Living With Lincoln

"Lincoln the Lawyer", by Laredo Taft, located in Carle Park, Urbana, IL

Just in time for the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln, I've finished reading "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It's a long book, and I spent the better part of a month reading it. It is absolutely worth the time, and I would rank it among the very best of the biographies and histories I have read. I loved Carl Sandburg's poetic Lincoln biography. This is totally different, in that Goodwin is essentially focused on a character study not only of Lincoln, but the men he chose to serve in his cabinet. It is a thesis on leadership.


Here's the thing: I still feel immersed in this book; I still feel I am being shaped by what Goodwin revealed about these men. I feel, more than ever, that my own character will be formed by reflecting on the character of Lincoln. I'm convinced that this one individual is the greatest leader this nation has had so far.

Marker outside the Champaign County Courthouse

I say that I feel this "more than ever", because, to some degree, like many native Central Illinoisians, Lincoln has always been part of my life. Just as multi-generational New Englanders surely feel the presence and influence of those early Puritan settlers as they look around their towns, we can hardly go more than a few miles without a recognition, in some way, that Abraham Lincoln was present in our county courthouses, boarding in homes and taverns all over the area while he rode the circuit, debating Stephen Douglas at our fairgrounds, and giving campaign speeches from the back of a rail car at every little whistle-stop in the middle of the prairie.

I'm sure my fiery abolitionist ancestors here in Champaign County must have been present when he spoke at the courthouse that sits just three miles across town from my house. I'm almost certain they would have known him personally, meeting him when he was living in Urbana arguing cases, as there are records stating that they ardently campaigned for him. That family volunteered a father and three sons, as well as two sons-in-law, to fight in the Civil War. Two died; one 16 year-old was captured and sent to Andersonville Prison, from which he escaped and walked back to Illinois. They believed, like Lincoln, in the preservation of the Union and the containment and eventual elimination of slavery, and they acted upon those beliefs. They saw Lincoln as their moral leader.

170 year old coverlet from my Springfield ancestors, hanging in my stairwell

I know that my ancestors in Springfield knew the Lincolns well. My father has, stored somewhere safe, a note from a very young Abe Lincoln that is an IOU to my great-great-great grandfather for spotting him the cost of some postage. Later, when Lincoln was a lawyer in Springfield, he was a near neighbor and friend with my family, and they socialized frequently, and wrote letters when separated. I grew up being told of this relationship. My family donated the land on which Lincoln's Tomb is located, as a gesture of honor to their friend.

Abraham Lincoln isn't held up as a great man because he "just happened" to be president during the Civil War. Sesession occured between his election and his inauguration in part because he was elected, because of who he was and what he stood for. No, he is a great man because, despite the bleakest of childhoods, destitute even by frontier standards, he made something of himself, and yet never seemed to become possessed by the desire to become rich. He is great because, with less than one full year of formal schooling, he compulsively self-educated, becoming a lawyer, a congressman, and, after defeating much more highly educated men, president, and yet never seemed to value himself more than he valued others. He is great because, through the testimony of every person who ever met him, it is clear that despite a life in politics, there was never a vindictive bone in his body. He never acted out of pettiness or temper. He remained comfortable with both the commonest people and those at the highest levels of the social order. He respected and loved people with whom he disagreed vehemently. He pondered his major decisions at length, and then, once he made them, never second-guessed himself.

I'm sure that I have never met or known of a person like that in this day and time. The other great men of his time, despite tremendous accomplishments, simply were never his equals, and they readily admitted that fact.

One of the hardest things about reading "Team of Rivals" was knowing what was coming at the end. Throughout the book, admiration and love for Lincoln grow in the reader; but he's going to be assassinated. You know that. When it comes, it is still stunning, staggering.

Read this profound book about this unparalleled life. Surely there isn't any American whose life is more suitable for pondering.

Book Review-"Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Over the past year, several friends have highly recommended "Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time". I finally finished it this week, and I agree with them; it's a very inspiring read.

Greg Mortenson is a son of missionaries who spent a good part of his childhood in Africa. After a tour of duty in the military, he was pursuing his hobby of mountaineering in the Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan in 1993 when an aborted climb landed him in an extremely remote mountain village. The relationships he developed there, and his recognition of the deep desire the villagers had for an educated future for their children, ignited a passion in him for building a school for the village. Single-handedly, and against tremendous odds, he raised the funds, located the materials, and oversaw the labor of the villagers themselves to bring the first educational opportunity to their children. When word of this accomplishment got out in the surrounding area, other village leaders came to him to beg that he would help them do the same.

