The EcoTheo Review | Fall 2015 by The EcoTheo Review

ECOTHEO REVIEW

Fall 2015

ECOTHEO REVIEW | Fall 2015

Cover image: Matt Bahen, The Lyric Order of Savage Tongues, oil on canvas, 60"x60"

This quarterly is a project of The EcoTheo Review where we put faith and ecology in conversation through writing, arts, and education. The EcoTheo Review, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. All contributions are tax deductible. EIN: 46-3585222 To make your tax-deductible donation, please visit ecotheo.org/donate/ Say, "Hello!" at hello@ecotheo.org. We'd love to hear your questions or comments. For more information on submitting your own work for consideration, please visit ecotheo.org/submit/

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ECOTHEO REVIEW | Fall 2015

Fall 2015

ECOTHEOREVIEW Writing | Arts | Education

ED I TOR-I N -CH I EF William Wellman M AN AGI N G ED I TOR Nick Babladelis W RI TI N G ED I TOR Kiara Jorgenson POETRY ED I TOR Jason Myers VI SU AL ARTS ED I TOR Taylor Thomas ASSOCI ATE VI SU AL ARTS ED I TOR Caitlin Gilliam COPY ED I TOR Carol McCammon

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FROM THEEDITORS William Wellman & Nick Babladelis

little over two years ago a group of friends? and, at the time, seminarians? set out to create a digital space for thoughtful discussions around faith and ecology. At the time we had various, mostly contrasting, ideas of what that would actually look like. However, we were always in agreement upon two goals which have since come to be our lodestar.

tention that by working together, better, more meaningful work is accomplished. Ecotheo.org is the cornerstone of this digital dialogue, and the beginning of a conversation that will, hopefully, lead to combined and sustained efforts as diverse as the local communities that embody them.

Second, we set out to publish works that create lasting affection toward the natural world. The daily barrage of facts, figures, and data surrounding the escalating degradation of earth and its many habitats has done little in creating individuals and communities of care. When faced with statistics alone, it is hard to develop any sense of sympathy or responsibility. As Wendell Berry said in his Jefferson Lecture, entitled ?I t All Turns on Affection,??We don't learn much from big numbers. We don't under-

The first was to connect faith and ecological communities in conversation. This came from a recognition that both Christians and ecologists were engaging in parallel, but insular, dialogues. This lack of communication has likewise resulted in a fair share of misconceptions about the other side. We at the EcoTheo Review believe that religion and ecology are in no way mutually exclusive and it is our con-

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stand them very well, and we are not much affected by them.? So we have made art and story our centerpieces, that they might inspire imaginations and cultivate affection toward the natural world. For true, lasting change will come from those who are invested in their communities, both human and ecological. As Berry has said elsewhere, ?We have the world to live in on the condition that we will take good care of it. And to take good care of it, we have to know it. And to know it and to be willing to take care of it, we have to love it.?

ecology. I nside this issue we have writing from Reverend M. Dele and Nancy Sleeth, visual art from Matt Bahen and David Buckley Borden, poetry from Whit Griffin and E. Ethelbert Miller, and photography from James Murray Rodger and Carlton Ward. Additionally, Joe Webb and Zeb Weese have contributed pieces for the reoccurring From the Fold and From the Field. We can?t thank these contributors enough and are so excited to finally share their thoughtful, beautiful work. And for those curious, we will continue to publish pieces (outside of the issues) on the website as well!

As you may have noticed, this is our inaugural quarterly issue! Adding this quarterly review to the work of ecotheo.org allows for a more curated, conceptual approach. The quarterly issues of the review will share the most beautiful and engaging stories, art, poetry, and photography around faith and

Ultimately, our hope is that this issue and the pieces within lead from affection to action. With that we leave you with a favorite quote of ours at The EcoTheo Review:

?If you want to build a ship, don?t drum up people to collect wood and don?t assign them tasksand work, but rather teach them to longfor the endlessimmensity of the sea.? - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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VISUAL ARTS

8 15 34 46

Hibernaculum David Buckley Borden Connecting the Wild Heart of Florida

WRITING

Carlton Ward Jr.

Two Questions Every Christian Should Ask

Loss and Renewal Matt Bahen Garden Honey James Murray Rodger

25 30 50

Onions Will Make You Cry

Redeeming the Soul Requires Redeeming the Soil Reverend M. Dele FROM THE FOLD

The Stranger Across the Water (An Angler?s Devotional) Joe Webb

POETRY When Mingus Comes

Nancy Sleeth

FROM THE FI ELD

The Good Seed Zeb Weese

E. Ethelbert Miller

29 42

Are You Listening? E. Ethelbert Miller From The Universal Lyre Whit Griffin

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Hibernaculum, select works (left to right): SSRazzle Dazzle Transport Canoe, Hibernaculum Target No. 2, and Nurse Stump

HIBERNACULUM David Buckley Borden

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Select works continued (left to right): SSDazzle Scout Kayak, Snack Stand, and Woodland Wall

orden?s Hibernaculum exhibition was ?I ?m a Cambridge?based artist and designer. recently brought to Boston community My work is focused at the intersection of members as a crossroads of explolandscape, art, and cultural event and inration: melding art with design, nature with cludes a variety of work ranging from landarchitecture, and viewership with education. scape installations to pen and ink drawings The immersive installation spanned five to print making. I ?m particularly interested gallery spaces within the city?s I nnovation in landscape architecture, ecology, and the and Design Building past, present and future I think the most concerning and presented the relachallenges to the lands tionship between art, of North America. environmental issue isnot an design, and nature as one that could be expe- issue of ecology but instead, isan Sometimes I describe rienced up?close. While my work as art, someissue of culture. times as design. Somehe and collaborators utilized this summer show to communicate times, I describe it as a giant ambitious environmental issues by means of accessible communication project. I also describe it as educational. I agree with Paulo Freire, the art objects and text, Borden has only just begun the process of shedding light on his late Brazilian educator and philosopher, that education is the most transformative, ideas:

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value?producing system in society. An informed public with a shared ecological awareness will be in a better position to support ecology?sensitive lifestyles. Ultimately, an informed public is in a position to become their own empowered advocates and are more likely to assume a proactive role as stewards of their environment. I t is said that landscape ecology plays out on a regional scale but occurs locally. The same could be said of the adoption of environmentally sensitive lifestyles. Success may be measured in terms of mainstream adoption, but it occurs one individual at a time. I n practice, both our collective and individual values shape our built environment. Ecological awareness is a powerful mechanism for environmental change. To that end, I believe that both art and design are powerful tools to foster cultural cohe-

Split LogTarget, six-color silkscreen, 19?x19? print?edition of 15

sion around ecological issues. Based on my own experience and experiments, the lesson is clear: to make an impression, artwork must be accessible, informative and engaging. Making eco?based work that is remarkable and relevant to popular culture in one way or another is critical. There are many ways to do so, but my most successful efforts, including the Hibernaculum, typically employ a combination of humor and beauty with undercurrents of pop culture sensibility. I think the most concerning environmental issue is not an issue of ecology but instead an issue of culture... Without strong cultural cohesion around ecological issues, the environment will continue to be degraded. I n service of education and ultimately the adoption of sound ecological practice, we must make environmental issues culturally relevant and accessible to the general population. That?s what I ?m trying to do by way of art and design.?

