Phoebe Morad, Executive Director of Lutherans Restoring Creation

Tomorrow is Earth Day 2023. We need more than one day a year to remember the impact homosapiens have made on the earth, but a day is better than nothing. I’ve been away this week with a few friends on a getaway to Ohio’s wonderful Amish Country. This blog is from Phoebe Morad, Executive Director of Lutherans Restoring Creation. Her passion for caring for creation is contagious and worthy of a large audience. She speaks wisdom.

Whose Land of the Free?
By Phoebe Morad

Chief Seattle is credited for the sentiment: “The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth.” Many native peoples share this cosmology. This sentiment has been acquired by many environmentalists, at times with reverence, at other moments, perhaps just as an easy tagline.  As a group facilitator in the eco-faith movement, Lutherans Restoring Creation, I often I casually refer to indigenous teaching; yet, I have no concept as to which community was the original keeper of the lands on which I stand.  Only recently, have I started the practice of including time for “land acknowledgement” before meetings commence.  This offers time to recognize whose ancestors lived on, and/or what people continue to care for, the piece of Earth from which we speak.

Whose Rights Matter Most?

A broader understanding of stewardship is finally drowning out the “domination” reading of the Genesis story.  Earlier generations were eager to utilize the Biblical message as a pathway to conquest via the “manifest destiny” theory.  In The Sacred Contract with America, Caroline Myss reflects on the new-found freedom and equity celebrated by well-meaning colonists who were eager to embrace their rights to till and keep.

However, that genuine self-determination turned sour as patriarchal practices overcame the peaceful beginnings. Initially, some European settler communities did experience peaceful relations with native peoples. But as the numbers of new European arrivals grew, so did tensions of land use.  As Vine Deloria, Jr. explains in Red Earth, White Lies, a fundamentally divergent understanding of land-use was the foundation for broken promises: “The justification for breaking up the tribal land estate was to enable individual Indians to have land of their own – thus taking advantage of the great civilizing forces of private property – and to enable Indians to learn how to manage property.”

Property Managers vs. Property Owners

Through alternative teachings of “stewardship” from progressive Christian traditions, we hear that the duty of a steward is inherently tied to an acknowledgment that what you are caring for is not yours.  It all belongs to God.  How can we, as a contemporary society, reconcile with our past, while we live on and are fed by land that was never ours to re-distribute?

Dr. Tink Tinker, Osage elder, candidly shared the following as part of Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis:

“Never forget that your wealth, the home that you live in (whether you own it or rent it), the salary you earn, comes from the theft of Indian land, the extraction of resources from that Indian land, and the oppression of forced labor on African peoples who were kidnapped and brought here to work this land. And then, in order to keep labor prices low, Asian peoples were brought in to compete with African people after the Civil War. All of this so that your christian people might have and keep all the more. When you’re on the receiving end of that land and wealth, you might see it as “God’s great gift.” But in reality, it is a tragedy. When you’re on the receiving end of that oppression from the christians, their God is an abject oppressor and not at all a savior.”

Listen with New Ears

Woody Guthrie wrote “This Land is Your Land” in 1940, and since then, it has been taken on as an alternative national anthem by people of various political perspectives.  I urge you to listen with new ears as we continue to wrestle with those little prepositions that mean so much.  Is this land that we belong to or come from? Are we a country that cherishes freedom of religion or from religion?  Have we made it a land of the free or are those who are free the only ones with land?

Phoebe Morad is Executive Director of Lutherans Restoring Creation (LRC), a grassroots movement promoting care for creation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. For updated resources, events, and worship ideas, visit: Lutherans Restoring Creation 

Mary Brewster’s Love Life and Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures: available wherever books are sold. Bookshop.org/Mayflower; Mary Brewster
Amazon.com/Mary Brewster’s Love Life
Amazon.com/Mayflower-Chronicles
BarnesandNoble.com/w/mayflower-chronicles
BarnesandNoble/MaryBrewster Autographed copies available at my website.

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For the first earth day in 1970 people gathered from coast to coast to sound the alarm that human policies, priorities, and procedures resulted in catastrophic harm to the environment. In New York City 100,000 people marched and picnicked along Fifth Avenue to celebrate the environment. According to the Museum of the City of New York, Mayor John V. Lindsay closed off Fifth Avenue to car traffic and gave an impassioned speech. In 1968 he’d created the country’s first municipal Environmental Protection Administration. Some protested the festivities, claiming them bad for business, but overall support for Earth Day was a popular concept. By the end of the year President Richard Nixon’s administration established the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air Act.

From a Few Activists to a Global Movement

Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson proposed the idea for Earth Day in 1969. Government and citizens collaborated with a small group of young activists and volunteers to launch the 1970 first Earth Day. Five decades later over a billion people celebrate Earth Day annually, addressing issues of pollution and deforestation. Some spend the day picking up trash, removing invasive plants, cleaning up rivers and planting new trees.

Because we’re still in a pandemic, many of this year’s events will be on-line with lectures and films to promote care of creation. To celebrate the Earth Day Birthday, I am sharing a few resources and a story with you.

Earth Day Resources

Earthday.org is offering a series of on-line events from April 20 – 22 with the theme “Restore Our Earth.” Events include workshops, panel discussions, and special performances. Presenters will address such subjects as emerging green technologies and new innovative ideas to restore the world’s fragile ecosystems.

The Houston Zoo offers a special exhibit of re-created life-size prehistoric beasts through September 6, with information about connections between these extinct creatures and modern animals living at the zoo. www.houstonzoo.org

The Church’s Role

The church community has been slow in responding to environment abuse issues, but that is changing. Here are a few examples of the faith community working to provide better care for creation.

United Methodist Church  provides resources to reflect on the goodness of God’s creation and the human responsibility to steward it through worship, education and action.