Eventually he formed the Central Asia Institute, a foundation set up to continue building schools in the most remote and politically fragile areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the Taliban attempts to deny access to education for girls, and where radical madrassas train boys in the most extreme form of Islam. Mortenson's schools are open to girls as well as boys, and offer a standard secular education. Many who have followed the progress of the Central Asia Institute recognize it as the best hope for opening the area to peaceful relations with the West, as well as offering opportunities for these remote villagers to raise up teachers, medical workers, and leaders from their own ranks.

Mortenson's work in a region of the world that is currently in conflict with the U.S. has drawn the attention of Congressional leaders. He has been asked to brief Congress on conditions in the Afghan-Pakistan border area. He has put a human face on the people of Central Asia, and championed their desire to find ways to raise themselves up and interact peacefully with the West.

Reading the book is a terrific way to gain an understanding of a part of the world that may be daily in the news, but remains a mystery to most Americans. The ruggedness of the terrain, the misunderstandings of culture, the differences between the various strains of Islam, and the challenges the West faces in dealing with the emergence of radical Islam are all explored in "Three Cups of Tea". Mortenson was in that part of the world when 9-11 occurred. He was captured and held by the Taliban at one point, and feared for his life. Yet, his love for the ordinary villagers caught in the maelstrom of war shines through in his work for them.

I came way with two thoughts: first, that the fruit of his efforts is only now beginning to ripen, as the first students of his schools reach adulthood and go on to higher education, leaving their villages for further training, and having interaction with the wider world. We will see the snowball effect of this as we move into the future. Secondly, as horrifying as 9-11 was, and perpetrated by those bent on evil, this one good has come from it: the attention on Mortenson's work that resulted has brought his organization the recognition and funding it deserves, and has lead to a burst of school building that will be, in my opinion, impossible to be erased by the Taliban, no matter how much they may try to eliminate the CAI schools. It is possible that the ultimate effect of binLaden's attack on the U.S. will be the cultural and political opening of Central Asia to the rest of the world. It will be fascinating to watch.

I highly recommend this book, giving it five stars.

If you'd like to learn more about CAI and it's work, you can go to http://www.threecupsoftea.com/. If you order the book through that site, or through Amazon, a portion of the cost will go toward Mortenson's work.

For more great book reviews, head over to The Blogging Bookworm.

Book Review- "The More-With-Less Cookbook" by Doris Janzen Longacre

As our economic crisis deepens, and frugality has become the mode, I've thought more and more that I should post a review of "The More-With-Less Cookbook", by Doris Janzen Longacre.

As a young mom, living on a shoestring budget, and trying to learn how to cook from the large vegetable garden I grew to help feed my family, I came to rely on this remarkable little volume, with it's garden-to-table recipes, and instructions that emphasized cooking "from scratch". As a Christian, trying to align my lifestyle with the doctrine of justice for the poor, I loved it's emphasis on consuming only our fair share of the planet's resources, so that we could not only control our own budget, but have enough to give and share with others.

Amazingly, it's still in print, and available through Amazon.com, though Doris Janzen Longacre died of cancer in 1979, shortly after the publication of her second book, "Living More With Less". Both of these books were very influential for me, and have continued to color the way I look at homemaking over the years.

Longacre was commissioned by the Mennonite Central Committee to use her background as a dietitian to collect recipes and ideas from the world-wide Mennonite community and adjust those recipes to reflect contemporary nutritional research and food justice issues. Many of the recipes submitted by the mostly agrarian Mennonites were heavy on sugar and fat. Longacre experimented to readjust them so that the well-loved family dishes could be enjoyed just as much, but with healthier ingredients. She collected many meatless dishes, reflecting our growing understanding of the impact of raising livestock on our environment. She gave good, clear teaching regarding moving away from a meat-heavy diet while maintaining good nutrition. At the same time, she managed to celebrate the Swiss-German and Russian culture at the heart of the Mennonite denomination, and elevate the custom of unpretentious hospitality.

