ROBIN WALL KIMMERER
This book is a deeply personal and poetic account by Robin Wall Kimmerer of her experiences and observations as an Indigenous woman bringing the richness of Indigenous traditional knowledge together with her scientific background as a botanist, allowing her to encounter the natural world in profound ways. She reframes our thinking of nature in terms of relationships - of nature as generous and gift-giving - and how Indigenous traditions and culture have grown with this understanding. It is a truly beautiful exploration of the sacred gifts of creation. [Milkweed Editions, 2013]BRYAN N. MASSINGALE
In this book, Bryan Massingale explores the contributions and limitations of Catholic social reflection and ethics on racial justice, specifically in the American context. He leads with the central question, “how can we struggle together against an evil that harms us all, though in different ways?” and the central Christian message, “the wounds of racism are real and deep, but healing is possible.” The book draws on Massingale’s significant theological knowledge and his deeply personal and well documented understanding of racial injustice to seek the path forward for the “beloved community” and the vocation of Black Catholic theologians.[Orbis Books, 2020]JOANNA MACY AND CHRIS JOHNSTONE
Active Hope is a wonderfully pragmatic book that recognizes that the reality of what our planet is facing – namely the growing climate crisis and its many related impacts, like biodiversity loss and mass migration – are painful and often overwhelming. But, as the book outlines, we can reframe our view in a way that allows us to honour that pain and still be hopeful and ready to act, using a foundation of gratitude. Building on the “Spiral of the work that reconnects” the authors guide the reader through the process of active hope – leaving us feeling that we can fully face these challenges and remain hopeful and motivated to continue our efforts to care for creation. [New World Library, 2022]THOMAS HOMER-DIXON
Still on the theme of hope, a new book by Thomas Homer-Dixon similarly puts forward an argument that brings us to face the hard reality of multiple crises facing our world, but to do so with the worldview and tools offering “commanding hope.” He refers throughout the book to the example of a lone mother who took on global nuclear testing and created a movement to end it. Stephanie May, a housewife from Connecticut, had the power of commanding hope – which she passed on to her daughter, Green Party leader Elizabeth May. The book offers well researched observations for social change, along with personal stories that help illustrate the power we still have in the face of major challenges. [Knopf Canada, 2020]AYANA ELIZABETH JOHNSON AND CATHERINE K. WILKINSON (EDS.)
All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis
This is a beautiful collection of essays, poems, and reflections from a range of perspectives and experiences of “climate feminism.” They include analyses of patriarchal structures that have fueled the crisis, as well as the often-overlooked experiences and collective empowerment of women and girls around the world working for change, bringing “heart-centred” and “head-centred” leadership and healing.[One World, 2020]KATHARINE HAYHOE
Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World
Katharine Hayhoe is a Canadian climate scientist living in Texas and an evangelical Christian. Her book offers a helpful approach to addressing how religious or ideological differences on the climate crisis often derail us in responding or leave us feeling frustrated and powerless. Through stories, personal experiences, and strong scientific knowledge, Hayhoe provides advice and guidance for us to talk about and work together to address this global emergency. [Atria/One Signal Publishers 2022]JOHN DEAR
This book explores the three Gospels through the lens of Jesus as a nonviolent disrupter and offers reflections on how that helps us engage with the social issues of our time. [Orbis Books, 2023]SISTER EVA SOLOMON, CSJ, SSM
This book that is part of the New Paths for the Churches and Indigenous Peoples series by Novalis. Sister Eva Solomon is an Ojibwe Elder, Sacred Pipe Carrier, and Sister of St. Joseph, Sault St. Marie. In her book, which is based on her doctoral thesis, she explores the intercultural engagement, or dance, of her Christian faith and her Ojibway Anishinaabe community and traditions. Recognizing the enduring legacy of colonialism, Sr. Solomon invites a new vision for the Church for healing and reconciliation. She invites us to dance the path of the medicine wheel, drawing on Ojibwe traditions and practices as a new way of encountering Christ among us. This book offers deep wisdom and vision for living full both Indigenous and Christian “interculturation of faith.” [Novalis 2022]SISTER EVA SOLOMON, CSJ, SSM
NORMAN WIRZBA
“The God of scripture is an agrarian God.” With this statement, Norman Wirzba invites the reader to explore a new perspective on how God engages with us in and through creation. He also offers directions on how we might engage with God through the nurturing of the earth as a spiritual practice. As the population of the planet increasingly urbanizes, the challenges we face requires that we encounter the earth, watersheds, and species as sacred gifts. This book starts out as a very broad ranging and dense exploration of agrarianism, it is strongly influenced by writer Wendell Berry, and it includes some analysis of the racism that has excluded many from accessing the land. It then leads to an outline of “agrarian spiritual exercises” that deepen this exploration of connecting with God through creation as gift. [University of Notre Dame Press, 2022]AYANA ELIZABETH JOHNSON
This book is a wonderfully positive and hopeful exploration of climate and ecological solutions that is deeply personal for author and marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. It starts with her personal story of falling in love with coral reefs as a child and exploring the water in her father’s country of origin, Jamaica, in the context of the racism that made her path more unlikely. This book has a wonderfully casual style, not shying away from the harsh realities of the climate crisis, but also choosing to explore what visioning a better future could involve, through interviews with environmental activists, film makers, fishers, farmers, artists, and others. It is a creative and energizing approach to looking at the climate emergency head on with hope. [One World, 2024]DERMOT LANE
On the five-year anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’, Dermot Lane offered a theological exploration of the document. The challenges presented in Laudato Si’ regarding the climate, social, political, and economic crises of our time, must be faced with a new theological approach that brings creation care into our spiritual, ethical, and liturgical lives more fully. For Dermot Lane, the theological vision of Laudato Si’ pushes us forward as church and faithful to respond with urgency to change our lives and heal the planet. [Messenger Publications, 2020]
TANYA TALAGA
In her Massey Lectures, Tanya Talaga focuses on the rise of suicides among Indigenous youth in Canada and elsewhere. The intergenerational impacts of colonization and forced separation of families remain in the individuals, families, and communities of Indigenous peoples subjected to this violence and racism. However, these Indigenous communities continue to show resilience and a continued commitment to resist racism, to reclaim culture and traditions, and to flourish. [House of Anansi Press, 2018]
IBRAM X KENDI
This book emerges at a time of growing voices of the Black Lives Matter movement in the US with the challenge by Ibram X Kendi to all people to be more than just “not racist” but to be actively “anti-racist,” taking on the internalized and external racism we see becoming more explicit in this time and context. [One World, 2019]DANIEL L. PAUL
In this book, Daniel Paul offers an in-depth history of Mi’kmaq people, traditions, and values in the Atlantic region of what is now Canada, along with the devastating impact of the early years of European settlers and colonization in the 1700s. This impact is being felt to this day by Mi’kmaq communities that have managed to survive this brutal history and continue to call for the Peace and Friendship Treaties to be honoured hundreds of years later. [Fernwood Publishing, 2008]DESMOND COLE
In this book, Desmond Cole takes us through a full year, 2017, of anti-black racism and racism against Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) in Canada. He challenges the view of Canada as “post-racial” and harmonious through documenting examples of racist violence, exploitation, and marginalization in Canada, while highlighting the strength and importance of movements for change. [Doubleday Canada, 2020]DESMOND COLE