Care of Creation  is a Wisconsin faith-based non-profit offering resources that is “mobilizing the church around the world to bring healing and wholeness to all of God’s creation.”

In addition to training and equipping volunteers to keep creation-care issues in front of their faith communities,  Lutherans Restoring Creation  offers suggestions on how individuals can advocate for various related concerns such as climate change, consumption, food, and land use.

In a recent  Rolling Stone article  Alex Morris wrote about the growing network of evangelical activists tackling climate change and trying to bring their church with them for the journey.

Special Care of Creation Worship event

Lisa Brenskelle leads a Houston area Lutherans Restoring Creation imitative.  She told me about the Earth Day worship celebration set for Saturday, April 24 at 6 p.m. (Central Time). The 45-minute service is open to all who have interest, but does require a registration:  –  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creation-focused-liturgy-for-earth-day-tickets-147289164857

My Story and Theory

Last Friday we hosted a driveway social hour.  A neighbor and I distributed 30 invitations to gather in our driveway at 5 p.m. to celebrate the arrival of spring and get to know each other. I do not know most of my neighbors beyond waving at them. I estimate 25 people showed up. Several stayed until it got dark. Several have stopped me to thank us for doing this and asked us to do it again. Why? Because we are all needing more in-person connections with one another. The pandemic has shown us how much we need each other.

Which brings me to my theory. I suspect the drastic uptick we’re seeing in mass shootings and the lack of regard for the planet both stem from how disconnected we are today. When we care about people, we don’t shoot them. When we care about other people, we want them to have safe drinking water, clean air, and adequate shelter.

R. E. S. P. E. C. T.

When I was a child my brother and I went tromping through our neighbor’s flowerbed to retrieve a ball. The neighbor called our mother to complain. To us she was a grouchy lady who hated kids. To our mother she was a lonely widow who took pride in her flowers. Mom made us go apologize. She accepted our apology and respectfully asked that we respect her flowers. We never were really friends with her, but we did learn to have more respect for her and her flowers.

For this 51^st Earth Day I respectfully suggest we each make a little extra effort to have a conversation with a neighbor we don’t yet know and/or spend a little time outdoors observing wildlife. When we know people or critters, we’re more likely to respect them. When we respect people, and critters, we don’t trash their flower beds or any other part of the place they call home. Planet Earth is the only home we have.

Happy Earth Day Birthday!

P.S.   Teacher Platt and her students also recommend this website:  https://couponfollow.com/research/home-green-guide

Thank you for reading about Earth Day 2021. If you enjoyed this, you might enjoy reading this article about other groups working to preserve and protect our fragile nature world or an article I wrote about why we all need to think about Care of Creation issues.

Read more about the early encounters between the Pilgrim settlers and the Pokanokets in my historical novel Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures. Available now in paperback Ebook and audio.

Bookshop.org (Supporting local Indie Bookshops)
Amazon.com/Mayflower-Chronicles-Tale-Two-Cultures/
BarnesandNoble.com/w/mayflower-chronicles-kathryn-haueisen/
Autographed copies available from BlueWillowBookShop.com/book/

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People with religious tendencies sometimes ask, “Where is God in all this?” Indeed. Where? I experience God’s abundant care and presence in music, theatre, nature, literature and conversations. To thank you for traveling this rough 2020 road with me, I am sharing links to a few of my favorite things. I hope these bring you a bit of joy and peace in a historical year that has been anything but joyful and peaceful.

Music

Handel’s Messiah  – from the Opera House in Sydney Australia. Enjoy two and half hours of stunning singing and music. I listened to it as I prepared this blog for you. You may have to fast forward through some introductory comments and an occasional pop up ads, but I think you’ll find this worth it.

I chose this rendition of Handel’s masterpiece because the Sydney Opera House was on my wish list of places to visit. My parents visited there shortly after I left home to move into adult life. After I saw their photos of this place, I wanted to see it for myself. I did ten years ago. It is staggering in its beauty, acoustics, and history. Perhaps I’ll take you there in a 2021 blog. It is the only place I’ve visited where I was so impressed by the beauty of a restroom that I felt compelled to photograph it.

Theatre

Stages Theatre is a delightful little Houston theatre in a brand-new facility. The staff moved in and threw a wonderful open house event this past January. Then the theatre closed to all in-person events for months starting in March. COVID strikes again. I commend this theatre to you out of double family loyalty. Husband Tom has been taking groups to events at this theatre for years. We had a group lined up to go again in October, thinking, surely by then, COVID would no longer be a chronic life-threatening presence in our lives. Ya, well. We cancelled those tickets.

One good thing that happened in 2020 is that Stages let granddaughter Sarah and her roommate finish their one-year internships. They began in August 2019 and ended in July 2019. Stages has since brought Sarah back on a limited basis to help with special COVID-appropriate events. I encourage you to check out this little gem. Thanks to COVID driving everything on-line you can enjoy what Stages offers without moving to Houston.

Nature

Time outdoors in nature eases a great many disappointments. I’m fortunate to live near several great places to take a hike. I recently visited a new one – The Houston Botanical Garden, near Hobby Airport. How it came to be is a fascinating story. Perhaps I’ll write a blog about that next year. A few weeks ago I visited it with a small group organized by the Houston Chapter of Lutherans Restoring Creation. At least COVID hasn’t eliminated opportunities to be outside once in a while. If you care about what’s happening to the planet, you’ll find lots of helpful information at the LRC website. You don’t need to be Lutheran to use their resources.