I practically wore this book out! It was my essential guide for learning to cook for my growing family for years. In pulling it out to reread the other day, I was flooded with memories of days in our kitchen, surrounded by small children who always wanted to stand on a chair next to me and "watch" as I worked with produce from the garden, or bulk items from a foster parent's food co-op we were part of, or the bags and bags of apples from a second cousin's orchard. Many a dollar was stretched, many a tummy was filled, based on the information and recipes found in this wonderful cookbook.

I hope that you will find a copy of "The More-With-Less Cookbook" and read it, really read it, and absorb the wonderful spirit of Longacre and the Mennonite cooks who submitted recipes to this collection. It has a place in every kitchen where the cook(s) are focused on meals made with love.

Review-"How To Grow Fresh Air" by Dr. B..C. Wolverton

We had our first frost this week, which meant there was an evening when we had to speedily bring in all the potted plants that have spent the warm weather outside, enjoying the extra sunlight and fresh rainwater. Finding room for them inside, especially accounting for their sunlight needs was tricky, because we already have a certain number of houseplants that reside indoors year 'round. This year we also have a large contingent of green things that have moved home with our daughter, who appears to have inherited her love of plants from me. She had a large, sunny bedroom in an old house she shared with some other girls on campus, and a couple of her plant-children are pretty big. We now have plants stuffed in nearly every nook and cranny that is anywhere near a window!

As much as I love houseplants for their beauty, and the homeyness I think they lend to any room, there is another good reason to have them. In his book "How To Grow Fresh Air", Dr. B. C. Wolverton synthesizes 25 years of research on indoor air quality, and explains how we can prevent Sick Building Syndrome, which can cause allergic and respiratory problems. Since most Americans spend about 95% of their time indoors, this is very important information.

Wolverton worked for NASA, teaming with others to find ways to keep air breathable in space stations, and potentially in sealed modular housing that could be used to inhabit other planets. They studied what chemicals building materials, furniture, and appliances and electronics off-gas into the indoor atmosphere, and which plants most effectively remove certain gasses and toxins.

I appreciated the careful explanation of what chemicals are present in our buildings, and what effect they have on our health. Wolverton is able to make this information accessible to some one like me, who does not have a strong background in chemistry. He gives a clear review of the process of plant respiration.

After you learn all this information, there is a good chapter on caring for the plants. Then, most helpful of all, is an extensive list of plants to choose from, with photos, care information, and an explanation of which chemicals that particular plant is good at removing from the environment. For instance, some plants are very useful used in close proximity to computer equipment, some are especially good in bedrooms, since they do more of their breathing at night, when you are sleeping there, and so on.

I loved this book for it's readability, accessible research, and the way it broadened my understanding of the symbiotic relationship we have with the plant kingdom. If you are new to the houseplant world, you should be able to get off to a good start with the growing information. If you are an old hand at it, you will still learn plenty of interest to you. If you are interested in environmental issues, and how to live in a less toxic space, this book would definitely be of use to you, as well.

I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

For more book reviews, go check out The Blogging Bookworm.

Book Review: "Once Upon a Town", by Bob Greene

Are you having a bad day? Is the news beginning to make you wonder if Americans could ever possibly treat each other with respect again? Are you losing faith in the human race? Are you unfamiliar with that big flat area in the middle of the country, and do the people who live there seem as different from you as space aliens? Here's a book to pick up and enjoy, that will lift your spirits and restore your faith in your fellow man.

I just love "Once Upon a Town", by Bob Greene! I've been rereading it for the second time, and realized I wanted everyone I knew to have a chance to enjoy this uplifting book as well, so I decided to put up a review.

While a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, Bob Greene stumbled onto story about the razing of the railroad depot in North Platte, Nebraska. It led him on a fact-finding trip to this small town, and then on to many interviews with people who had lived there during World War II, and also men who had travelled through on the troop trains. He wound up writing an entire book about the phenomenon of the the North Platte Canteen.

Ten days after Pearl Harbor, families and friends of the Nebraska National Guard's Company D heard a rumor that their boys would be coming through North Platte on a troop train as they shipped out to the West Coast. 500 townspeople showed up at the station with food, cigarettes, letters, and love to give to the boys. But there was a mistake. The soldiers on the train were from Kansas' Company D, not Nebraska's. The townspeople decided to go ahead and give the Kansas boys the things they had brought. The train was only in the station for a few minutes, but when they saw how much the young men appreciated what was done for them, the local people, organized by a young woman named Rae Wilson, decided to do this for all the troops coming through North Platte.