Victory Seed Bombs, five-color silkscreen, 24?x18? print?edition of 15

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Left: SSRazzle Dazzle Transport Canoe, painted aluminum canoe, 15?x3?6?x1?3?Right: Hibernaculum Target No. 2, painted woodpile, approx. 16?x6?x2?

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Snack Stand, silkscreen wood facades on insect-sculpted log segment, 24?x24?x18?

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NOTESONHIBERNACULUM highlight this seasonal hibernaculum opportunity for snakes, ladybirds, and lacewings and solitary bees, all of which can use this structure to lay eggs or seek winter shelter.

Victory Seed Bombs highlights the pine cone: nature?s reproductive bomb, designed by nature for ecological supremacy. Still, even nature produces the occasional ecological dud; not all bombs make their target or explode to life. Those that do, give life to both the natural environment and mankind.

Snack Stand represents the re- zoning of abandoned Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) excavations as snack stands. Stuff sweet fruit in old nest and existing feeding sites along tree trunk. Wait for creepy crawlies to arrive and then let the snack-shacking begin.

Split Log Target was inspired by on-site design research during Borden?s Trifecta Artist Residency and is a representation of the Hibernaculum Experience. SS Razzle Dazzle Transport Canoe is one of two Razzle Dazzle ships for expedition tours of Eagle Lake. Canoe is painted in contrasting striped geometry to provide visual ?cover? during nocturnal glow- in- the- dark lake tours.

One-Page Landscape Proposal for Snack Stand is one example of fourteen landscape installation proposals that created the foundation of Hibernaculum. Proposals are intended to meet at the intersection of popular culture, pressing ecological issues, and everyday environmental phenomena. Accessibility to the general public is central to proposals as a means to promote greater landscape appreciation and ecological awareness.

Hibernaculum Target No. 2 was created to focus attention on an otherwise unremarkable woodland sight: a stack of firewood. The woodpile is brightly painted to

Photographs by Trifecta Editions

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Bobcat, Red Hill, photographed by trail camera in Archbold Geological Station's Red Hill, Venus, FL

CONNECTINGTHEWILD HEART OFFLORIDA

How would you define Conservation Photography?

Carlton Ward Jr.

EcoTheo took the chance to ask Ward some questionson hisphotography and itsconnection to conservation, the motivationsbehind hiswork, and the role of the artsin ecology. Hiswords managed to touch on universal topicsthrough the lensof hisown unique works.

n its simplest form, Conservation Photography is photography that inspires conservation. The audience can vary from the broad voting public to a small group of decision makers. Successful Conservation Photography is not done in isolation, but almost always in close collaboration with researcher and conservation organizations. Creating the photographs is only part of the work. High?quality imagery is essential, but the deployment of that imagery

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is just as important for its influence.

context of a research and conservation expedition. That experience really solidified my personal philosophy of using photography as a voice for science and conservation. My extended trips to Africa were also timed with a period of intensive development in Florida.

Differing from Nature Photography, Conservation Photography not only shows the beauty of nature, it is infused with purpose to educate and inspire people about the context of the subject and why it is important. Conservation Photography selects subjects that need attention, and then works to put that imagery in front of the right people for it to make a difference.

I t seemed like every time I went away and came back home there was a new housing project on what used to be a cattle ranch in Central Florida.

Why isit important that the artsare included in ecological and conservation efforts?

From my perspective, you could really see the land disappearing. Many people living along the coasts did not have a sense of what was being lost. That's what motivated me to retrain my focus on Florida; I turned immediately to the little known story of the Florida cattle ranch and after four years published my second book, Florida Cowboys: Keepers of the Last Frontier.

Art informed by ecology can carry ecological messages a lot further than science alone. I see a large and widening disconnect between increasingly urban populations and the ecological realities of nature on which every person depends, as those realities can easily be out of sight and out of mind. Art has the power to reconnect people with nature and inspire people to explore our relationships with nature, and that empathy is an essential ingredient to caring and acting to save the planet.

Through that process I discovered so much about wild Florida I didn?t know, even as an eighth?generation Floridian with a graduate degree in ecology who considered myself fairly well connected to our land and heritage.

You started your career in photography with a seriesof tripsto Gabon/Congo Rainforestsand the book Edge of Africa. What drew you back to Florida'slandscapes?

What are the purposes and goals of the Florida Wildlife Corridor? Through meeting Joe Guthrie and learning about the bear research that he and colleagues were doing on ranches in Central Florida, I became aware that there was still an intact wildlife corridor throughout much of the Florida peninsula. More importantly, I realized that many of the landscape link-

While in Gabon, I was working with biologists from Smithsonian and learning a lot about the value of photography within the

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ages, which historically kept Florida?s bear essentially absent from public conversation (and other wildlife) populations connected, about the future of Florida. were at great risk of being severed by development and road building projects. Such What we decided to name "Florida Wildlife projects were not adequately considering the Corridor" was already known in scientific impacts they would have on circles at the Florida EcologiFlorida?s green infrastructure. A statewide wildlife cal Greenways Network. I t is an interconnected network of corridor still exists and There was plenty of public public and private needs our attention. conversation about translands? both conservation portation corridors, developlands and working agriculment corridors, hurricane evacuation corritural lands? that together provide contigudors and technology corridors. However, ous habitat for wildlife. Florida Wildlife there was little to no mention of water or Corridor is a statewide vision to ?Keep wildlife corridors. Florida Wild? by showing the people of Florida and the world that a statewide wildlife corridor still exists and needs our We created the Florida Wildlife Corridor attention to stay connected and survive into campaign to give public voice to scientifically documented green corridors that were the future. Cormorant, photographed on Rainbow River, Dunnellon, FL

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suburban runoff cause algae booms in Tampa Bay or the Gulf of Mexico, and we eat food and use wood and paper products without having a clear sense of where the food and trees are grown (which is often on a farm or ranch within the Florida Wildlife Corridor). So, our culture is very much connected to our ecology; just the perception of the connection between culture and ecology is too often missing.