Literature

Two books that really impressed me this year were Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan and Eleanor: A Spiritual Biography: The Faith of 20th Century’s Most Influential Women by Harold Ivan Smith. Callahan’s book reads like an autobiography written by Joy Davidson. Joy forged a friendship with C. S. Lewis and eventually married him. Callahan’s book is is so convincing I kept checking the publication date to confirm Callahan wrote it long after Joy died. Smith’s biography of Eleanor Roosevelt delves into her faith that formed her decisions. The result is a long list of accomplishments on behalf of the often overlooked and left out people who lack access to the decision makers of society.

Conversations

COVID has required most conversations to take place by Zoom or phone. I am particularly grateful for:

• Pastors and church leaders who work so hard each week to make worship available via the internet.
• My women’s group that has continued to meet monthly via Zoom.
• The Tuesday Houston Text study group to help keep the brain cells from withering too much.

Would you like to chat about how the year’s gone for you? If so, contact me through my website to set up a time for a how’s-it-going-conversation.

Single Again and Not by Choice?

I remember my first holiday season alone after decades of debating which side of the family to focus on in every previous holiday season. Suddenly, it was just me and the anguish of not knowing what to do with myself. The first one year is the worst one. Really. It does get easier. There is life after loss. Part of my adjusting to my suddenly single again status was to write a novel about it. The result is Asunder. If you or someone you care about is facing life on their own again after years of being partnered, I commend the fictional Ellie’s journey to you. Her faith, friends, and family help her move through a messy transition to a new way of life.

Through the end of January Asunder is FREE (for the cost of shipping) and available NOW on my Brand New On-line Store. Let me know if you’d like me to autograph it for you.

New Year, New Voices

To welcome 2021, I’m giving this space over to five writing colleagues for the month of January. I’m taking a break after all the hard work of finishing, publishing, and promoting Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures. I, along with a team of others, struggled to get the book out in time to catch the 400^th anniversary flurry of events. Then COVID-19 cancelled most off those events. My mind, body, and spirit all long for a break. Mayflower Chronicles is out there in E-book, print and audio wherever books are sold – or borrowed (Ask your library to consider stocking it). I’d love to talk to any individual or group about it, but I’m taking a mini-Sabbatical to read, walk more frequently in Gods glorious nature, and catch up with friends and family.

You’ll be in good hands with the guest bloggers. Each authors is a friend as well as an inspiring author. I’ll be back in person in February refreshed and ready to regal you with a few special love stories.

Wishing you a healthy and Happy New Year

Welcome 2021!

As a special treat here’s the link to a Christmas short story I wrote about a little guy whose efforts to adopt a stray puppy go astray in a good way. The Reluctant Shepherd

The post Welcome 2021 appeared first on How Wise Then.

Phoebe Morad, Executive Director of Lutherans Restoring Creation

My summer 2020 blogs come from a variety of people commenting on the theme #ListenLearnLove. Today’s guest blog is from Phoebe Morad, the Executive Director of Lutherans Restoring Creation and a woman whose voice is worthy of a broad audience. Thank you, Phoebe for this blog and your important work.  As we head into a Fourth of July holiday, in the midst of a pandemic that precludes our usual celebrations, this is a good year to reflect on:

Whose Land of the Free?
By Phoebe Morad

Chief Seattle is credited for the sentiment: “The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth.” Many native peoples share this the cosmology. This sentiment has been acquired by many environmentalists, at times with reverence, at other moments, perhaps just as an easy tagline.  As a group facilitator in the eco-faith movement, Lutherans Restoring Creation, I often I casually refer to an indigenous teaching; yet, I have no concept as to which community was the original keeper of the lands on which I stand.  Only recently, have I started the practice of including  time for “land acknowledgement” before meetings commence.  This offers time to recognize whose ancestors lived on, and/or what people continue to care for, the piece of Earth from which we speak.

A broader understanding of stewardship is finally drowning out the “domination” reading of the Genesis story.  Earlier generations were eager to utilize the Biblical message as a pathway to conquest via the “manifest destiny” theory.  In The Sacred Contract with America, Caroline Myss reflects on the new-found freedom and equity celebrated by well-meaning colonists who were eager to embrace their rights to till and keep.  However, that genuine self-determination turned sour as patriarchal practices overcame the peaceful beginnings. Initially some European settler communities did experience peaceful relations with native peoples. But as the numbers of new European arrivals grew, so did tensions of land use.  As Vine Deloria, Jr. explains in Red Earth, White Lies, a fundamentally divergent understanding of land-use was the foundation for broken promises:

“The justification for breaking up the tribal land estate was to enable individual Indians to have land of their own – thus taking advantage of the great civilizing forces of private property – and to enable Indians to learn how to manage property.”

Property managers vs. property owners

Through alternative teachings of “stewardship” from progressive Christian traditions, we hear that the duty of a steward is inherently tied to an acknowledgement that what you are caring for is not yours.  It all belongs to God.  How can we, as a contemporary society, reconcile with our past, while we live on and are fed by land that was never ours to re-distribute?

Dr. Tink Tinker, Osage elder, candidly shared the following as part of Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis:

Never forget that your wealth, the home that you live in (whether you own it or rent it), the salary you earn, comes from the theft of Indian land, the extraction of resources from that Indian land, and the oppression of forced labor on African peoples who were kidnapped and brought here to work this land. And then, in order to keep labor prices low, Asian peoples were brought in to compete with African people after the Civil War. All of this so that your christian people might have and keep all the more. When you’re on the receiving end of that land and wealth, you might see it as “God’s great gift.” But in reality, it is a tragedy. When you’re on the receiving end of that oppression from the christians, their God is an abject oppressor and not at all a savior.”

Listen with new ears

Woody Guthrie wrote, “This Land is Your Land” in 1940 and since then it has been taken on as an alternative national anthem by people of various political perspectives.  I urge you to listen with new ears this Independence Day as we continue to wrestle with those little prepositions that mean so much.  Is this land that we belong to or come from? Are we a country who cherishes freedom of religion or from religion?  Have we made it a land of the free or are those who are free the only ones with land?