What happened after that was something amazing. For four years, day in and day out, all the troop trains were met with cheerful local people serving the men homemade food, coffee, snacks they could take on the train, letters from people they didn't even know, and even a pianist playing their requests, while they quickly ate and visited during the stop. All this was done using
coffee cups that need to be washed, fresh foods raised on the area farms, coffee donated from people's ration books, and food cooked in the homes of people in the area, some of whom did not yet have electricity! The interviews with surviving townspeople are fascinating, describing the commitment and real hardship these folks had to have to continue to serve the young men coming through on train after train, hundreds of men a day. Interviews with veterans who remember the stop are equally moving. They all were so impressed by the generosity and friendliness of the people of North Platte. Some of those letters caused pen-pal relationships to form. A few even led to marriages!

"Once Upon a Town" is not a long book, but it is one of the most uplifting books I've ever read. Greene talks about the modern town of North Platte, as well, and it's a good snapshot, as I can testify, having been there. I don't want to tell you any more about it here; just grab a copy and enjoy! It's a window into a certain place and time that is well worth looking through!

Book Review-The Worst Hard Time, by Timothy Egan

I was contacted by Green Bean and told to quit whining about my garden and get busy and write a book report!

Actually, that's not in the least true, and you all know it. From all I can tell Green Bean is about as nice as pie. But if she had said that, she would have been right on, because I've been procrastinating, and it's high time I told you about a this book, because I really enjoyed reading it.

"The Worst Hard Time" by Timothy Egan falls into my favorite genre of non-fiction, which is social history. I love to read about the ordinary people who lived through a certain time period, and how they responded to the events. For many years I was friends with a lady (who actually was my high school English teacher and a member of my church) who grew up living in a dugout in Southeastern Colorado, as the daughter of a dry-land wheat farmer. She was such an impressive person; so forthright, sensible, and good-humored. She talked about taking a stick to the garden to beat off rattlesnakes, going out with her siblings to hunt for dried cow-chips to burn in their cook-stove, eating cooked cracked wheat for every meal one year when they had to live on their seed wheat, and, sadly, that they all suffered from chronic lung ailments from a childhood spent choking on dust. Any book that told me more about the life she led was interesting to me.

Timothy Egan went to the area that was once know as the Dust Bowl, and interviewed elderly residents who lived through the six continuous years of devastating drought that exacerbated the damage that farmers had unwittingly done to what had been excellent grazing land. These folks were not the Okies that we think of from "The Grapes of Wrath". The Okies were mostly from Eastern Oklahoma, Arkansas, and East Texas, and were poor share-croppers that were displaced by disruptions in the economy. Rather, these were people who had claimed land of their own through the Homestead Act, and were convinced that it could be farmed at a profit. They, for the most part, did not leave, because they were land owners, and they naturally always thought the next year would bring rain and they would make a crop. Some had farmed there very successfully in the 1920's, not realizing that they were experiencing an unusually wet decade. Then, with the 1930's the drought came.

Egan writes about the hardships faced by these people, the mistakes they made in their farming practices, and how a single man, Hugh Bennett, convinced the the government to help these folks learn a new way of farming that could restore the land. One thing he brings out is that the homesteaders were pressured by the government in the 20's to raise wheat, against the better judgement of some who knew the area was drought-prone, and that they were also somewhat doomed to poverty by the rule that stated they could only claim 160 acres, an inadequate amount of land to support a family on the high plains. It was difficult for President Roosevelt to admit that those mistakes had been made, but Hugh Bennett, a soil scientist, finally convinced him, and that allowed for a new approach, offering incentives to farmers to take land out of production and replant it in grass, teaching contour plowing, planting windbreaks, and all sorts of other practices that are routine today.

Reading the first person accounts, I was struck by what a long period of time these massive dust storms went on. For six years, people lived essentially in a blizzard of dust, unable to farm, unable to keep their cars running, unable even to keep schools open, never mind earn a living or even raise a vegetable garden. Their livestock died, their children and older people died of dust pneumonia, their roads and farm equipment were buried by drifts of dirt.

At one point, reading the book in bed, I put it down thinking I couldn't read about yet another dust storm. I turned out the light, and, as I lay in bed, I realized that that was the point of the book. The storms just went on and on and on. It was the only way to help the reader understand what the farmers on the Great Plains went through.