Where isthe overlap between culture and ecology?How have you tried to capture that? Ultimately, culture and ecology are intertwined to their very roots. However, as people have moved closer to cities and away from homelands where they were living closer to nature, and as technology has provided endless opportunities for entertainment and recreation without people ever needing to go outside, we have lost touch with our local and global ecologies. I n Tampa, for example, we all consume freshwater that comes from the Green Swamp just a few miles to our north without seeing the wetlands go dry. We fertilize our lawns during the rainy season without seeing the

This perceived distance from nature in urban Florida is one of the reasons I am so drawn to the stories of rural Floridians, like cattle ranchers from the Everglades headwaters or oystermen from Apalachicola Bay, because for those people, culture and ecology are intimately connected every day. By celebrating people who are visibly shaped by

Bay Shrimper, photographed on St. Vincent Sound, Apalachicola, FL

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the lands and waters where they live and work, and who are often the stewards of those lands and waters, I hope to expand the identities of our cultures to include the broader ecologies to which we are all connected.

conservation measures that will keep the Corridor connected for the future of water, wildlife, and people in Florida. I am thankful for the privilege of experiencing so much of the Corridor first hand and I hope I can spend the rest of my career celebrating the amazing people, places, and wildlife that are so often hiding in plain sight of our populations; and that my work can contribute to helping inspire appreciation and protection of the nature and culture of Florida on which we all depend.

What are your hopes with your work in the near future? I hope the Florida Wildlife Corridor will become as real in everyone?s minds as it is in mine, and that together we can invest in the

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Eglin Ancient Pines, photographed on Eglin Air Force Base, Okaloosa County, FL

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NOTESCONNECTINGTHEWILDHEARTOFFLORIDA Page 16: Kissimmee Prairie Sunrise, Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, Okeechobee County, FL Pages 18-19: Aucilla River Rapids, photographed along Florida National Scenic Trail, near Aucilla Wildlife Management Area, Monticello, FL

Kissimmee Prairie Sunrise: Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park protects the largest expanse of native dry prairie in Florida and the highly endangered Florida grasshopper sparrow and numerous other species of wildlife. Several nearby cattle ranches, important to the Florida Wildlife Corridor, are candidates for inclusion in the new Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area.

Cormorant: A double- crested cormorant spreads its wings from the perch of a submerged sabal palm in the Rainbow River which flows 5.7 miles from its headspring in Rainbow River State Park to a confluence with the Withlacoochee River along Florida?s Gulf coast. Because cormorants log a lot of dive time while hunting for fish beneath the surface, they are often seen standing in the sun drying their feathers.

Bobcat, Red Hill: The Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition team crossed the Smoak Ranch en route from Fisheating Creek to Archbold Biological Station, where this bobcat, triggering a remote trail camera, stalks through the ancient scrub of Red Hill. Archbold is a world class research, education and conservation facility where the Florida Wildlife Corridor campaign was initiated in December 2009.

Bay Shrimper: A shrimp boat drags its nets toward the rising sun in St. Vincent Sound near where Apalachicola Bay meets the Gulf of Mexico. The local economies of many coastal communities rely on the productivity of Gulf fisheries which in turn rely on healthy estuaries. Perhaps the best way to sustain healthy estuaries is to protect corridors of natural habitat along rivers and throughout watersheds.

Aucilla River Rapids: The Aucilla River flows from Georgia along the east side of the Red Hills between Thomasville and Tallahassee. Closer to the Gulf of Mexico, along the Florida National Scenic Trail in Aucilla Wildlife Management Area, limestone bedrock rises close to the forest floor, providing substrate for these rapids. Sinkholes and caverns eroded by the tannic water envelop the river completely underground; it disappears and reappears several times on its way to the coast. Photographed on day 28 of the Glades to Gulf Expedition.

Eglin Ancient Pines: Eglin Air Force Base protects the oldest longleaf pine trees remaining in Florida and is the heart of the longest corridor of longleaf pine habitat left on the planet. Flying above the region at dawn, I had a goal of communicating the mystery and expanse of this under- appreciated habitat that is the fabric of the Florida Wildlife Corridor in north Florida. Mature longleaf pines develop a charismatic flat- top canopy. After 150-or-so years, they start putting more energy into growing out than up. There are trees on Eglin that are 500-years-old, pre-dating when Columbus arrived in the New World.

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TWOQUESTIONS EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD ASK Nancy Sleeth

t began with two simple questions.

We cared about the future. So I followed with a second, more difficult question: ?I f the planet is dying, what are we going to do about it??

A decade ago, my husband was a wellrespected physician at the top of his career. He loved taking care of patients, and I loved caring for our two children, Clark and My husband Emma. But something was missing. We had all the nice If the planet isdying, things that were supposed to what are we goingto do make us happy, yet we still felt empty inside. about it? Then, while on a family vacation, just after putting our kids to bed, I asked two questions that would change our lives forever. ?What do you think is the biggest problem facing the world today?? Matthew offered a reply that I was not expecting: ?The world is dying.?

did not have a ready answer. But a couple of months later, he finally did get back to me? with an answer I wasn?t prepared to hear: ?I ?ll quit my job,? he said, ?and we?ll spend the rest of our lives serving God and helping to save the planet.? My reply: ?Are you sure we need to do that much?? The thought terrified me. I had always thought of myself as a good environmentalist. I understood why recycling, picking up litter, and shopping local was important.

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But giving up a career that my husband loved, as well as the steady income and security that came along with it, to ?save the planet??

One of the very first things we did was to take a measure of our ecological footprint. We had always thought of ourselves as environmentally aware? using cloth diapers, packing healthful lunches in reusable containers, hiking and camping with our kids. But when we actually calculated our total use of resources, we found ourselves exactly average for Americans: and using six times more energy than our neighbors around the world!

My stomach turned inside out just thinking about what we might lose? our home, our neighborhood, our health insurance. The selfish part of me began to whine: What about the ten years of school and residency we had gone through?

So we took Jesus?advice about removing the log from our own eye first and began cleaning up our Then there were the practiWe turned from restless household before worrying cal concerns: The kids were approaching their teen human doing, and that about cleaning up the rest of the world. Over the next years. College was just turningmade usmore couple of years, we downaround the corner. How human. sized our lifestyle, getting would we possibly save rid of half of our possesenough money to pay for sions? making donations by the truckload, their education if our income dropped suddenly to zero? How, for that matter, would finding new homes for sentimental family ?heirlooms,? and giving away most of our we put food on the table? books (ouch!) to libraries destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. What followed was a tense time, full of anxiWouldn?t he be wasting all that training?

ety and conflicting desires. Walking in faith may sound good? when it happens to other people and everything turns out okay in the end? but I was terrified to take even the first step.