• Featured image credit:  https://www.quoteswave.com/picture-quotes/365414

Phoebe Morad is the Executive Director of Lutherans Restoring Creation (LRC), a grassroots movement promoting care for creation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. We accomplish this by cultivating a community of dedicated stewards of earth and neighbor who proclaim God’s promise of hope and healing for all. For updated resources, events, and worship ideas visit: Lutherans Restoring Creation 

If you enjoyed this blog, you may also enjoy an earlier blog about Lutherans Restoring Creation or this one about the Galapagos Islands or this earlier blog about Independence Day.

The post #ListenLearnLove: Whose Land of the Free? appeared first on How Wise Then.

Guest blog by Phoebe Morad
Executive Director of Lutherans Restoring Creation

Lutherans Restoring Creation.org (LCR)

In 2010 dozens of representatives from around the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American (ELCA) gathered to learn about introducing a new ELCA curriculum for congregations: “Care for Creation.” That gathering of students, seminary professors, and theologians launched a movement that has now evolved into thousands of “earth-keepers” who work together through Lutherans Restoring Creation (LRC).

Since then, we have become an official, independent non-profit which invites ELCA community members from a variety of backgrounds to gather and discover common ground as part of our Christian vocation to be good stewards.  All are welcome to the table who want to learn more about how to care for their neighbors as an inherent part of deepening their relationship with God.  In preparation for speaking to “earth-care” issues in the church the scope of “neighbor” is widened to include all with whom we share this common home. LRC works to ensure leadership trainings (virtual or in-person) are not just a one-time, feel good event. Through consistent accompaniment and presence of our established organization and dedicated staff, the efforts of many across the country can be heard together as a chorus, rather than a few people singing to their own choirs.

Fruits of LRC’s Labor

Below are some of the highlights of this group’s results since that first gathering in 2010:

• Trained over 600 individuals through summits, assembly workshops, and retreats about the theological connections and non-partisan resources to best utilize existing church structures to make progress in becoming true stewards of all resources and loving our global neighbors.
• We’ve seen an average of 20 participants attend retreats around the country since 2011, with attendance sometimes as high as 50.
• Hundreds of ELCA members have been exposed to LRC resources via our “green shepherds” who speak at assemblies and other regional conferences.
• Created online forms to register personal pledges for lifestyle changes (for kids, youth, and adults) and for entire ELCA Congregations via the Action Plan.
• Lutheran “green teams” are working in 21 states with dozens of trained Green Shepherds, Speakers, and Energy Stewards ready to assist other ministry groups to accomplish their congregation’s custom Action Plans.
• LRC continues to have the largest faith denomination representation participating in the EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager program. Twenty-one ELCA Congregations from nine different states are certified with this free software which compares energy and water usage across the nation.

More to Do

We’ve made some progress since the first Earth Day in 1970. Environmental engineering is now offered as a major at many universities. We’ve cleaned up some of the waterways and air. Increasing numbers of people are aware of the plastic problem. We’ve made good progress in improving transportation fuel efficiency and finding alternative ways to heat and cool our work and living places. We have accomplished much, but there remains yet much more to do.

If you want to help your faith community grow in awareness and action to ensure a safe, clean, vibrant future for us all, contact Lutherans Restoring Creation.

Thank you Phoebe Morad and LRC for the work you do on behalf of all us. When I see so much abuse of the natural world, I can’t help but wonder if God might regret bailing humans out all those previous times we disregarded and disrespected God’s glorious creation.

If you found this blog useful, you may also find these blogs of interest: Galapagos Islands, Nature’s Pest Control System, The Plastic Problem, or Why We Should Care  by Lisa Brenskelle, one of the people who attended the first LRC organizing event and a Houston based earth-keeper.

Thank you for taking time to read this guest blog. I hope you found it informative and inspirational. If so, why not share it with a friend? If you got this from a friend, you can have your very own free subscription by signing up at up at HowWiseThen. I am always looking for leads about people using their time and energy to make useful contributions to our global village. If you have someone to recommend for a future HowWiseThen blog, please let me know. Check out my website for your free download of resources.

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Cowboy Boots by Karen Haueisen Crissinger

My first memory of mom-as-writer was sitting in her lap while she changed the goofball to italics. That was the day I learned the value of taking a minute to set aside work and cuddle the kid. I silently. promised I would always do the same for mine.

My second memory of mom-as-writer was taking her precious papers to proofread. She paid a nickel per mistake, and I learned the value of attention to detail. (And how to get rich quick when my allowance dried up at the 7-Eleven.)

Mandatory Cowboy Boots

When we moved to Texas, I had no idea that Go Texas day meant donning that dirty red bandana and putting on your Sunday cowboy boots. I was distraught that my closet was filled with midwestern saddle shoes and jeans that were neither starched nor pressed. As I cried to mom, she proudly told me she had just sold an article for $45, which was enough to buy my cowboy boots. That day, I learned that doing the little things along the way netted big results.

After our move, mom wrote Married and Mobile. I learned that she was a real person with real feelings.  She could be sad and confused. I learned the value of self-care so she could keep being Super Mom. That’s a lesson I REALLY wish I’d remembered far sooner in life, but better late than never.

I knew she had an inner muse. I knew she summoned her daily life when she put goofball to paper. I knew if I did something stupid, I would eventually end up in her Sunday sermon. Me, I wrote diaries. I wrote morning pages inspired by The Artist’s Way. I wrote English papers and book reviews. I wrote long letters (on paper!) to the friends I left behind when I came back to Ohio for college.

