In Deep Waters: Spiritual Care for Young People in a Climate Crisis

by Talitha Amadea Aho

Overview

The starting point for In Deep Waters: Spiritual Care for Young People in a Climate Crisis is not news: the world as we know it is shifting. Several millennia of climate stability have come to an abrupt end.

But, observes Talitha Amadea Aho, the young people of today do not remember stability. They see the world through crisis-colored glasses. Climate change is creating a spiritual emergency that is hitting their generation harder than any other.

Today's climate crisis calls people of faith to a communal spiritual practice of care, especially for those who are more vulnerable because of their youth—the children, youth, and young adults of Generation Z. We must learn how to offer spiritual care that is informed by the spiritual-ecological crisis of their generation.

This book will help you keep young people at the center of your community and listen to the troubles they have to share. Whether you are a Gen Z peer or a caring adult of any other generation, In Deep Waters will show you how to offer ecologically informed spiritual care.

We all need to do it today; we cannot wait until one of today's youngest generations grows up.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506469782
Publisher:	Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
Publication date:	04/26/2022
Pages:	259
Sales rank:	574,212
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Talitha Amadea Aho serves as a pastor at Montclair Presbyterian Church in Oakland, California, where she is responsible for children's and youth programming. She has been in ministry to the young since she was old enough to qualify as a chaperone at PC(USA) camps and churches. She holds an MDiv and an MA in biblical studies. 

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Introduction 1

Part 1 Jumping In 9

Chapter 1 All This Pain 15

Chapter 2 I'm Not Okay, but I'm Okay 23

Chapter 3 Together, We Can Make It 37

Chapter 4 Exercises invulnerability 43

Jumping into Grief 59

Part 2 Learning to Float 65

Chapter 5 Like Nature's Hugging You 69

Chapter 6 A New Name 83

Chapter 7 Better Not to Have Been Born 91

Chapter 8 Gaining Confidence 103

Chapter 9 Beauty Makes a Difference 113

Floating with Fireflies 117

Part 3 Steadying Our Strokes 123

Chapter 10 Back to the Stars 129

Chapter 11 Trying to Be Sustainable 141

Chapter 12 Choosing Carefully 153

Chapter 13 If You Don't Pick Us Up, Who Will? 167

Mulching Muscle Memory 179

Part 4 Riding the Swells 189

Chapter 14 Yelling at God 195

Chapter 15 Forgiving and Unburdening 207

Chapter 16 Are You with Me? 219

Chapter 17 Releasing Defensiveness 233

Chapter 18 Flowing through Intersections 243

Postlude at Low Tide 251

Acknowledgments 257

Editorial Reviews

"I love this book. . . . Aho is a beautiful writer, teacher, and ally of the young—wise and tender and tough. If you love young people and the earth, this might be the most important book you read this year." —Anne Lamott, author of Almost Everything: Notes on Hope

"In Deep Waters is a masterfully written guide both for the younger generation as they grapple with spiritual questions . . . and for those of us in older generations who need a reminder of the magnitude of the crisis we're facing and guidance on how to care well for the next generation." —Brandan Robertson, author of Filled to Be Emptied: The Path to Liberation for Privileged People

"In Deep Waters clearly and evocatively captures the complexities of growing up on the edge of apocalypse—with all the spiritual, emotional, and mental turmoil that entails." —Zoe Jonick, youth climate activist and organizer

From the Publisher