I wish that more time had been spent actually talking about the new soil conservation practices that were implemented. I kept reading, thinking that we would get to the turning point, so to speak, and enjoy the benefits of the new methods. Instead, the book essentially ends with the decision by Roosevelt to agree to Hugh Bennett's initiatives. A short chapter at the end showing us what the area is like today would have been nice.

I also think an exploration of the way Roosevelt's farm subsidy system needed a sunset clause, without which we have been stuck with ongoing economic intervention by the government, would have been helpful. We've yet to extricate ourselves from the New Deal, which, though very much needed in the Depression, is now an albatross around our necks. It was good history for me, though, and allowed me to understand better how we got where we are today.

I would give this book a 4 out of 5 stars if you like social history, and 3 out of 5 if you are looking for a green read. Personally, I like the combination. I thought this was a worthwhile read.

To read more reviews, go to The Blogging Bookworm.

Paul Farmer on 60 Minutes

My book review of "Mountains Beyond Mountains" yesterday discussed the work of Dr. Paul Farmer. I thought you might like to learn more about him by watching this clip from 60 Minutes.

Book Review: Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracy Kidder

While I was on vacation, I read "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder. This is a very thought provoking piece of non-fiction about a physician and anthropologist, Paul Farmer who is one of the founding members of Partners In Health, an organization which directs attention, money, and service toward the very poorest people on earth.

Farmer says there are two kinds of poverty: relative poverty, which we see primarily in the developed countries such as our own; and abject poverty, which is found in underdeveloped countries. The former is exemplified by those who are certainly restricted from higher education, full-service medical care, excellent nutrition, and comfortable housing by inadequate income and education. However, there is still a safety net in the form of food stamps, subsidized housing, universal primary education, and emergency medical treatment. When we think of the kind of poverty that was revealed by Hurricane Katrina, it was this kind of relative poverty. Certainly these people live in very trying circumstances, and feel marginalized in our affluent culture.

The latter, who are the focus of Farmer and his organization, have no safely net. They lack shoes, potable water, access to even basic education and medical care, their housing is totally inadequate (i.e., dirt floors, leaking roofs, no insect screens, no furniture, etc.), they are landless and often disenfranchised by completely dysfunctional governmental and cultural systems. For Farmer, the people of Haiti best exemplify this kind of poverty, and that country has been his primary focus.

Farmer had a very non-traditional upbringing, and, as an adult, practices Christianity in a non-traditional, though Biblically driven way. Many Christians would struggle with his salty language and some other eccentricities of his life-style. However, it would be hard to argue against the fact that he is one of the few who is absolutely focused on living out the teachings of Matthew 25- "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."- meaning that he focuses on serving those who are hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, or in prison. He has used his education and the connections formed by his time at Duke and Harvard to bring attention and help to these afflicted people.

While others in Partners In Health chose to work with the big picture by bringing their needs to the attention of the World Health Organization or the Gates Foundation, Farmer has always been known for his personal attention to the individuals he treats. He argues that healing someone, then sending them back to the very conditions that caused their illness in the first place (malnutrition, impure drinking water, constant exposure to malarial mosquitoes, etc.) is a fool's errand. He takes a holistic approach to medical intervention. While he has long been one of the top experts on TB, he has also taken his methodology into the AIDS epidemic, including the explosion of cases of both diseases in the prison system of the former Soviet countries. He sees prisoners as humans in need of healing, no matter how monstrous their crimes, and is unique in his ability to rally a staid international medical establishment to tackle issues that most would not care to think about.

I found this book, and Farmer himself, inspiring. He will challenge you on every level to think about your prejudices, phobias, and political philosophies. You will, perhaps for the first time, realize what one individual can do to make a difference of global significance. You will wonder what you could be doing yourself. Your eyes will be opened, your comfort afflicted by what you read. I recommend it to everyone.

To read another review, see Donna's post.

Book Review-Serve God, Save the Planet

As part of GreenBean's Bookworm Challenge I chose to read a couple of books this month.