And Then I Had Children

I had no idea early on the comedic value of children. The year my daughter whined that there was noooothing to read at the library, and books were soooo boring, we decided as a family to write something she would read. We wrote the humorous tales The Kokopelli Capers, about kids who developed magical powers and saved the universe from an ice storm. Those ideas entertained us all summer and made for many pages. Eventually we moved on to other things, and my visions of the four of us on stage at Good Morning America, lauding our creative greatness, were dashed like the waning days of that summer vacation.

Then came the day I had to teach my twins to plunge a toilet – a lesson that went poorly, at best. Suddenly, an idea was born. I was so proud of myself for mothering that near vomitous experience that the snark book practically wrote itself. I soon determined that other people deserved the benefit of my genetic gift for words and sarcasm. I should write a book! Better, a whole series of books!  Other parents should be able to hand my brilliance to their 12-year old children and watch them learn the lessons of life, conveniently packaged in a bright, colorful book that even their 5-year old brothers could read! I found a small publisher and it was off to the races; Big Kids Flush was born. Its sequels, Big Kids Wash the Dishes and Big Kids Chew with Their Mouths Closed, were tucked away awaiting their turns to take Amazon by storm. I would be the next Adam Mansbach. Finally! Good Morning America would have its finger on the call button, begging me to tell the world about my mom’s tremendous influence on my success!

Not As Easy As It Looks

Of course, like most things in life, there was far more work than met the eye. Writing is the expression of an idea into some readable format. Publishing is a whole different ballgame.  Shortly after Big Kids Flush hit the digital marketplace, I developed a new level of respect for mom. She worked at it. She workshopped it. She talked about it and read about it and went on retreats in beautiful places to think about it. My ten self-bought copies of my firstborn book sat on the shelf collecting dust, waiting for me to give them as occasional gifts to some other sarcastic parent.

These days, my writing has shifted to my other great creative outlet. Today my ideas are patterns; my words are fabric; my punctuation and grammar are needle and thread. I make my living making stuff, repairing stuff, and altering stuff for other people. Will I write again? Some day. Those lessons I learned at my mother’s knee are deeply ingrained in my soul. I write long, emotional letters to my kids that send them into hiding where no one can see them cry as my words touch the memories of their childhood. I write coherent emails with full words and sentences. I use the Oxford comma in my texts. (Long live the Oxford comma!).

Writers give gifts that no movie producer can replicate. Writers make us feel so deeply we get lost in their words for days. Writers push our imagination to places far beyond our limits. Writers move mountains, speak for the unspoken, and drive change. Writers bring us together at book clubs around the world, sipping wine while trying to dissect the author’s meaning of life.

Nonstop Merry-go-round of ideas

What’s it like growing up with one? It’s a nonstop merry-go-round of ideas and possibilities.  It’s a daily desire to make people think and dream and feel. It’s seeing the tiniest grain of sand and the vast expanse of the universe in a simple string of letters. Maybe one day my kids will get the bug and put themselves on paper. Maybe they’ll learn a few lessons about life. Maybe they’ll just “mom” me and roll their eyes while I wax poetic. I mean, I’ve done the same thing once or twice. But in a rare gesture of sincerity, thanks, mom.  For all of it.

Karen Haueisen Crissinger resides in Columbus, Ohio with her husband, two stepdaughters, and pictures of her three children who have scattered to exotic places like Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Arkansas. She aspires to travel the world in search of all the beautiful things there are. She is a lover of the law, hugger of kids, sewer of clothes, writer of words, taker of pictures, and a junkie for Pinterest. If you’re anxiously awaiting the resurgence of the Big Kids Books, please reach out to Karen at facebook.com/bigkidsbooks.  For custom creation questions (t-shirt quilts, flower girl dresses, thematic kid clothes, etc.) you can find her at facebook.com/karencrissingercreations. You can also contact Karen directly at khaueisen@att.net

If you’ve enjoyed reading this mother/daughter blog, perhaps you’ll also enjoy a mother-in-law or Mother’s Day.

Thank you for taking time to read my daughter’s guest blog. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, please  forward it to a friend. If you want to read future weekly blogs about people and programs making helpful contributions to society, sign up at HowWiseThen. I’m currently giving away a section from the study guide from of my most recent book, Asunder.

The post Moms-Who-Write – Karen Haueisen Crissinger appeared first on How Wise Then.

The first order of business – brush my teeth. My toothbrush is plastic, but I use it twice daily for perhaps several months before I replace it. My pills are all contained in plastic bottles. I put them in my seven-compartment plastic pill dispenser that I have used for at least a decade now. It was clear before the first cup of coffee I will not be able to totally avoid using plastic. I modified my expectations, thinking perhaps I could get through one day without using any single-use plastic items.

Single-Use Plastic

Next up – get the paper from the driveway – wrapped in plastic. Sigh. Well, later I’ll use that to pick up after the pooch when I take him for a walk. The stupidity of it – wrapping a perfectly natural fertilizer substance in plastic that goes into another plastic bag as I do my part to keep our neighborhood dog poop free. At least I get two uses out of the plastic around the paper. And we only put a plastic garbage bag at the curb a couple of times a month, so technically I don’t think that should count as a single-use plastic.  How easy it is to justify our actions.

By breakfast I realize this single-use plastic-free day is going to be rather challenging. The coffee comes in a container consisting of cardboard, metal, and a plastic lid, but It will last me about two months – so maybe that’s not so bad. The eggs are in a cardboard twelve-pack. Phew. Uh oh. The juice is in a plastic bottle, but it holds eight servings; so technically it’s not single-use. The bread is in a plastic wrapper. But then again, it’ll take me at least a week to go through the whole loaf. The strawberries and blueberries came home in plastic containers, but I store them in the refrigerator for a week or longer. So, does that count as single-use? Perhaps not. I’ll recycle all this, but how do I know it isn’t eventually going to end up in the stomach of some unsuspecting sea creature? I can’t know. I do not control what happens after I drop it off at the recycling center.

