Archives For Christians to Know

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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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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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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Isolated No More – The First Gathering

Nathan Aaberg —  October 14, 2018 — 2 Comments

Group of people from the gathering walk down Riemer Road

I’ve known for some time that I needed to take a step beyond this blog. Intentions became actions when I organized a gathering of fellow Christians who care deeply about God’s earth on a Sunday late in September. I thought you’d like to read about it.

Thanks to the hospitality of Jen and Bryce Riemer, we gathered at the Riemer Family Farm in Brodhead, Wisconsin. Our potluck featured delicious food: fresh salads, Indian lentils, meatballs made from the pasture-raised animals of the Riemers’ farm, Asian pears, zucchini bread, and chocolate chocolate chip cookies made by the Riemers’ daughters.

While we ate and for awhile after, we shared our faith journeys and how our lives have been shaped by the conviction that God’s earth is of great value and importance. All of us were hungry to do this. All of us also shared the rewards and challenges of living out this conviction.

The attendees included a couple who have been running an ecologically-minded tree care company for decades, the director of community relations from the Au Sable Institute, an artist who is also the volunteer steward of two natural areas in Lake County, a land manager for a forest preserve district, a non-profit staff member working to promote sustainable farming (me), an occupational therapist who also gardens organically and teaches tai chi, and an organic grain farmer.

Later, I shared ideas I have on what collective action we could take going forward. In the discussion that followed, there was general consensus that we need to start with gathering together as a network. Through this network we can find ways to inspire each other, support each other, and even take action together. We closed this portion of the event with heartfelt prayer.

Jen and Bryce then led us on a tour of their farm fields where land long farmed in corn and beans is being converted to perennial pasture for rotational grazing of livestock. Rotational grazing on well-managed pasture has a multitude of benefits. It is good for the land and water, for habitat, for the health of the animals, and for the quality of the meat.

About 400 yards away, we could see a massive dairy factory farm’s new metal structures and barren earth. As this industrial farm facility gears up to full operating capacity, it will eventually house 6,000 cows. These living creatures of God will be kept inside 24/7 365 days a week to maximize efficiency and productivity. The contrast with the Riemer’s farm could not have been more stark.

For three years, the Riemers had led the local fight against the startup of this dairy Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) to try to prevent the damage to community and environment that they bring. This fight was ultimately unsuccessful. Its operations, which are not even at full scale yet, have already forced a neighboring family to move because their their children couldn’t breathe.

Yet, the Riemers have shown amazing grace and are seeing other opportunities to grow sustainable, humane, God-honoring farming out of the situation.

A highlight of our touring was when we passed the trees on the edges of the Riemers’ fields. Clouds of monarch butterflies flew up from the branches of the trees and all around us. The trees offered shelter for the monarchs as they rested together during their long southward migration. This was a fitting benediction to the day.

Thoughts and Insights

Several thoughts and realizations emerged from the gathering and from our conversations:

* The vast majority of people (and not just Christians) are profoundly disconnected from Creation and how it works.

* A feeling of isolation is common for Christians like us. The Au Sable director shared how many of the friends of Au Sable that he had been visiting have started crying when asked why they supported the Institute. They cried because Au Sable is one of the few outlets they have for being part of a Christian community that values Creation.

• We have felt the judgment of other Christians. Stories were told of other Christians suspiciously assuming that if one cared about God’s earth and acted to protect it then one was almost certainly on the road to becoming an earth worshipper and abortion rights supporter.

* Why is it that secular scientists and advocates are the ones mobilizing people to address the destruction being done to God’s earth on an epic scale and not churches and Christians?

* Sharing the message that God’s earth matters to God should be done with patient grace. Zealous judgmentalism will not help.

* Despite the many challenges, we were also reminded of the power of God to change hearts and transform lives. We heard of a Christian farmer who is now in the process of transitioning his 2,200-acre operation to organic methods. He chose to do this, in part, because of his children’s interest and desire to see Creation treated well.

*Our time of fellowship was deeply meaningful. One participant said, “I don’t want to leave and never see you all again.”

Another gathering is in the works. If you are in the Midwest and would like to be invited to the next one, please email me at naaberg19 at gmail.com. If you’re not in the Midwest, know that we hope to share what we learn from these gatherings. We would hope, too, that other groups of Christians will organize similarly elsewhere.

I don’t know where this is going exactly. But, with God’s help, it will keep going.

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Rescuing God’s Land – Jeff and Lori Sundberg

Nathan Aaberg —  September 29, 2018 — 2 Comments

In a recent post I wrote that whole faith Christians will work to bring more life to the corners of God’s earth they hold, keep, and use. And they will do so even when the culture of land use around them creates pressure to do otherwise.

Whether that corner is an urban yard, a suburban lot, a rural property, or a farm, there are creative ways to bring more life to the parcels of land under our care. Figuring out those ways is one of the pleasures and challenges of being human. Over time I want to share profiles of what Christian land stewardship looks like in real life.

In August, I shared the story of David and Dianda Easter. In this post, you will read about Jeff and Lori Sundberg.

As their daughters went off to college and life after college, Jeff and Lori Sundberg had been thinking about where they wanted to move to for their next phase of life. They lived in a neighborhood in the prosperous town of Libertyville, Illinois. They were long time members of First Presbyterian Church of Libertyville. They had good jobs at nearby Lake Forest College. Yet, they knew that in their approaching retirement they wanted to be in a more rural place.

When Lori had lunch with the husband of her boss who had recently passed away, she didn’t know she would receive insight that would impact their decision on exactly where to move. The husband shared that he and his wife had also had conversations about where to retire to and had talked about different places here and there.