First, I borrowed Barbara Kingsolver's book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" from my daughter-in-law Traci. I can see why Traci liked this book. She's a dietitian, and a farm girl, so all the discussion of gardening, cooking, and nutrition was right up her alley. I liked the book mostly for Kingsolver's writing style. Having at one time had a very large vegetable garden of my own, it brought back memories of the hard work, seasonal business of putting up the produce, and some of the frustrations of that life. Actually, not enough of the frustrations, in my opinion. She doesn't seem to have had her green beans annihilated by bean-leaf beetles, or her zucchini plants killed by squash bugs, or her sweet corn raided by squirrels and raccoons. Maybe I'm just a pest-magnate, and maybe working with a bunch of small children underfoot was another distraction, but my experience was not as idyllic as hers seems to have been. I don't really do the vegetable garden thing any more.

I also felt the additional material inserted by her husband broke the flow of the narrative she was writing, and I wound up skipping those parts as I got further into the book. However, her visit to the Amish farm in Ohio was a lot of fun to read about. All in all, I found the book to be a pretty good read.

Next, I read "Serve God, Save the Planet" by Matthew Sleeth. This book was highly recommended to me by Donna. Sleeth is a physician who became alarmed at the increase in asthma cases he was seeing, as well as the uptick in cancer diagnoses. He could see their correlation to the increase in environmental pollution, and felt it was time to sound the alarm about what was happening to our health. He also comments on mental health issues that he attributes to lifestyle. He and his family chose to radically simplify their lives by reducing their material belongings, and , eventually, moving into a house that was comparable in size to the garage of their original house. He left the practice of medicine and began to speak at churches about the need for Christians, motivated by the command to "Love one another", to take seriously the care of God's Creation.

Sleeth's reasoned arguments, under girded with Scripture, as well as his appendixes that outline his methods of changing his lifestyle, outline for group study of the issues, and quotes from famous Christian thinkers about the subject of Creation Care, made this book valuable.

One of my favorite quotes from this book: "Love is not part of the rhetoric of global leaders, power brokers, or conglomerates. It does not make the evening news. It does not appear in medical journals". In contrast, he points out, "love one another" supersedes all of Christ's commandments except the command to love God. A Christian's motivation to live simply is to share wealth with those in need. The motivation to live an environmentally responsible lifestyle is to prevent harm to others and honor God's beautiful creation. I related to these motives far more easily than Kingsolver's. I recommend this book highly.

I appreciate the push from this challenge to read these books, which I might not have done otherwise. Thanks, GreenBean!!

Book Review: Saving God's Green Earth by Tri Robinson with Jason Chatraw

I had signed on for Green Beans's Bookworm Challenge. I chose my book: "Living Downstream". Then, Pastor Randy handed me a book that he had received in a mailing from the Willow Creek Association, and wondered of I would like to read it, since he himself did not have time at the moment. The book looked intriguing, and, in what seems to be my new habit of jumping from thing to thing, I decided to read it and review it instead of my original choice.

"Saving God's Green Earth" was written as an outgrowth of Pastor Tri Robinson's experience of teaching his Vineyard Church of Boisie, Idaho, how they could involve themselves in environmental stewardship. When he first felt lead to start teaching his congregation about creation care, he was somewhat concerned about the reaction he would get from them. He needn't have worried; his sermon received a standing ovation. He found that there is profound concern for the environment among evangelicals, but their leaders have been reluctant to approach the subject because the environmental movement has so often also been associated with the New Age movement, as well as with liberal social causes that cannot be embraced by many Christians. He has navigated this minefield very successfully, and his congregation has embraced a role in the community as leaders in creation care.

Pastor Robinson's approach resonated for me with things that I had already thought through in my own life. Premise #1: The way we treat creation says something about our respect (or lack thereof) for the Creator, and relates to the commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Premise #2: In loving our neighbors as ourselves, we need to keep in mind that they live downstream, downwind, and beyond us into the future. We have an obligation to share the environment with them as loving neighbors. Premise #3: Hopelessness is not part of Christian faith. We can do all things through Christ, including tackling a monumental challenge like restoring and maintaining the creation. Every individual's lifestyle choices, no matter how small, can be multiplied for the good of others when they are dedicated to God.

This is a short and easily read book, and provides an excellent Biblical foundation for dealing with the issues that are so front and center in our society today. I recommend it as a starting point for Christian thought on the subject. There are some concrete suggestions in the last two chapters that can be applied in most churches. It is readable and practical. I think the Willow Creek Association should be commended for making it available to all the association pastors.