Reduced Plastic Usage

By lunch I’m doing errands and don’t want to take time to go home. At the fast-food place, I decide to dine in. The less-than-fine meal comes to me wrapped in paper. Score one for the plastic-free day effort. It’s all finger food, so I can avoid the plastic eating utensils. The drink comes in a paper cup. I pass on the straw and skip the lid. Lunch went better than breakfast in the plastic-free department. To entertain myself I pull out my phone and check the latest e-mails and social media posts. I realize the phone contains some plastic, but I use it several hours a day, according to the phone’s tracking device. It definitely does not qualify as a single-use plastic item.

The list of errands includes picking up the dry-cleaning – which is of course covered in plastic. I need a couple of things from the grocery store for dinner. All the meat options come wrapped in plastic.If I put individual vegetables in my cart, I can avoid plastic. Ditto for the fruit, if I’m careful about which fruit to add. I pick up milk in a cardboard container this time. Good for me.

However, the applesauce cups are all in plastic. I might still find applesauce in a glass container, but prior experience has taught me it will turn to mold before I use it all, so plastic it is for this item. I feel quasi-righteous as I place my re-usable plastic shopping bags on the conveyer belt. I feel discouraged watching the person in front of me load at least a dozen plastic bags of groceries into his cart.

Plastic, Plastic, Everywhere

Meanwhile back at the ranch house, the mail has arrived. Two magazines, wrapped in plastic, an assortment of solicitation letters, one personal thank you note, and the rest into the paper recycling bag. Today’s mail had only minimal plastic impact.

By late afternoon husband Tom and I debate our dinner options. Maybe tonight we’ll go with a carry-in option. Pizza will come in a cardboard box, with a plastic small container of melted butter in case the pizza itself wasn’t un-nutritious enough. The Chinese choice offers slightly healthier options, but it comes in plastic bowls. If we aren’t quick enough to stop them, they’ll add plastic eating utensils and plastic tubes of assorted sauces. Dining in seems the best non-plastic plan. Later we’ll snack on ice cream. I know, it’s full of calories and sugar; no judging please. It comes in a paper container so it’s better for the environment than the grapes packaged in a plastic bag. Life is one trade off after another.

Plastic Around the World

My plastic-free day was a failure in terms of avoiding plastic for even one day. However, I am more aware than ever how thoroughly plastic has invaded our world. We are literally wrapped in it and we are not so slowly, but surely, killing the natural world with it.

The problem is far more invasive than individual changes of habits can overcome. Yet, we have to start somewhere. Awareness is always the first step in addressing a problem. I hope this blog makes you more aware that we have a plastic problem.

Who cares? That is the next task. Getting people to care. We have to care before we can collectively begin to reduce our reliance on plastic.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Lent is a time to reflect on where we’ve been, where we are, and where we want to go from here. We’ve let our reliance on convenience take a terrible toll on the natural world. We need to repent of our careless ways. We need to resolve to use less plastic and pay more attention to our use and abuse of the natural world. Like it or not, we are mortal mammals dependent on the earth for our very existence.

My plastic-free day was a failure in terms of avoiding the stuff; but my awareness of the problem is greater. Now I pause before I select an item wrapped in plastic and select another item if that’s an option. I carry a cloth bag and decline the plastic one at the check-out counter. I recycle what I can. I reuse when I can. I invite you to join me in the effort to reduce, reuse, and recycle plastic so it doesn’t end up clogging our rivers, lakes, and oceans. Let’s work together to prevent plastic from ending up in the stomachs of innocent animals who pay the price for our negligence.

Other posts about the environment:

Armchair Care for Creation

Why We Should All Care About Creation

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Tassie Hewitt and I met at a critique group. I hope my laughing at her writing has been part of her inspiration.

Tassie Types – The Story of My Writing Life

For most of my life I’ve been a closet writer, hiding my thoughts and feelings in private notebooks.  My mother bought me my first diary when I was in elementary school, complete with a lock and tiny gold key. “Keep Out! Reading this may be dangerous to your health and mine, too,” I scrawled on the first page.

I graduated to journal writing in high school when a friend gave me a blank Nothing Book, my first of seven. My love for writing led me to my first journalism class my senior year where I wrote feature articles for the Three Penny Press, Bellaire High School’s newspaper. I basked in the glory of seeing my name in print and knew then I wanted to be a writer one day!

A college professor encouraged me to submit a humorous piece about struggling to do the Jane Fonda workout, which was the rage in the 80’s. I was thrilled when the TCU Skiff published it, with my photo and author bio.  Maybe I could be a writer, one day!  I was hooked. I loved the power my pen had to make people laugh.

First Paid Steps Into Publishing

I interned at the Dallas D Magazine,and wrote for Aura Magazine and the Houston Chronicle. I was also a contributing feature writer for Katy Magazine. I loved interviewing people and helping them share their stories, but I yearned to write fiction.

I took writing classes and joined the West Houston Writers Group, writing about what I knew best – growing up Greek, family, marriage, and motherhood. Inspired by the antics of my three children, I began writing about them, not even changing their names. The laughter of my critique group was my reward. I valued their support and feedback. I wanted to find a home for my stories because I didn’t feel like a writer if no one could read what I’d written.

I discovered the Listen to Your Mother Show, a series of live, on-stage readings across America. The Southeast Texas show was accepting submissions about motherhood for area auditions.  On a whim and a prayer, I sent in my short story, First Dance,about a mother who drives her daughter and her date home with one eye on the road, and one eye on the backseat. I was invited to audition!

The judges laughed as hard as my writing group had and I was chosen to be in the show. Performing a story I’d written to an auditorium full of people, and hearing them laugh at all the right places was a dream come true. Their laughter was the affirmation I needed to fuel my desire to write another funny story, and another. I discovered the power of humor to connect the human spirit. We all want to laugh. We all want to believe we’re not in this crazy life alone.