But then they had come to an important realization. “Why,” they had asked each other, “would we want to move away from our community when we’re approaching the time of our lives when we really need our community?”

This resonated with Jeff and Lori. So when they became aware of a 10-acre property on the northern edge of Libertyville in an area where public and private people and organizations had largely preserved its rural landscape character, they were intrigued. Five of the ten acres were in agriculture. The other five included a house that needed to be demolished, a large shed, a small wetland overgrown with nonnative plants, and a small woods also overwhelmed with invasive non-native plants. It was not a posh, pristine place, but they saw potential. They especially liked all of the open space around the property. In September 2015, they purchased it.

This is where a bit of backstory on Jeff is helpful. In addition to being a professor of liberal arts, business, and economics, he is an avid birder who has seen and identified 625 bird species to this point in his life. His ability to share a wealth of bird knowledge in entertaining, vivid, and funny ways makes him in constant demand for talks and for leading bird tours. He has served on the board of local and regional conservation organizations as well and volunteers for workdays restoring natural areas. He saw the land through an ecological lens.

“Some people like to rescue dogs,” says Jeff, “and I felt like this land needed rescuing.”

He explains further. “The land needed rescuing from us. The property was full of stuff that had been planted here on purpose that doesn’t serve any ecological purpose. It was also full of plants that had just come in here because they’re invasive and don’t serve any ecological purpose. An example is the Siberian elm. They are one of the least useful wildlife trees in North America. There’s almost nothing that eats them. They’re all over the place, and they spread like crazy.”

Jeff and Lori began rescuing the land by removing as many of the non-native trees, shrubs, and other plants as they could. This was hard work.

Lori is honest about her level of initial interest in tackling the ecological problems of their new property.

“Before we started the removal of the invasive plants, I didn’t think anything about rescuing the land. And I really didn’t see myself restoring property in my retirement plan.”

“But then when we started in on it and Jeff was showing me the Oriental bittersweet and other invasive plants, I got really into it. At one point Jeff gave me a whole patch of brush back there and a weed wrench and said, “Take out everything.” It was fun.”

“She had never used a weed wrench before,” says Jeff proudly, “but she was an unstoppable force.”

As they removed invasive non-native plants, they also began planting a wide variety of native plants indigenous to the area. They’ve planted over 140 trees and shrubs. The tree species have included six different kinds of oaks as well as two hickory species. The shrub species have included viburnums, ninebark, American bittersweet, hazelnut, and witch hazel. They’ve also seeded prairie plants in the open areas, woodland plants amongst the wooded areas, and wetland plants in and around the wetland.

Photo of wooded wetland pond in spring.

When Jeff and Lori first purchased their property, this wetland was not visible due to the massive wall of invasive brush that had grown up over time. Since they opened up the area, turtles have returned and frogs have become abundant.

“We’re just trying to undo some of what humans have done or allowed to do to the property,” says Jeff.

There have been signs they are on the right path. “In the woodland, all the native grasses came up right away after the seeding,” says Jeff. “And all of a sudden last year, all these tall bellflowers, were blooming everywhere one day, and it was just spectacular.”

God’s wildlife have responded, too. Turtles have been seen around the pond, after not having been seen at all the first two years. Frog and toad numbers are way up. “We have lots and lots of leopards frogs and chorus frogs and American toads and green frogs,” says Jeff. And Jeff and Lori are seeing tons of birds. While I was there, for example, Jeff pointed out a ruby-throated hummingbird foraging for food.

Jeff has noticed that the birds are mostly seen nesting and foraging in the native trees.

Small oak leaves bursting from bud.

The bud of one of the many oak trees the Sundbergs have planted opens to the glorious green of young oak leaves. Oak trees support an amazing variety of wildlife.

“I think taking care of the earth is part of what Christian stewardship is,” says Jeff. “I don’t in any way think I can make this better than what it used to be, but I’d like to make it closer to what it used to be. I don’t think the earth is here just to give us oil and coal and big muddy pits in the ground.”

“I certainly think there is a Christian element to what we’re doing. Plus it’s fun. When I was out here slaying Oriental bittersweet, it really felt like Onward Christian Soldiers.”

Lori finds that the way their home fits in most with her Christian life is being able to share the inspiring, peaceful setting with her church community. “We’ve had plans to have a silent Saturday out here in the morning,” she says. “I think it would be a good spot for that. There are plenty of places people can spread out, sit, and enjoy nature while doing their meditation or their prayer. We’ve also had deacons’ meetings here.”

“It does feel like a place that has a role to play in other people’s lives and not just ours,” adds Jeff.

They have several pieces of advice for other people who want to restore the beauty and ecological abundance of God’s earth.

1. Volunteer for ecological restoration work days: Volunteering with people who know what they’re doing is a really good way to learn. It can be hard to just take a book and just figure it all out.

2. Not everything will work: “You need to realize that everybody fails in so many ways,” says Jeff, “but especially in what they plant. It would be entertaining, in a dispiriting way, to know how many things I planted that didn’t live a week. That’s just part of the learning process.” Having someone to encourage you and give advice is really important.

3. Keep a record of what you plant and where: Jeff has a spreadsheet of every plant and seed mix they’ve put into the ground. This allows him to track the success and failure of what has been done over time and to make adjustments going forward. Keeping that record will also allow you to feel some satisfaction in what you’ve done over time.

Jeff and Lori sitting outside of their home.

Jeff and Lori live about a mile away from me. It has been wonderful to see the transformation of Jeff and Lori’s property over time. What a world and what a Church we might have if more Christians around the world were committed to rescuing and renewing God’s earth.

 

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