Like any weight loss program, not gaining it all back? and then some? is the real test of success. So we took our names off catalog mailing lists. We avoided malls and big box stores. And, most importantly, we began keeping a weekly Stop Day, a Sabbath.

People ask us if we had any arguments. Of course we did! I ?d be lying if I said that there were no raised voices or sleepless nights. But gradually I came, if not to peace, at least to acceptance of the new direction our life would take. The transition? as much emotional and spiritual as physical? took a couple of years.

Sabbath does not just happen: you have to prepare for it. On Saturdays, the kids helped us clean the house and got their homework done. On Sundays we walked to church, then spent time reading, napping, praying, and playing outdoors in God?s creation. We unplugged, played Scrabble, and talked.

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Perhaps more than any other change, this biblical, 24/ 6 rhythm of life reduced our impact on the planet by helping us become content. We turned from restless human doing, and that turning made us more human.

Emma works for our nonprofit, Blessed Earth, and helps her husband? a sustainable agriculture grad? grow food for fifty families through their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Last weekend, she canned fifty quarts of produce while her husband harvested another six hundred and fifty pounds of tomatoes for marinara sauce. Emma, a far more patient baker than her teacher (me), makes a perfect loaf of communion bread for church each week with a cross baked into the crust.

Eventually, we sold the big house and moved to a home the size of our old garage. We planted two- thirds of an acre of wildflowers instead of grass. We hung a clothesline and ditched the dryer. Our garden doubled, then tripled in size; we canned vegetables and grew enough potatoes and onions for the winter. We collected rainwater off the roof and installed dual flush toilets. Our energy use dropped by more than two- thirds and our trash production by nine- tenths. Along the way, our family?s faith life and way of life became one.

Matthew and I now live downtown in an eighteen- foot- wide townhouse? which means less upkeep and even greater freedom to answer God?s call. Through our nonprofit, we teach and write about simplicity, sustainability, and Sabbath. Our children, office, grocery store, haircutter, library and pretty much everything else are within easy walking distance of us. We still get together for family Friday night dinners, (literally) opening our table for friends, old and new.

I t?s been interesting to see how our nowgrown children have embraced creation care, in many ways even more deeply than us. Clark married his Asbury College sweetheart; because they are both completing training to serve in the medical missions field, he and Valerie live very simply? no TV or whiz- bang gadgets, electricity usage even less than ours, miles driven per year about one- third the national average. With their eyes on God, they have intentionally steered clear of the typical physician?s lifestyle. I have never met anyone who loves trees more than Clark.

Years ago, two questions? prompted by God? launched our family on this journey. Today, when making any choice, purchase, or decision, we ask ourselves two new questions: Does this bring me closer to God? And, does this help me love my neighbor? The answers always lead us down the right path.

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WHEN MINGUS COMES ONIONS WILL MAKEYOU CRY E. Ethelbert Miller

A man came looking for you (today) with a box of love. I only had yesterday's address and was too busy listening to Dolphy making bird sounds on his horn. After tree sitting I came down and fixed some Mexican food. I remembered the spice of you. There are onions here that will make you cry. A green pepper has her hand in the center of my back. Too many apples slice themselves with the hunger of forgiveness. Sex is a flame that burns. Let me be the faucet your hands turn to. I s that Mingus standing outside near a car? A bear mountain of a man growling with lemons and oranges.

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AREYOU LISTENING? E. Ethelbert Miller

I f I was tree green instead of black they would come and cut my branches, destroy my roots, transport my life and turn me into paper pulp. Everything would be lost to history like disappearing forests and burning woods. Yes, they would cut me down with a sharp axe and say I fell on my own and would you my dear, hear my sound?

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REDEEMINGTHESOUL REQUIRES REDEEMING THESOIL Rev. M. Dele

orning sunlight bounced off the banana leaves that framed the peachcolored healing arts center the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference helped me open on Bayou Road. I t was the spring of 2006, and I could count on two fingers the family, friends, and colleagues who were willing to join this mission trip to New Orleans. They didn?t care that the two?story, two?family building stood on a high foundation to protect it from the lethal flood waters. Not afraid were twenty African American teens from Rhode I sland, who squeezed into the sunroom for our last UCC sponsored radio broadcast, which highlighted youth and Katrina response work.

to assess the space. She didn?t want any more young clients to be exposed to the post ?hurricane toxic stew that had marinated the lawn. She called for reinforcements and two environmentalists from Common Ground showed up to test our contaminated soil. Next arrived a motley crew hauling mushrooms, food waste, straw and sunflowers to remediate our front lawn. For a week, I served lemonade and watermelon to thirty joyful and gracious volunteers. When their afternoon meal arrived, they spread out in clusters under the banana trees, and quiet conversations surfed across the lawn.

I fully embraced the love flowing from these college?aged folk, who were streaming in

Emily from Common Ground Housing came

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from all over the world to help restore New Orleans. This lawn party, a mile from the French Quarter, was my introduction to permaculture design.

ing with the morning mist that watered the landscape and reveled in the full moons as bright as a NFL football field during the Superbowl.

The level of fun the participants exuded immediately drew my mind back to the middle school ?aged boys who attended my weeklong Environmental Arts Camp at the Nature?s Friend campground in Southside Virginia six months prior. These young campers and the adult volunteers had both been strengthened by what they received from Mother Earth, and derived life meaning by what they gave to Mother Earth. I mused about the relationship between soil and souls and the types of interactions that maintained both of their health.

During my first year there, two fawns used to crash through the forest and bump into each other as they stopped to gaze at me in my lawn chair in the middle of the field. They grew up fast until the antlers between their ears indicated they were no longer babies and were no longer startled by my presence. I chuckled at their prideful adolescent strut past my lawn chair towards the apple tree in the front yard. All was well with my soul until one afternoon, as I was raking pine straw from the forest floor, the Spirit told me, ?This isn?t your work.? An onslaught of ticks drove me out of the forest as I whipped around and demanded to know, ?What does that mean?? Further inquisition gave me the final audible response; I was to teach churches what I know, how to model sustainability.

Assuming there would be more disruptive climate changes ahead, I visited Nashville to learn more about this remixed, indigenous knowledge of how to maintain vibrant soil life in the midst of disruptive human activity. As my instructor explained the Seven Layer Forest System I was to mimic, my mind flashed to the second chapter of Genesis where God planted trees beautiful to look at, and trees good for food (Genesis 2:9).

