christians accept Creation-harming activities that show neither love for God nor for neighbor?

In the last month or so, a number of new people have signed up to receive this blog by email. I am, of course, deighted. This, along with that conversation I mentioned, is prompting me to feel I need to address some fundamental topics in coming posts.

I will share the reasons why the concept of Creation care is either ignored or just plain hard for Christians.

Another post will explore a positive theme – how striving to be a good shepherd of God’s earth enriches a Christian’s walk in faith.

I will share, too, the story of a person who was called to lead a specific and challenging effort that is culturally changing how Christians interact with Creation. I believe you’ll appreciate how he’s blessed people and Creation even when he didn’t feel equipped to do so. You’ll see he’s been blessed in the process.

Some of what I share will, I hope, be inspiring. Some will likely be challenging. I feel the need to do both.

Please let me know how I can be of service to your own calling in this direction. Let’s learn together what it takes to live a whole Christian faith.

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Together Again – Gathering #2

Nathan Aaberg —  January 21, 2019 — Leave a comment

Attendees of the second Gathering sit and stand together in the home of Lesley and Gilbert Smith

Building on the first gathering that we held in the fall of 2018, a group of us came together again at a second gathering on January 12th.

My friends Lesley and Gilbert Smith generously hosted us at their home in Vernon Hills, Illinois. Despite falling snow and some tricky driving conditions, nine people came. (You can see eight in the photo along with the Smiths’ dog Linden, who is insistent on playing ball.)

I am hopeful that this kind of gathering might be something you might like to try where you live. So below I share some information on the basics of the event as well as some reflections.

We began with a prayer and then a potluck lunch. Over lunch, each person shared how their faith, life, and attentiveness to God’s earth have been woven together over time This brought us together in a significant way right away. I believe it’s not often that we get to speak about deeper things with other people.

We then cleaned up and relaxed a bit before regathering in the living room. We began there with some updates about topics and people from the first gathering, including the formation of the BEHOLD Facebook group by Jon Terry of the Au Sable Institute.

Then Lesley and Gilbert spoke in some depth about their lives, with a particular focus on what they have learned from running a tree care business for nearly four decades. In this business, they have applied their Christian values and their Christian attentiveness to helping connect their customers in thoughtful ways with the beauty and complexity of trees. This was similar to the tour of the Reimers’ family farm we received at the first gathering. The opportunity to be given deep insight into the lives and experiences of people who are interacting with people and Creation everyday is a treat.

I then gave a draft presentation to the group. I titled it “Why Tending and Defending God’s Earth Is an Essential Part of a Christian Faith-Life.” There were 10 reasons. These reasons came from my four years of writing blog posts here and much reading as well. This sparked some lively conversation. The presentation still needs much work, but I am hopeful it will be the start to something I could share more widely. I was grateful for the group’s patience, interest, and candid feedback.

We then moved into a prayer session, with everyone taking a turn. A little more than four hours after we had begun, we closed with the singing of the Doxology.

It was good. It was very good.

We live in a time when more and more of our communication is by social media, It was refreshing to talk at length together in person with people of faith who were all ready to share their challenges and hopes and deep concern for God’s earth. One of the attendees even said, “My wife and I could have hung out for hours with each person there.”

Here are some of thoughts, impressions, and lessons:

Meeting in a Home Adds a Lot: When I organized the first gathering, I actually checked out a number of meeting rooms and facilities before the Riemers generously offered to host. While there is probably a place for larger gatherings being held in larger buildings, there is something down-to-earth and just right to gathering in a home. Of course, it helps to be in a home that is full of art, books, plants of all kinds, and even a beautiful dining room table that one of your hosts handcrafted from a black walnut tree that he and his brother harvested.

Trying Not to Get Caught up in Numbers: It is so hard not to judge success by numbers. We actually had 15 people signed up to come at one point, but a number of folks had to cancel in the last two weeks. A little voice in my head wondered if this was still going to be worth doing with a smaller number. Where was the momentum?

With God’s help, I’m letting that go. I ended up very happy with how it went. In our metric-oriented society, it’s hard to let go, have faith, and focus on the quality and intangibles of an experience, isn’t it? One wise friend suggested, in fact, that too large of a group could actually hinder people from sharing their hearts openly.

