Several years ago, I began to become concerned about climate change and our plight on Planet Earth. We’ve been blessed with a beautiful planet, but somehow, we seem hellbent on destroying it. Here in the United States, we’ve had ample natural resources for several centuries. Now things are catching up with us. Our planet is warming, our resources are being depleted, species are going extinct.
As a Christian, I believe it’s our responsibility to be good stewards of what was entrusted to us. At this time, I believe we must repent of our sinfulness and turn around and start taking care of our environment, God’s amazing creation before it’s too late. And so I ask myself, “What is mine to do?”
When I first asked this question, I didn’t think Nancy could do anything about it. But as I prayed each day, fingering prayer beads I made in a Spiritual Ecology class, God began to teach me there is much I can do. I began to incorporate Earth issues into my spiritual leadership. I became involved in Citizens’ Climate Lobby, advocating for a bipartisan response to address climate change, and I decided to write for the Earth.
At the time, I had written one book, Revelation in the Cave, about the Magnificent and Marvelous Book Club, the MAMs. I began to dream about their second adventure. I created the scenario for them where the fictitious MAMs began reading books about Earth issues and became concerned about climate change, too. Then one of them heard a call to start an organic farm for re-entry women in recovery. In this book, they open the FARM, Farming and Restoring with the MAMs. Climate change impacts their farm. They also develop a second group home for men called the Sun Power House. The son of a main character comes up with a solution for climate change. This book became Revelation in the Labyrinth, published in 2017 by eLectio Publishing.
After reading the book, I hope that readers will take climate change more seriously and take action, join Citizens’ Climate Lobby and work toward solutions, like the characters in the book.
Later, I read Active Hope: How to Address the Mess We’re in Without Going Crazy by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone. They recommended writing a letter to yourself from the Earth. When I did this, I received a wonderful letter and agreed to receive more. These letters became a book, a memoir about a year in my life when I grappled with climate change, the cancer journey of my friend and the sudden death of my brother. My book, Letters from the Earth, was published in 2018 by Higher Ground Books and Media. Although I wrote the letters, the Earth signs them “Gaia” and I believe they come from God, the loving Spirit who created and sustains our universe.
I hope that the letters will encourage and help readers, as they did me. They provide helpful advice on how to live in this difficult time. They also call us to speak up and take action. I hope readers will hear and respond to this call to do this important work.
My third MAMs book, Revelation in the Roots: Emerald Isle, published by All Things That Matter Press in 2022, is yet another effort to write for the Earth. The story line involves genealogy, racism and political division. In the United States today, our deeply divided political situation makes cooperation to address climate change difficult. I believe we must come together as a country. That’s what this book is about. I want people who read this book to look for ways to bridge our great divide.
With my last book, I decided to write about the beauty of the Earth. My friend, Pastor Tom Carr, likes to remind us that we save what we love. I created the character of Mariah, a young woman in love with the Earth. The story journeys with her through the seasons. She collects fall leaves, dances in the snow, plants seeds in the spring and enjoys the summer. It’s her love story with Max, a wind scientist. Max and his fellow wind scientist, Buck, get harassed by a troll from the fossil fuel industry. I wrote this to call attention to the fact that in real life climate scientists receive death threats from trolls paid by the fossil fuel industry, trying to silence the truth about how our fossil fuel use is warming the earth. Mariah of the Wind was published by All Things That Matter Press in 2023.
I hope readers will also celebrate the beauty of the Earth and work to save it, like Max and Buck and Mariah. I also hope to expose the evil practice of the fossil fuel industry and wake people up to the problem we have with misinformation about climate science.
You can find more information about my books on my website at SpiritualSeedlings.com and nancyflinchbaugh.com. Follow me on Facebook at Nancy Flinchbaugh Author and on https://www.youtube.com/@nancyflinchbaugh. I hope you’ll read my books, but more importantly, I hope you will also speak up and take action for our beautiful Earth, for us all.