The Spirit began to reveal insights. Water and food sovereignty rose to the top of my Katrina memories. A just food system follows God?s principles of abundance and maintains a just relationship with Mother Earth. Ever since God breathed eternity into a piece of mud (Genesis 2:7), the destiny of the human soul has been inseparable from the destiny of Mother Earth?s soil.

My mind shifted 180 degrees. Before humans were asked to Love God, we were asked to Love our Mother, the Earth. Following my Katrina response work, I retired to 13 acres of woodlands to practice permaculture in the Virginia Piedmont. I delighted in having my consciousness regularly immersed in the sound of millions of leaves rippling in the wind. I welcomed ris-

Our original balance lies in the biodiversity of thousand year relationships between shrubs, insects, and birds intermingled for

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pest control and pollination. Forests cannot be clear cut and the earth beaten into submission with monoculture. The microbes that create the soil?s ability to absorb water and nutrition cannot be made homeless with endless tilling. Oppressed farm workers cannot be imported to endure chemical warfare waged against lifeless soil to produce poisoned food which breeds obese and chronically ill human beings. All of these issues must be addressed to fulfill Christ?s teachings of justice and so that we have life and have it more abundantly. The political concept of justice rises from the spiritual concept of balance.

ship. Food pantries may adapt their charity model to reflect Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) and community farms. Like weeds and leftover food, people who can't read and people returning from prison are thrown away and prevented from participating in the legal economy. I f food waste can be recycled through composting into fertile soil, then certainly human beings can be recycled through the green economy into citizens who help sustain a peaceful world. We must learn to recycle human lives in addition to food waste. Do not act like Sodom and Gomorrah, but become friendly with your neighbors.

I was introduced to the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth. To balance our spiritual practice, it occurred to me to ask that we elevate Mother Earth to full membership with a voice inside the Beloved Community.

Nature?s Friends took on another role after the environmental campgrounds I taught at in Southside Virginia closed. We began to develop ways to train mission leaders in climate resilience through mobile educational events and an apprenticeship program where ecosystem services are taught to young adults as they explore their own careers.

The Spirit then gave me precepts. Primary importance is to drive ecological mission with economic empowerment. I recalled I srael?s son, Joseph, who gives us such a business model for climate change in the 47th chapter of Genesis. His ability to interpret the signs of climate change and produce a successful plan for survival makes Joseph a climate change prophet. I t would behoove us to follow his lead and establish locally controlled food distribution systems while we still have abundant food. We can also teach rainwater collection so that every church can maintain potable water for their congregation. Since the USDA says a farmer?s market can be supported for every 1,800 people, work the mission field in the square mile surrounding your house of wor-

A fellowship through Audubon and Toyota TogetherGreen has allowed me to experiment with Soil and Soul botanical sanctuaries. They restore habitat and regenerative design to land and streams, while reconnecting human souls to the land in healthy and meaningful ways. Congregations are given an ecology and Bible lesson while performing a conservation landscape at a house of worship. Afterwards, the size of the land they are helping heal is mapped. This is also a gateway activity to strengthen climate adaptation conversations within African American faith communities. I t

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seems that a number of young people of every ethnicity are being called to heal the land. I n much the same way intellectuals were called into service during the Harlem Renaissance, Black millennials report responding to a spiritual calling to cultivate the soil, choosing this over high profile professions like sports or neuro-physics.

ald Lawrence sings, ?Let?s get back to Eden and live on top of the world.? I ?m suggesting we begin to see ourselves as collaborators in a movement called abundant LI FE! I n the beginning, in the Garden of Eden, food was grown in a polyculture system among trees and herbs? not a farm or plantation. A 2,000 year- old forest garden in Morocco still bears witness to the abundance which is possible for all when we follow the original instructions of serving and preserving the land (Genesis 2:15). The Hebrew word often translated as ?till? is the same word Joshua referred to when he said, ?...As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord? (Joshua 24:15).

Mother Earth is speaking directly to the hearts of our young leaders, and, praise God, they are listening. And we must listen when they tell us that Black Lives Matter and climate change are flip sides of the same coin. The North and South Poles are not the only places where habitat is disappearing and our forests are not the only places burning out of control. Bears on icecaps and humans in inner cities are both losing a place to call home. While dried forests quickly ignite into roaring wildfires on our mountains, militarized police forces quickly ignite social wildfires in human neighborhoods. Both fires are equally dangerous and both must be prevented or contained. The good news is that a common focus on restoring Creation can smother both environmental wildfires and social wildfires. Restoring Creation can restore environmental and food justice by creating jobs, sustaining peace and feeding people with healthy food.

Soil scientists tell us that we only need to turn around one percent of our land use in order to reverse global warming. One percent is like a tithe. To activate Mother Nature?s self ?regenerating system, we only need to dedicate a portion of our land to our Creator?s original design. I f we humble ourselves, pray, and turn away from our wicked ways (environmental abuse), God will hear our voice and heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14). The way we treat Mother Earth balances or unbalances our food structures, and creates a food system that transmits peace or disturbs it. I ?m praying that our food system be infused with peace, political justice, and health for both the body and soul. With the help of the One who is able to do abundantly more than we can ever ask or imagine this is possible. We can do this!

Restoring Creation also helps to diversify and therefore strengthen social movements. Rather than maintaining separate silos of climate justice, social justice, and food justice, let?s consciously pattern our social diversity after biodiversity. Gospel artist Don-

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All ThingsWere Older Than Man and Hummed of Mystery, oil on canvas, 42"x48"

ahen?s oil paintings explore the nature of mankind, begging the question, ?How do we hold on to the ?better angels of our nature? amid loss, violence and suffering??

LOSS AND RENEWAL Matt Bahen

As a present ?day Canadian artist, Bahen utilizes his surrounding landscape as an ongoing motif in his work and a central

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principle of his identity. This perspective of the land as a foundational entity emerges from Canada?s artistic history. ?The Group of Seven,? Bahen points out, ?was a collection of artists who worked in the early 20th?century Canada and provided a visual articulation of Canadian identity through their paintings. Their post ?impressionist style of the Canadian landscape is now a ubiquitous touchstone of the culture.?

Formally, his paintings themselves have a dichotomy of surface and image. The experience of seeing his work is both tactile and elusive. He describes that ?when viewing the paintings from a distance, the image is clear, but as one gets closer, the image collapses into a series of marks, rough abstractions.? The thick, coarse handling of his paint only reinforces the subject image?s brute nature and the conceptual framework behind it.

