Recently I was blessed to receive from a good friend the writings and books of Elizabeth Dodson Gray. A Christian theologian, graduate of Yale Divinity School, and eco-feminist, she wrote extensively on patriarchy in society and the church, and was an early champion of eco-theology and becoming attuned to living our lives as co-inhabitors of the earth rather than dominators. She questioned many of the social values that came with living in world defined by white men, which she termed, “Adam’s World” after the scene in Genesis where Adam names and therefore defines the world God gifted him. Included among her writings are reflections on death and life, the construction of God as a man and the denial of women’s full liberation as images of God, critiques of wealth, as well as four books she wrote throughout her lifetime. The readings I have chosen to share are what I thought best captured her story and stances on the issues she dedicated her life to. I hope they encourage you, just as I have been, to think deeply and act potently.

Bio on Empowering Women: http://www.empoweringwomentv.org/ambassadors/guests/elizabeth-dodson-gray/

Books: Green Paradise Lost (1979)

Patriarchy as a Conceptual Trap (1982)

Sunday School Manifesto: In The Image of Her? (1994)

Sacred Dimensions of Women's Experience (Editor, 1988)

Children of Joy: Raising Your Own Home-Grown Christian (Co-authored with David Dodson-Gray, 1975)

Hello and welcome to A Voice for the Earth, hosted by Kara Grady! Here you will find interviews, book readings, and bits of my own journey as we grapple with redefining what Christianity means in light of the climate catastrophes we are facing. This podcast was born, at first, out a need to defend to my Christian peers what I saw as the necessity of a livable future but has evolved into how this can be achieved through the creativity of people committed to a spirituality in which all creation is inherently sacred. I’ve seen for myself how these friends and allies continue to redefine the boundaries of what is possible, and I hope that through hearing their stories and through re-examining scripture, you the listener can realize your own potential in caring for the Lord’s creation.

Climate change. Immigration. Human trafficking. Nuclear war. What can we learn when we see these not as separate issues, but ones that are inherently related? 

Join me as I interview Sister Marie Cigrand on her order's environmental justice work and how intersectionality has come to define the most prominent issues of our day. 

Sister Marie Cigrand is a vowed member of the Sisters of St. Francis in Dubuque, Iowa. Raised on an Iowan farm by parents with strong environmental values, she has spent the last 42 years as a religious sister. She chairs three groups (Socially Responsible Investing Working Group, Green Team, Environmental Concerns Subcommittee) and is a member of the Laudato Si Committee. 

Resources mentioned:

Sisters of St. Francis: https://www.osfdbq.org/ 

Stan Cox, The Path to a Livable Future: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/57934665 

Earth Mama: https://www.youtube.com/@EarthMama 

Join me as I talk with Sisters Lynn Mousel & Johanna Rickel (President) of the Humility of Mary on the history of their order, their updated action plan based on the goals of Laudato Si, and a special retreat center located in rural Iowa. 

Congregation of the Humility of Mary Website: https://www.chmiowa.org/

Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat: https://www.chmiowa.org/retreat

Laudato Si Action Plan: https://laudatosiactionplatform.org/

https://www.chmiowa.org/service/care-of-earth 

I had so much fun interviewing my good friends at the Romero House in Iowa! Here we talked about the unhumanization of living in a capitalist society and how we as people of faith and action can learn to see each other's humanity once more, our personal adventures in the Catholic Worker, and the legacy of St. Oscar Romero (not necessarily in that order). We laugh, we sigh, we make fun of each other's outfits, and stick around for the sound check blooper!

People and Organizations Mentioned:

The Catholic Worker, Peter Maurin, & Dorothy Day: https://www.catholicworker.org/ 

Oscar Romero: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-oscar-arnulfo-romero 

The Romero House: https://amescatholicworkerhouse.org/

Mustard Seed Farm: https://www.mustardseedfarm.org/

How is it possible to have hope when our ecological and humanitarian disasters have become overwhelming? Here's how I do it. 

Find all IPCC reports here: https://www.ipcc.ch/reports/ 

Interfaith Power and Light: https://www.interfaithpowerandlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/IPL-AR-16-FINAL.pdf 

For my bible nerds out there:

John 1:1-5

John 6:1-15

This episode includes our very first guest speakers! Join me as I interview Sisters Lynn & Johanna on how they live out their eco-Christian faith in a world threatened by species and spiritual loss.

In our conclusion to Stewards of Eden, Richter reaffirms our biblical commitment to environmental stewardship. She then offers practical steps to becoming an environmentally conscious steward in your daily and church life. 