Who Knew?: At the very last minute, I invited a friend and her husband, and they were able to come. The funny thing is that the friend and I have been in the same professional orbit for years. It was only very recently, however, that we learned that we and her husband were all people of the Christian faith and like-minded about God’s earth. How many other people are there out there like that in all of our circles?

Allow More Space: A good friend who attended gently pointed out that I have tended to try to squeeze in a lot of content in these first two gatherings. This was, of course, a Midwestern way of saying, “For heaven’s sake, Nathan, don’t organize the life out of these things!” Having some structure is good, of course, but we might benefit from more breathing room and organic conversation flow. I will take that to heart.

What Kind of Words?: During my presentation, conversation flared up around one of my slides that presented a forceful statement that, among other things, explicitly called what is being done to God’s earth as “violence.” There was some concern that I was speaking too boldly and provocatively. Will we, some of the group wondered, turn off Christians who are just beginning to become open to seeing that God’s earth matters? How do we express convictions and urgency without being a zealot? It occurred to me that we must somehow reconcile the fruits of the spirit with Jesus’ readiness to express anger, to speak against wrong, and to create tension. This is no easy task.

In the Shadow of Climate Change: Climate change and the chaos it is bringing were part of our conversation. One provocative thought that was shared was this – only when the scale and urgency of climate change cannot be ignored will a significant number of Christians and others look to change their ways. Christians who are paying attention and are convinced that this world that God so loves matters to God need to be ready together when that happens. But what does being ready mean? What does that look like on the land?

Truly Living by Faith: During our sharing over lunch, a number of the people there shared stories of deep faith. In some cases, it was their own experience of living on the edge between despair and hope and survival. In other cases, it was people and groups of people they had spent life with who truly lived on complete trust in God. I was also struck by the fact that a number of people there have served people in need as professionals and as volunteers and/or are doing so now. Faith and compassion can’t help but be expressed both towards people and towards Creation.

Finally, I cannot describe fully how good it was to be together that Saturday. How much our hearts and minds are inspired and expanded when we share our faith-lives deeply with others who who experience wonder in God’s Creation and who feel compelled to tend it and defend it.

I hope you already know what that kind of togetherness feels like or will in coming months.

I end with a prayer that Lesley Smith shared with me after the event. It is a prayer that she says before she and her husband Gilbert meet with a customer to talk about the customer’s trees.

Blessed are you, YHWH, creator of the universe who made the trees with wisdom and grace, without which we would all perish. Thank you for these gifts of life, healing and beauty. Father, you are the author of the light, and I ask for permission and insight to communicate with this tree for its healing and for the benefit and blessing of all Creation. Lord have mercy. Amen.

 

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Give for the Defense and Renewal of Creation

Nathan Aaberg —  December 30, 2018 — Leave a comment

According to the Nonprofits Source website,thirty percent of annual giving by U.S. residents comes in the month of December. Ten percent  comes in the last three days of the year.

Is that you? Are you still in the process of deciding where to make your charitable gifts for 2018?

And if you are, are you considering gifts to nonprofits that are working to defend and renew Creation?

I want to challenge you to make the defense and renewal of God’s Creation a giving priority in your year-end giving and in your philanthropy planning in 2019.

If you are paying attention, you know God’s earth faces tremendous pressure and destruction. Whether it is poaching, dead zones, dwindling habitat, overfishing, farming practices that erode and poison, or impending climate chaos, action is needed.

We read in Psalms 50:11 that God knows all the birds of the mountains and the wild animals of the field are His. We read in Isaiah 6:3 that the whole earth is full of his glory. From John 3:16, we know that God so loved the world – all of it. We cannot love God and simultaneously allow the destruction of God’s earth.

We also know that the health of the earth has tremendous impact on the fate of people, especially the poor and the marginalized. Poisoned water poisons people and wildlife. Pollution in the air harms people, especially children. Depleted resources rob communities of economic sustenance.

Helping to defend and renew God’s earth is an important way to love God and to love your neighbor.

Changing the way you live and how you relate to God’s earth is an important way to do that.

But it is not enough.

The issues facing God’s earth, even at the local level, are complex. Collective, ongoing efforts are needed to deal with those issues.