Bahen?s relationship with this subject is one that acknowledges the sometimes harsh power of the environment and its cyclical, changing nature. ?As a force that levies various impacts on the people whose lives are built upon it, the landscape becomes a culture that we all share today.?

Motifs such as fire, starling murmurations, rough waters, ruddy landscapes, abandoned missile silos (holes into the earth), and ruined interiors are constantly depicted in Bahen?s work. Dogs are also a recurring theme, each seen (from his perspective) as an unreliable narrator in A Geology Not of Stone, oil on canvas, 60"x60" the paintings? the Virgil of the work. All of these images are Though Bahen may be considered a ?reprepredicated on the oscillating binaries of the sentational artist,? he uses his heavy impasto and rigid brushwork to separate his light and the dark. works from the journalistic truths frequently associated with flatter mediums like photography. ?Painting works more powerfully (for my intentions) as analogy,? he notes. ?I want my work to function as fiction? ? Bahen explains that some of the most emotionally impactful truths are often revealed through fictional, creative means.

"I see violence as an inevitable agent in the world, and pain and suffering are guarantees. Therefore, I choose imagery that resonates with these facets of being and the question before us all: How does one carry them?"

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After ten years of serving as a street outreach worker with Toronto?s homeless community, Bahen was left with experiences that not only impacted him personally, but also permeated his work. His paintings have since hinged upon the value and the influence of empathy. ?The struggles, hardships and resilience I saw left an impression on me and influenced my worldview? all hope in my work is hard-earned.?

With his determination to sustain a visual relationship between suffering and hope, Bahen doesn?t simply invite viewers to observe the raw reality of our emptied, messied landscapes. He goes further: asking us to place ourselves in the quietness of these open spaces, and to consider the renewal that comes with loss.

Like A Stringof Dried Black Figs, oil on canvas, 42"x48"

The Lyric Order of Savage Tongues, oil on canvas, 60"x60"

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Once It'sGone, You'll Know You've Heard It All Your Life, oil on canvas, 72"x78"

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NOTESONLOSSANDRENEWAL 1. Page 36: The Bonesof Things, oil on canvas, 60"x48" 2. This series of featured works is comprised of paintings from Bahen's most recent exhibitions, including: - IntroducingMatt Bahan (Solo Exhibition), Claire Oliver Gallery, New York, NY, April 2015 - Ark, Le Gallery in Toronto, Ontario, March 2015, - SometimesComesthe Mother, Sometimesthe Wolf, Munch Gallery, New York, NY, May 2014

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FROM THEUNIVERSALLYRE Whit Griffin

Yarrow, carpenter's weed, old man's pepper. Sun opener. Meadow fire. Colorful broom. Herb of the Spirits. Wild olive, devil's wood. Lilac, the blue pipe tree. The bluish flame which envelopes fraxinella. Bees to blue flowers. Blue Deer provides peyote. As blue is the best color for the interior of a tea cup. Severed penises hang from her goatskin apron. Her liver exults in mirth. Nemain killed a hundred warriors with her voice. Enyo, goddess of war. The snake goddess who lives in our backbones. A tiny blaze of fire at the base of the spine. A trumpet made from a femur.

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Coca spoons from jaguar bones. The visionary divination from burning blood. The coat of many colors is reserved for those who know oneiromancy. Only those who had achieved the fourth degree of wisdom were permitted to be teachers of occult philosophy.

of philosophy.

Teaism is the smile Play is the chemistry of yes.

They bathe their hands and heads in the juice of elder berries when they are being initiated into the mysteries. The messiah returned, and she is Tiamat. As Puck to the Pooka, the little Phrygian-capped mushroom. The sacred cannibalism that produces ecstasy and bestows knowledge. To fashion stars out of dog dung, that is the Great Work. Thou art the eyeball of Vritra. Floating stories, floating figures. Feel with the eyes. Khadomas of wisdom, with red and green eyes. The rewilding.

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The relationship between datura and palo verde. The persea bears fruit in Egypt but only flowers at Rhodes. As the persea ripens its fruit at the season of etesian winds. The angel that spoke to Descartes. Angels are heavenly whores. Saint Paul thought demons were attracted to women's hair. You will be embraced by your angel / demon at the moment of your death. I nca coca oracles. The wonderful child with oracular birds. A pebble numbered 3663. Mithras and Abraxas are gods of numerology. Wrap a naked boy in linen from head to toe, then clap your hands.

For an only child I request immortality.

For the earth-lion have I

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obtained the boon. The negativity placed on the serpent arose from the dominance of Marduk. Evil arose with the bifurcation of the collective mind. Evil arose from the weakness of scientific mythology. From solid to spoked wheels. The correspondence

theory of truth. The secret name of Rome. Correggio's silverplated crescent moon. Shinjed rides a fearless buffalo. The clarity of mind erases fear. Fear guards the vineyard. Fear is the barrier between the ego and the full understanding of reality. The giving up of the sandals to the giving up of the will.

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Honey Box

GARDEN HONEY JamesMurray Rodger large-scale commercial producers.

Rodger sharesphotographsand insightson his family'spersonally-produced "Garden Honey" from Madisonville, Louisiana:

The good news is beekeeping is on the rise. More than ever it seems there is great interest in keeping bees as a hobby. I t is something that my own family is participating in now.

ou may have heard that honey bees are experiencing a lot of problems. For the past three decades scientists have observed a dramatic increase in pathogens, parasites, pests, pesticides and the still not understood Colony collapse disorder (CCD). All of these pose a serious threat to the health of bee colonies and consequently much of our ecosystems. We depend on bees to pollinate our plants, from humble backyard gardens to

Over the past year we have kept four hives, around 250,000 bees, in our garden. Most of the work is done by my dad, but when it is time to harvest the whole family gets involved. I would love to share with you a little about our process of extracting the honey: 46

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Honeycomb Debris

St ep 1: The process begins with the hive. After calming the bees with the smoker, the box containing the honey is removed. There are usually a few bees left inside the box, which are gently brushed away. St ep 2: Each honey box contains 10 frames of honeycomb. The individual frames are removed and de?capped, which involves carefully scraping away the wax that seals each cell. Once the whole frame is de?capped, it is ready to be placed in the extractor. St ep 3: The Honey Extractor is essentially a centrifuge, which applies cen-

trifugal force to remove the honey from the comb. The honey pools at the bottom of the machine until it is time to be released and sifted. St ep 4: Once all of the frames are extracted, the honey is let out through an opening in the extractor and allowed to pass through a sieve. This sifting process removes larger debris from the final product. St ep 5: Our honey is considered raw and unfiltered, meaning that we do as little to alter the honey as possible.