Resource List:

1. Get informed through national organizations! Richter recommends:

Sierra Club: https://www.sierraclub.org/ 

Nature Conservancy: https://www.nature.org/en-us/

The Humane Society: https://www.humanesociety.org/

Defenders of Wildlife: https://defenders.org/ 

2. Vote your informed conscience! Richter recommends Sierra Club Magazine: https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra

3. Vote with your finances! Buy organic/recycled. When shopping for animal products, look for labels that include "grass-fed" and "free-range". Buy "reduced packaging".

4. Live with restraint. Buy smaller, buy less.

5. Learn how and where to recycle responsibly. 

6. Compost, compost, compost! (Note from Kara: It's easier than you think! I often drop mine off at a local farm.)

7. Make sure your school/church/office is recycling. For paper products, check out www.shredit.com

8. Find your local wildlife rehabilitator. Make a donation. Get their number. You could save an animal's life!

9. Address your energy consumption! Change your lightbulbs to LED. Caulk your windows. Request an audit. Did you know you can rent solar panels? Do you remember how nice a clothesline can be? 

10. Attend to your automobile! Buy smaller, fewer, and with better gas mileage. 

11. Join a community supported agriculture group (CSA). By buying from a CSA, you support local farms, environmentally responsible agriculture, and keep your family healthy.

12. Give up your chemical lawn service and be restrained in your pesticide use. Check out www.gardensalive.com

13. Plant native trees and plants. Indigenous plants need less water, are resistant to pests, and attract wildlife.

14. Think about water consumption in your landscape. Water your lawn at night, watering during the day is wasted due to evaporation. Think about using rain barrels at the base of your drain spouts.

15. Read Nancy Sleeth's, Go Green, Save Green: A Simple Guide to Saving Time, Money, and God's Green Earth. Available on Amazon.

16. Support environmental missionary efforts around the globe. Check out Plant with Purpose (www.plantwithpurpose.org) or Red Island Restoration (www.redislandrestoration.com)

17. Are you a pastor or church member who wants to start a "green team" at your church? Get trained in energy conservation. water use, planting native, and so on. Be the person your fellow church members can learn from. Blessed Earth offers a 12-part DVD Bible Study: Serving God, Saving the Plant. You can find it here: www.blessedearth.org

Want more of Sandra Richter?

Check out her other works here: https://seedbed.com/author/sandrarichter/ and here https://www.amazon.com/Sandra-L.-Richter/e/B00OEHYZFG%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share 

For all my bible nerds:

Deut 30:9

Gen 2:15

Rom 8:21 NASB

Col 1:16

Rom 12:2 NASB

Rom 8

Does God really intend to destroy the planet as Revelation depicts? We now reach the New Testament and how it reveals God's ultimate plan for a new humanity and a new earth. 

Discussion Questions:

1. Would you concur that the church's only mission is the conversion of souls?

2. Do you believe the church is also responsible for charity and service toward the widow and the orphan (even the unsaved widow and the orphan)?

3. Do you think the New Testament would agree with the Old Testament as regards sustainable use of the land and humane treatment of livestock?

4. Where do you think the assumption that is is ethically appropriate to use the earth's resources as aggressively as possible to accomplish what "really matters" (the conversion of souls) has come from?

5. Having read this chapter, would you identify environmental stewardship as alien or peripheral to the theological concerns of the Bible?

For all my bible nerds out there:

2 Pet 3:10-13 NASB

1 Thess 5:2-3 NASB

Rev 6:12-14, 17 NASB

Rev 21:1 NASB

Gen 3:15

The day of Yaweh: Is 13:2-13; Is 13:6, 9; Jer 46:10; Ezek 7:10; 13:5; 30:3; Dan 2:31-35; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11; 3:4, 14; Amos 5:18, 20; Obad 15; Zeph 1:7, 14; Mal 4:1, 5

The second coming: Mt 21:33-46 [cf. Is 5]; Mt 24:35-44; Acts 2:20; 1 Cor 5:5; 15:23; 1 Thess 3:15; 5:2; 2 Thess 2:2; Jas 5:8; 2 Pet 3:10

Acts 2:20-21; cf. Joel 2:30-32

2 Thess 2:1-3, 7-8 NASB

Rom 8:18-25

Mt 1:1

Rom 3:23

1 Cor 15:42-58

Rev 21:1-2 NASB

Rev 21:8, 23, 25

Rev 22:1-2, cf. Ezek 47:1-12

Rev 22:3-5 NASB

Col 1:16

Deforestation in Haiti. Mothers dying in Madagascar. Coal mining turning verdant forests into lunar landscapes and drinking water brown. What are we as the earthly church doing to stop the suffering of the marginalized, both here and abroad?

Discussion Questions:

1. Who do you think the widow, orphan, or resident alien of our day might be?

2. What is your reaction to the impact that environmental degradation has on the marginalized?

3. Why do you think our churches, our country, and our government are ignoring mountain-top removal coal mining right here in our backyard?

For my bible nerds out there:

Isaiah 1:17