Rooted and Grounded speakers focus on resistance and resilience in the face of climate doom
Published: October 12, 2023
By Sarah Werner for 香蕉影视
ELKHART, Indiana (Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary) 鈥� The sixth Rooted and Grounded Conference on Land and Christian Discipleship focused on the theme, 鈥淧athways through Climate Doom: Resistance and Resilience,鈥� bringing together participants from the United States and Canada for keynote sessions, workshops, paper presentations and worship.
The conference was held Sept. 28鈥�30, 2023, with 150 people attending in person at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (香蕉影视) in Elkhart, Indiana, and 30 attending online.
“The focus on confronting climate doom resonated with many people, especially the young adults who attended,鈥� reflected Janeen Bertsche Johnson, MDiv, 香蕉影视 Director of Campus Ministries and Rooted and Grounded Conference Coordinator. 鈥淚 was grateful for the ways in which speakers, workshops and worship sessions helped us imagine a variety of responses 鈥� curiosity, trauma-informed care, scriptural resources, deep attention, art and music, prayer postures, engaged dialogue, historical truth-telling, lament, hope and so much more.”
Resistance
On the evening of Sept. 28, , a Potawatomi Christian author, poet and speaker, presented a keynote address during the conference鈥檚 opening worship session on the need for resistance in the midst of climate doom. She spoke of how resistance is about cultivating relationships: with Mother Earth, with one another and with fellow creatures. Resistance is also the way in which people use their everyday lives to resist the 鈥渢oxic status quo of our time鈥� and choose an alternative way that is rooted in relationships.
Curtice shared about her upbringing on the Citizen Potawatomi Nation reservation in Oklahoma and how she had to overcome a sense of disembodiment that resulted from her ancestors having been uprooted and having had to start over in new places.
鈥淐olonialism disrupts our connection to the land, our bodies and each other 鈥� no matter our background,鈥� she said. Resistance represents a lifelong endeavor to rebuild these connections and heal from the intergenerational trauma of disconnection, she noted, reminding those present, 鈥淭he land is everywhere. If we listen, the land is speaking.鈥�
During her workshop on the morning of Sept. 29, Curtice expanded on the theme of resistance by sharing from her latest book, Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day (Brazos, 2023). She described how four realms of resistance provide a moving, cyclical framework for understanding life 鈥� communal, ancestral, personal and integral.
鈥淚 view my life as a series of trauma and healing,鈥� she shared. 鈥淲e live in this liminality of answering questions of ourselves. In this realm we live in our own story and ask questions of it, and this radical self-love is a form of resistance.鈥�
She also explained how people are bound up in community with both their ancestors and those who will come after them. The actions of their ancestors have led them to where they are now, and the actions that they take in turn affect the generations that come after them. She closed by sharing a phrase that is important to her and that she often repeats: 鈥淚 am a human being; I am always arriving.鈥�
Curtice told her listeners that people will make mistakes, feel exhausted and move from realm to realm to figure out life. Things will be hard, and they will grieve. She reminded them that the current plight will not be fixed quickly, but this is lifelong work, and they are not alone in it.
Resilience
Leah Thomas, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Care at 香蕉影视, provided a resilience training on Sept. 29 in the afternoon. She defined resilience as 鈥渢he capacity to face and handle life鈥檚 challenges with flexibility and creativity.鈥�
She noted that resilience relies on a set of skills and perceptions that can be cultivated with practice.
鈥淩esilience means rediscovering and cultivating forms of inner strength that we may not realize already reside within us,鈥� she continued. 鈥淚t is the capacity to tolerate difficult feelings, which also expands our capacity to experience greater joy. Resiliency helps us grow beyond our current comfort zone to develop a fiercely compassionate and honest engagement with life.鈥�
Drawing from social psychology, she explained how trauma affects people鈥檚 emotional and spiritual lives and can be transmitted across generations.
鈥淭he climate crisis is a collective trauma 鈥� an intergenerational trauma,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he exploitation of the natural world is interconnected with other types of exploitation/oppression 鈥� including colonialism, genocide, enslavement, racism, classism and sexism 鈥� all within a society marked by capitalism’s overarching narrative of exploitation.
鈥淭his collective trauma has damaged the 鈥榮ocial tissue of community鈥� similar to how the tissues of the mind, body, and spirit can be damaged, and it continues to be passed from generation to generation.鈥�
In the context of climate doom, Thomas said that resilience is the ability to remain grounded and retain a sense of well being in the face of the collective trauma caused by climate change. During the training, she offered practical exercises for remaining grounded when feeling overwhelmed, including breathing exercises and a mindfulness meditation. She encouraged participants to take a break and wander outside, taking time to notice the sights, smells and sounds around them.
Seeking hope
During the evening worship service on Sept. 29, Jackie Wyse-Rhodes, PhD, Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at 香蕉影视, shared her keynote address, 鈥淪eeking Hope when the Path is Crooked: The Bible and Climate Change.鈥� She discussed various types of paths in the Bible 鈥� straight paths, crooked paths, paths yet unknown, and ancient paths.
Straight paths are often extolled in the Bible as good and righteous, she said, making for a journey that is accessible and predictable. Crooked paths are the opposite 鈥� untrustworthy and difficult.
While it seems that climate change is leading humanity on a crooked path to destruction, Wyse-Rhodes reminded her listeners that they are not the first to despair or to lose hope. She called them to remember various people from the Bible and how they navigated challenging journeys.
鈥淭he biblical writers continue to speak into the future, into the now,鈥� she noted. 鈥淭he path is bigger than we can make sense of, and it is also right here, right now, touching us in our embodied selves in this particular moment.鈥�
She also looked to Wisdom literature for guidance in forging a path of justice and faithfulness in difficult times.
鈥淭he 鈥榩ath yet unknown鈥� is a future path, yes. But it is not linear,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he past and the future inform one another. The crooked path loops back upon itself, and if we seek diligently, maybe we can find an off-ramp to the past, where we can set up a marker to welcome future generations back home. For the road to our future will ultimately take us back to God鈥檚 own ancient pathways.鈥�
Additional conference information
In addition to the keynote sessions, 10 workshops and 13 paper presentations provided participants with practical tools for dealing with climate doom as they engage in the work of restoring a fragile and damaged earth.
The conference was offered by 香蕉影视 and co-sponsored by the , , and of Goshen (Indiana) College.
In addition to Johnson and Wyse-Rhodes, the Planning Committee included Luke Gascho, EdD, Chair, Executive Director Emeritus of Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center; John Klassen, Abbot of St. John鈥檚 Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, and Co-Chair of Bridgefolk; Beverly Lapp, EdD, 香蕉影视 Vice President and Academic Dean; Samantha Lioi, MDiv, spiritual director in Buffalo, New York, and Co-Chair of Bridgefolk; and Jon Zirkle, an 香蕉影视 Master of Arts in Christian Formation student from Goshen, Indiana.
Prior Rooted and Grounded conferences were held in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2021.
Located in Elkhart, Indiana, on ancestral land of the Potawatomi and Miami peoples, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary is a learning community with an Anabaptist vision, offering theological education for learners both on campus and at a distance as well as a wide array of lifelong learning programs 鈥� all with the goal of educating followers of Jesus Christ to be leaders for God鈥檚 reconciling mission in the world. ambs.edu
See also , an article by Lynda Hollinger-Janzen of Mennonite Mission Network about the dedication of 叠辞诲茅飞补诲尘颈-惭测补补尘颈补 Trail markers that took place Sept. 29 during the Rooted and Grounded Conference.
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