This is where thoughtful and committed giving comes in. Supporting nonprofits dedicated to addressing environmental problems and developing solutions is a way to live out your whole Christian faith. Will you make that commitment?

Tips for Giving to Nonprofits

Are you new to philanthropy in this area? The following are some tips I’ve put together, based on 15 years in the environmental nonprofit world and with more than ten of those years in fundraising

Start small: Unless you already know a nonprofit well and know of its effectiveness, I’d suggest starting with a gift of $50 or $100. You can then build that giving over time as you gain confidence in the work and impact of the non-profit.

Expect good communcation: Look for nonprofits that communicate clearly what they are doing on a regular basis and what are the challenges they face. They should express their thanks to you efficiently and fairly promptly. Stop giving to non-profits that only communicates with you to ask for money

Be cautious about direct mail solicitations: A good nonprofit does want to build its base of donors, and direct mail is a way to do that. But a good appeal should be based on clear communication of the group’s work and impact along with the inevitable emotional appeal. When they include cheap gifts or return address stickers, that’s not a good sign. And don’t decide to give just based on a direct mail letter. Check out their website. Talk to people in the field.

Be patient: You should understand that bringing about change for God’s earth is no easy thing. It is often an uphill, David-vs.-Goliath battle. As you begin paying attention to nonprofits and their work, don’t expect quick fixes or that even all of their strategies will work. It is not easy working against whole systems that are built on using up and exploiting God’s Creation.

Follow your particular interests and sensitivities: Feel free to give to the issues and efforts that most resonate with you. I would suggest thinking about supporting a mix of local, regional, national, and international organizations over time.

Look for mission-focused organizations: You will want to support non-profits that in every way are focused on tackling a pressing issue or set of issues. A good nonprofit is a vehicle for you to make an impact on that issue. A nonprofit that gives too much attention to itself as an institution and takes exclusive credit for efforts that were actually partnerships has revealed that it is too self-centered.

Prioritize your giving: Over time, if you find a non-profit that is doing really good things in a strategic, effective way in regard to an issue you care about, give more to that non-profit and perhaps see if there are other ways to get involved. Don’t be surprised if they reach out to you in more personal ways as you give more. Good ones will do that. Manage that communication in a way that feels right to you. That personal contact offers the potential to learn much more about the issue and the group’s efforts.

Please feel free to contact me with questions and ideas related to your giving plans.

I hope and pray 2019 is full of many blessings for your and your family!

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The Next Gathering – Saturday, January 12

Nathan Aaberg —  December 15, 2018 — Leave a comment

You are warmly invited to the second gathering!

Earlier this year, we held the first gathering at the Riemer Family Farm in Brodhead, Wisconsin. This event brought together Christians like you who believe that tending and defending God’s Creation are an essential part of the Christian life. Coming together made a big difference. It lifted our hearts and redoubled our energy. It can do that for you, too.

Have you felt isolated because you hold the conviction that loving God and your neighbor while accepting violence against God’s earth is illogical and contradictory? Does your awareness of the worldwide wounding of Creation make you feel overwhelmed?  Have you wanted to share your excitement about the incredible complexity and beauty of God’s earth and not had other Christians in your life who would understand?

Then this gathering is for you. Here are the details:

Date: Saturday, January 12th

Location: Vernon Hills, Illinois

Time: 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Lunch: Potluck

These gatherings are still a work in progress as we figure out how to best use this time together. But our intent with each of these events is to:  (1) open our hearts more fully to God; (2) reinforce our individual commitment to tending, defending, and renewing God’s earth; (3) learn from each other and encourage each other; and (4) explore what ongoing connections and common action we can do together. You will hear the ways other Christians are living and working to renew God’s earth. You will be able to to share your convictions, your struggles, and your successes with a warm, supportive group.

If you would like to join us, please let me know at naaberg19@gmail.com.

We will cap attendance at 25 so the gathering can be as effective and intimate as possible. I’d be happy to answer any questions you have, too, and will share more details about the event.

And if you’re too far away to come to this event, I’d also be happy to talk to with you sometime to share how we’ve been organizing these gatherings and what we’re learning along the way. Just reach out to me by email as well.

Why not organize your own gathering where you are?

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