Honey Extractor

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St ep 6: The wax Honeycomb Debris is collected and can be used for a variety of purposes, like making candles. St ep 7: The honey is then poured into the individual jars, becoming official "Garden Honey" products. Each jar is then given a label designed by my younger sister, Naomi Rodger. St ep 8 : The final step is a personal favorite: tasting. The beautiful thing about locally produced honey is that, depending on the season and the location where the honey was made, the color and flavor can change significantly. Earlier batches might have more botanical elements and a lighter color. Our current batch of honey has a slightly darker hue and an amaretto finish.

If you are curiousabout how you can get started in beekeeping, search for a local beekeepingsociety in your area. They will help you get registered and teach you everything you need to know on startingyour own hives.

Left: Honey Sieve, Right: A Jar of Garden Honey

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FROM THE FOLD

where it came from or how long I ?ve had it, but it?s an NI V edition that features the New Testament plus the Psalms and Proverbs. I flip to John 21, the passage where Jesus appears in his post?resurrection form to his disciples while they? like me? are fishing. I t?s easy to find the page, because the night before when I closed it, a single caddis was trapped inside, its dark mottled wings flattened into the vellum, permanently preserved alongside John, Simon Peter, and the risen Messiah.

THESTRANGERACROSS THEWATER (AN ANGLER'S DEVOTIONAL) Joe Webb Scripture Reading: John 21:1-14

he Madison River glides over shallow rocks as the Montana sun sets slowly at my back. The majestic mountains of the Madison range tower across the river in the sweet evening light, revealing ascending grassy and tree?lined ridges that look as if they were shaped by the very hands of God, pulling the primordial clay skyward between mighty fingers like a child drawing wet sand up from a hole she dug in the beach.

I t?s interesting that John closes his Gospel with this particular story. Disappointed, confused, and probably even a bit angry, a band of seven disciples (it?s worth noting that seven is the Hebrew number for perfection or completion) heads out on the lake at night to drop their nets. Much has been made of the disciples? actions? had they? as many have argued? given up on the Jesus movement, forsaking their teacher and friend? Had they retreated to their former professions as if the past three years had never happened? Had their doubts finally gotten the best of them? Maybe. But I think there was something else going on. Because ultimately, this isn?t a story about Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathaniel from Cana, the sons of Zebedee, or the two other disciples.

Big Sheep Mountain, still capped with snow in late July, dominates the horizon to the right of my perch a few hundred yards upstream of Raynold?s Bridge, which carries Highway 87 across the riffled watercourse to the nearby western Continental Divide and the I daho border. Caddis flies begin to materialize from their sub?aquatic larval stages and flutter among the streamside vegetation. Soon the river?s trout will begin rising to dine on the emerging insects, and the game I came to play with them shall commence. As I wait alone with the river, the mountains, and the Big Sky, I dig out a tattered mini?Bible from behind the fly box stowed in the upper left my SOMP (Shirt?Of?Many?Pockets). I don?t recall

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from the starboard meant using their non?dominant left hands to do the work. I n essence, John is subtly reminding us that Jesus most often invites us to find him not in our might, but our weakness.

I t?s a story about Jesus. More than that, it?s a story about who indeed this resurrected Jesus was? and is. As he appears along the Galilean shoreline, his compatriots don?t recognize him at first. Whether because of the darkness, the distance, maybe some lakeside fog, or whatever difference in appearance Jesus took in his resurrection body, his identity is obscured.

What strikes me most this night is what happens next. Jesus has built a small charcoal fire? and he?s cooking breakfast. Bread and fish. A meal they?ve had with him (and a few thousand others) before. Jesus, in this moment, is more than rabbi, more than messiah, more than king. And as usual, he is more by being less. A servant. Meeting his friends where they are and giving them what they need. And what they need is not breakfast, not the warmth of the fire, not even the 153 fish. They need him.

I look up across the bouncing waters of the Madison through the slowly gathering evening mist and focus my gaze on the far bank, trying to imagine that scene. A shadowy stranger, calling out across the river?s roar: ?Friend, haven?t you any fish?? The stranger offers a suggestion. I t is one they have heard before, back when this whole thing began: ?Throw your net on the right side of the boat? .? And in that moment, recognition. One by one, the disciples realize who it is that roams the beach. They rush toward him, struggling to drag along their now?laden nets (with 153 large fish!).

I t occurs to me that we often forget that in our lofty efforts to exalt, praise, worship, and even serve him, we miss that he is still there to serve us. To meet us where we are. To provide what we need. I gaze again across the darkening river. I n the twilight, trout begin to rise along the bank in front of me. But my focus is on the other side, imagining a small fire and a beckoning wave. I need not ask him who it is. As his friends knew, so do I . And as I recover from my reverie to see trout sipping caddis from the river?s surface, I can?t help but wonder what it would be like to catch 153 large fish this night. And I feel my friend across the river smiling.

I remember from past studies of this passage that the command to pitch the nets to the right side of the boat is no meaningless throw?away. I n a predominantly right?handed culture, fishermen would have cast to the port side in order to leverage the strength of their right arms in the retrieval. Pulling in nets

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FROM THE FIELD

THEGOOD SEEDS Zeb Weese hen conservation and Christianity intersect it?s usually framed as ?Creation Care.? I ?m a big fan of the Creation Care movement and the idea that the good Lord wants us to care about all his works, but as a conservation biologist I sometimes find myself moved to prod folks into doing a little more than just caring. Northern long?eared bats, fat pocketbook mussels, and Braun?s rockcress will need actual help if they are going to hang around for any longer. By action I don?t just mean attending environmentalist meetings or advocating for legal protection of endangered species or anything like that? although these things certainly have their value. Many of our most imperiled species need direct action now, today, or at least by next weekend. The fact is conservation isn?t just about caring or discussing or even educating or advocating? it?s about getting dirty. Really dirty. And scratched and hot and itchy and possibly even stung and bitten. I t?s about killing weeds and busting up dams and even trapping and relocating animals. And usually doing all of that on a ridiculously large scale, a lot bigger than your backyard or even your city, county, or

state. But your backyard is a good place to start.