Networking Pays Dividends

I joined the Houston Writers Guild and a small weekly critique group. These talented writers keep me motivated and accountable. They inspired me to attend HWG conferences with workshops on creativity, editing, publishing and branding, plus invaluable networking opportunities with other local writers.

When the Guild hosted a contest for a travel-themed anthology, Outside the Window-Tales of the World,I submitted two stories about family vacations.  In Northern Heights,a woman faces her greatest fear when her daughters shame her into zip-lining. In Juan, Two, Three,a recently divorced mom takes her children to Mexico on a trip that almost ends in ruins, until she realizes the best revenge for a broken heart is living a good life. I was thrilled when the Writer’s Guild published both submissions and gave me Honorary Mention for each story.

Attending the Dayton, Ohio Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop was one of the best things I did for my writing career. As the authors, comediennes, and publishers shared their experiences, I knew, I want to be a humor writer! The high point that weekend was the book launch of Laugh Out Loud, 40 Women Humorists Celebrate the Then and Now, Before They Forget. I was thrilled to have my short story, Spin Cycle, included in the anthology. In it, a middle-aged woman teaches her first spinning class and discovers the best part about aging is not caring what anyone thinks, unless they think she’s old.

Successful Writers Invest in Themselves

For inspiration, I read Erma Bombeck, Dave Barry, and David Sedaris who reveal personal moments with humor and heart. Like them, I write about the universal themes that connect us all. I’ve found almost everyone, no matter their age or gender, relates to a vacation gone wrong, demanding kids, a crazy pet or ex-husband. Each of my short stories is centered on a smart, brave main character who faces her fears, becomes stronger because of them, and inspires others along the way. She goes Plumb Crazy when she makes the mistake of leaving her handyman husband home alone with a honey-do list. She’s horrified to discover her nest might not be as empty as she thinks when something’s been gnawing on her bread in Of Mice and Women.  She makes us laugh, cry and feel. Through her misadventures and middle-aged mishaps, she shows us we don’t have to be perfect to have a perfectly amazing life.

Advice for New and Discouraged Writers

Because writing can be lonely work, I take advantage of the motivating workshops and classes Houston offers. I surround myself with other writers through Houston Writers Guild, WriteSpace Writing Center and my writing critique group.

I also find it helpful to read what I want to write and write what I want to read. When there’s the dreaded writer’s block in the middle of the road, I detour around it, recognizing it could mean I’m still busy living the story I’m trying to tell. I change topics or locations to write. When the writing well runs dry I take a class, challenge myself with a new activity, or travel to get the keyboard clicking again.  If my inbox is filled with more rejection than acceptance letters from publishers, I recover, resubmit, and reach out to my readers in other ways.

Follow Tassie @ Tassie Types

 Tassie Types was born from my desire to expand my readership and send my creations into the world.  The funniest thing happened to me the other day, I reveal to my readers. Let me tell you all about it.It’s a coming of middle-age blog about growing up and older. It’s about friendship, family, courage and love, and laughing without fear of the future.

I’ve found my writing voice and I’m not afraid to use it. I’m currently working on a collection of short stories inspired by my big, fat, Greek life, Greek Tragedies, and Other Funny Stories.

My stories are found in The Ocotillo Review,(Volumes 2.1 and 2.2), Laugh Out Loud, 40 Women Humorists Celebrate the Then and Now, Before They Forget, and Outside the Window-Tales of the World.  Visit me at TassieTypes.com and follow me on Facebook and Instagram – @TassieTypes.

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Writers Retreat Coming Up in April

Do you have your own story knocking to get out? Join us at the lovely Galveston Zion Retreat Center April 26 – 28, 2019. Get writing tips and time to write in a quite place a few minutes from the beach. Register soon as we can only accommodate 14 people. More information is available at Lutherhill Ministries.

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The Audubon Society

http://www.audubon.org. Five star rating by Charity Navigator.

Two Massachusetts women, Harriet Hemenway and Mina Hall, were appalled at the practice of slaughtering millions of water birds to make women’s hats. They turned their anger into action and formed the Massachusetts Audubon Society in 1896. Within two years there were fifteen more state Societies, plus one in the District of Columbia. By 1901 the state Audubon groups joined to form a national organization which helped establish the first U.S. National wildlife Refuge in Pelican Island, Florida in 1903.

Their mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humans and the planet. Audubon works to protect habitat and  partners with Congress, the executive branch, courts, and mass media to ensure our great natural heritage endures for generations.

This year the Audubon Society joins with National Geographic, BirdLife International, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in the 2018 year long celebration of birds.

Their website contains a wealth of information about their efforts, tips for birding, and information impacting wildlife. Members receive a quarterly beautiful magazine with success stories and issues needing our attention.

National Parks Conservation Association

https://www.npca.org Three star rating by Charity Navigator

We’re probably all familiar with President Teddy Roosevelt’s efforts to create a national parks system to preserve some of our country’s most pristine and breath-taking places for future generations. The mission of the NPCA is to protect and enhance our national parks. Established in 1919, it is an independent, nonpartisan voice working to address major threats facing the National Park System. They advocate for the national parks and the National Park Service; educate decision-makers and the public about the importance of preserving our parks and help convince Congress to uphold the laws that protect the parks. When necessary they fight attempts to weaken these laws in the courts.

Do we really want to see condos or mining equipment in the Grand Canyon? Without laws and people committed to enforcing the laws, we could well be the last generation to see such astonishing places in their natural splendor.

Their website offers information about the parks we own in common, the issues threatening them, and ways we can become more involved.