We?ve all heard the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1?9, 18 ?23). Evil weeds grow with good wheat and we?re instructed to let them grow together until harvest time when we separate them and burn up the weeds. For the sake of argument, let?s ignore that it?s a parable and take it at face value. Most conservation biologists would not recommend letting weeds (which we usually call ?invasive species? nowadays when they are in a natural area) grow until harvest time before dealing with them. A couple of thousand years ago a ?weed? was often a very localized native plant that just grew with the crops and competed for a little water and nutrients. Pulling and burning them at maturity probably controlled the problem pretty well for the next season. But fast forward a couple of millennia and weeds are a little different. I nstead of a local species inching into your field, you?re facing a species imported from across the globe that can grow several feet a day like kudzu or Japanese honeysuckle, or produce hundreds (if not thousands) of seeds in

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each seedhead, like Japanese stiltgrass or garlic mustard. The native species haven?t had time to evolve any defense for these prolific growers and are crowded out while the newcomers hog all the resources. I f you wait until harvest time to deal with them you?ve probably waited too late to prevent an overwhelming infestation that could take a mind?boggling amount of effort, funds, and herbicide to control. When it comes to problems facing endangered species and natural habitats, invasive species impacts are right up there with all other forms of habitat loss generally associated with bulldozers. You can?t wait until harvest time; those evil weeds need to go now.

that have set up shop in the U.S. and put the hurt on the indigenous species. So what?s a good Christian response to all this that also fits with established conservation biology practices? I think it?s actually pretty simple. Just plant more good seed. Milkweed, phlox, spicebush? whatever is native to your neck of the woods. I n your backyard, on your church grounds, at your summer camp, at your local park or nature preserve. First find out what weeds are the worst in your area from your local pest plant council and get rid of them. Not necessarily every non ?native species, just the bullies. Next contact your local native plant society and find out what plants not only should naturally occur in your area but also provide good habitat for critters, be they birds or bees, and plant them. I t?s that simple. At least, the concept is simple. I t?s going to take a lot of blood and sweat to do it; just ask any landscaper or farmer how easy it is to kill the evil weeds and get the good seeds to grow. You probably aren?t going to single?handedly rescue any species from extinction. But that milkweed in your yard where the wintercreeper used to be might just give a couple of monarch butterflies a place to lay their eggs and survive one more generation. To me that?s what caring for Creation is all about: doing your part in the face of overwhelming odds to make your corner of God?s green Earth just a little bit better for the rest of creation.

There is no shortage of invasive species information on the internet, way too much to get into here. I n fact, there is so much information that it?s kind of intimidating? however, if you are so inclined a great place to start is invasivespeciesinfo.gov? as there are so many non ?native species found in the US, with many exhibiting invasive characteristics. For instance, in my home state of Kentucky there are about 2,600 plants found in natural areas, such as woodlands and grasslands, and 570 of them are considered non- natives, mostly imported from Europe or Asia.1 The Kentucky Exotic Pest Plant Council considers nearly 200 of the non- natives to be invasive to some degree, meaning they don?t just stay put in your garden like most flowers but instead spread in natural areas like, well, evil weeds. That?s just the plants. There are also European starlings, zebra mussels, Hemlock wooly adelgids, silver carp, Burmese pythons, nutria, and dozens of other critters

1. Ronald Jones, Plant Life of Kentucky: An Illustrated Guide to the Vascular Flora (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2005), 11.

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CONTRIBUTORS M at t Bah en is an artist living and working in Toronto. Since graduating the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2002, Bahen has exhibited throughout Canada, the US and Europe. He is currently represented by Claire Oliver Gallery in NYC. Learn more about Bahen and his work at mattbahen.com

D avi d Bu ck l ey Bor d en is a multi-disciplinary artist and formally trained landscape architect whose work presents environmental issues to new audiences in unlikely settings. Borden?s work ranges from site-specific landscape installations to small format silkscreen prints. Borden promotes a shared environmental awareness and heightened cultural value of ecology through the creation of accessible art and design. Learn more about Borden and his work at davidbuckleyborden.com

Rever en d M . D el e is a theologian, visiting professor in permaculture, mystic, and social activist who uses her skills as a Climate Reality Leader and spiritual director to assist churches to model sustainability efforts in under-served communities. Through her organization, Nature?s Friends, she works to train the next generation of mission leaders in faith, ecology, and policy. Her vision is for all human souls to redeem and nurture the earth?s soil for climate resilience. revdele.com

W h i t Gr i f f i n has books on Skysill Press and on Cultural Society. Recent work appeared in Chicago Review and Hambone. He lives in southern Wyoming with the poet Shannon Tharp.

E. Et h el ber t M i l l er is a writer and literary activist. He is the author of several collections of poems and two memoirs. I n April 2015, Miller was inducted into the Washington, DC, Hall of Fame.

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Jam es M u r r ay Rod ger is a freelance photographer and filmmaker, originally from Scotland, now residing in southeast Louisiana. He is currently working on several projects, including a short documentary about Louisiana?s disappearing wetlands. An avid traveler, James has visited countries over 5 different continents, including China, Ghana, and the Czech Republic. murrayrodger.com

N an cy Sl eet h is the author of Almost Amish: One Woman?s Quest for a Slower, Simpler, More Sustainable Life (Tyndale) and Go Green, Save Green (Tyndale), the first-ever practical guide for going green from a faith perspective. Recognized by Newsweek and Christianity Today as one of the ?50 Evangelical Women to Watch,? Nancy is the co-founder of Blessed Earth, a Christian environmental nonprofit. The Sleeths have been married for thirty-four years and live near their grown children in Lexington, KY.

Car l t on W ar d is a conservation photographer and eighth-generation Floridian based in Tampa. He founded the Florida Wildlife Corridor in 2010 and has since completed two 1000-mile expeditions through Florida, bringing new attention to a statewide vision to keep Florida wild. His work is exhibited widely and published in Audubon, Smithsonian, Nature Conservancy, and National Geographic. Carlton is currently the Explorer Club?s 2015 Rolex Artist-in-Exploration. carltonward.com

Joe W ebb is the Conspirator-in-Chief of TheAwesomenessConspiracy.com and currently serves as Director of Youth & Children?s Ministries at First Presbyterian Church in Marietta, Ohio. He holds a Master's Degree in Christian Ministry from Asbury Theological Seminary and is a frequent speaker at churches, retreats, seminars and events for both youth and adult audiences throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. A life-long West Virginian, Joe is also a long-time member of Trout Unlimited, where he has been an advocate for clean water issues and trout habitat restoration and renewal in his home state.

Zeb W eese has spent the last two decades as a conservation biologist specializing in natural areas management. He is also a lifelong Catholic married to a Presbyterian pastor. A sixth-generation Kentuckian, he lives in the Bluegrass with his wife and sons and has degrees in Zoology, Environmental History, and Forestry from the University of Kentucky.

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INMEMORIAMTOMBARNES

Tom Barnes, Mt. Shucksan

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