Nature Conservancy

https://support.nature.org  Not rated by Charity Navigator, but approved by Better Business Bureau

Formed in 1951, The Nature Conservancy works in partnership with individuals, local communities, government agencies, and private businesses to protect natural landscape in order to provide diverse plant and animal populations. When possible, The Nature Conservancy purchases land outright. In other cases they work with easements and partner with local agencies and other groups. They work around the globe to protect ecologically important land and water vital for the well being of nature and people.

Since its inception the organization has protected 119 million acres of land and thousands of miles of rivers. They operate over 100 marine conservation projects around the world. By the numbers: 65 year history of actively promoting sensible conservation. Supported by 1 Million members. Supported in their efforts by 600 scientists. Ensuring the health of 100 Million acres in 70 countries.

The Sierra Club Foundation

https://www.sierraclub.org Four star rating from Charity Navigator

John Muir established the Sierra Club in 1892. Today it is the largest, and most influential, grassroots environmental organization. Over 3 Million members and supporters enable the organization to protect millions of acres of wilderness. They played an active role in passing such laws as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act. Recently they have been engaged in public work to promote clean energy options.

It is their mission to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places on Earth. It is also their mission to practice and promote responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources. They also focus on educating others to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment.

On their website you can learn about places they have protected, projects they are currently tackling, and ways you can go on trips with them.

World Wildlife Fund

https://www.worldwildlife.org Three Star Rating by Charity Navigator

By the 1960’s issues like the Cuyahoga River catching fire and concerns about the lethal impact of dumping raw sewage into our lakes, rivers, and oceans caught the attention of men and women who saw the immediate need for action. However, funding is always an issue when attempting to do right by the natural world. In 1961 a small group of global organizations, doing what they could to address conservation needs, lacked adequate funding.  The Morges Manifesto was signed by 16 of the world’s leading conservationists in 1961. The Manifesto declared that the World Wildlife Fund be established as an international organization to work in collaboration with existing conservation groups to provide the funding required for a global conservation effort.

The WWF mission is the conservation of nature. Relying on the best available scientific knowledge, the organization works to preserve diversity and abundance of natural life. They focus on protecting natural areas, including populations of wildlife and plants. They promote sustainable methods to use renewable natural resources and encourage more efficient use of these resources for maximum reduction of pollution.

Their website provides information about protecting endangered species, addressing climate change issues, ways to get involved, and issues that impact the health and well being of us all.

Additionally, their logo is an adorable Panda. Who wouldn’t want to support that?

People, plants, and animals all share one planet. Think global. Act local.

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Lisa was one of the first people to attend the Lutherans Restoring Creation training event in 2010. Five synods (geographic areas) within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) received grants to form synodical teams to support congregations in their synod in becoming greener. Their church, Christ the King Lutheran in Houston, formed a small team the following year. The team hosts events and inform people of resources available to help them reduce their negative impact on the environment.

Faith Communities Can Lead the Way

Today Lisa hosts monthly topics for individuals and congregation that want to get involved. via webinars. For the year 2018 the over all theme of the Webinars is Stewardship. Subthemes are care of plants, air, soil, water, etc. I recently attended an event, which was also a webinar, about the advantages of using solar power for homes and faith communities. The technology is in place. Now we need people to care enough to use it, ultimately greatly reducing their carbon contribution to the environment. Lisa also writes a monthly article for the Gulf Coast Synod’s electronic newsletter and provides congregations with bulletin insert blurbs.

She suggests that congregations that want to become more environmentally conscious and responsible begin with conversations with church staff and councils. Once that group of people endorses the need to do more, the next step is to form a small team who will bring ideas to the congregation for ways to improve the congregation’s impact on the local community. Lisa Brenskelle is available to serve as a resource to congregations wanting to go green. Contact her directly at gcs.lrc@gmail.comfor ways to get started or increase your efforts.

Today there are many excellent resources available, both through programs that may charge a small fee and through manuals with ideas for how to go green. One place to find resources is at Lutherans Restoring Creation.

9 Million People Die Each Year from Pollution

Caring about our negative impact isn’t just for the “tree huggers” among us. Lisa reports that more people die every year from pollution than from war and hunger combined. Each year over 4 million people die from air pollution alone. Five million more die from pollution in our water and soil, an astounding total of 9 million annual deaths due to pollution.

Some communities are more impacted than others, but we are all exposed to pollution through what we breathe, drink, and eat. You can read about it in an article published by Lancett.   For several generations now most of us have been disconnected from the sources of our food, energy, and other resources. Most of us see nature from our climate controlled homes, offices, and cars. This can lead us to the false conclusion pollution is someone else’s problem. It impacts every living thing. All of our lives are dependent on the natural world. Why should we care? Because our lives depend on it.

• Air pollution is associated with bronchitis and heart and asthma attacks.
• Although the water coming into our homes is treated, we still ingest the unsafe water taken in by the plants and animals we eat.
• Whether humans are responsible or not, the climate is shifting. Weather is more erratic in recent years. The cold is colder and the hot is hotter. Storms are more severe and frequent. If there are some things we can do to mitigate the damage, shouldn’t we do them?
• The birds and bees matter. Without bees plants don’t get pollinated. Without pollination, we don’t get food from them. Birds also play an integral part in planting new plants.

Many Small Changes Yield One Big Difference

We don’t have to make drastic changes to make a huge positive difference. Many small changes will lead to one large improvement. Mother Nature thanks us for our efforts with cleaner air, safer water, healthier food, and a more beautiful planet Earth home. To learn more about steps we can all take to reduce the toxic water, air, and soil check out these resources:

• Climate of Hope, by Carl Pope and Michael Bloomberg
• 50 Simple Things You Can Do To Save The Earth, by John, Sophie & Jesse Javna.
• The Silent Sky, by Allan W. Eckert
• Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson

Read, learn, respond.

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