Deb Rienstra is a professor of English at Calvin University. Her beautiful book, Refugia Faith, takes us deep into both an aching planet and the goodness of God. Friends, I couldn’t put this one down.From despair to preparation, alienation to kinship, and indifference to attention, Deb’s masterful weaving of theology, literature, ecology, and a love for creation makes this book sing.Join us for a conversation about birds and hope, about how the church calendar can help remind us of our creatureliness before God, and about the ways both lament and gratitude can tether us to one another. Get full access to Keep Looking Up at courtneyellis.substack.com/subscribe
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95: Unpacking Church Camp
One of our greatest tools in understanding ourselves and the world is the concept of both/and. When we can hold two ideas or feelings in tension, we discover whole worlds of understanding and goodness.Author, speaker, and Episcopal-priest-in-training Cara Meredith has been fascinated with this concept for years. After dabbling in some essays about it, she landed on a both/and topic that really spoke to her soul: church camp.Today we celebrate her new book, Church Camp: Bad Skits, Cry Night, and How White Evangelicalism Betrayed a Generation, hot off the presses from Broadleaf. We talk about the good, the bad, the ugly, and how we might all be a little bit more faithful to the both/and in our lives.Plus: a little detour about penguins. Get full access to Keep Looking Up at courtneyellis.substack.com/subscribe
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94: The Whole Easter Story (Jo Swinney)
Jo Swinney is the Director of Communication for A Rocha International, a global Christian nature conservation charity. She’s also the author of several books, including The Whole Easter Story: Why the Cross is Good News for All Creation. On this Easter Monday she joined me to talk about the power of hope in helping us steward our planet well.“Love is what generates the desire to care,” she told me. It all comes down to love.Join us for a hopeful Easter episode about loving this beautiful planet, signs of hope springing up all around, and the good, creative work of conservation from elephants to coral. Get full access to Keep Looking Up at courtneyellis.substack.com/subscribe
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93: Looking Up's Audiobook Launch!
Dan Van Voorhis is a professional podcaster with a PhD in Church History. His podcast, The Christian History Almanac offers daily 5-minute episodes all about the work of God in the world over the centuries. It’s one of my favorites.Dan is also a friend, congregant, and the best interviewer I know. He graciously agreed to come on The Thing with Feathers and interview me about the launch of the audiobook for Looking Up that comes out today (yayyyyyyy!) on the one-year anniversary of the paperback’s launch.Come join us as we chat about the ins and outs of audiobook recording, the joys and surprises at the ways Looking Up has made its way into the world, the birds of spring, and the special additions that come with the audio version of this book. Get full access to Keep Looking Up at courtneyellis.substack.com/subscribe
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92: The Breeding Birds of Minnesota
Lee Pfannmuller and Jerry Niemi know a thing or two about birds. With over one hundred years(!) of birding experience between them, they have spent their lives doing fieldwork related to conservation and ecology throughout the state of Minnesota and beyond.Today we celebrate the publication of their new, beautiful book The Breeding Birds of Minnesota. We talk about everything from bird surveys to caring for creation to wrangling volunteers. Find out the most frequently seen bird in Minnesota (the answer surprised me!), the most difficult places to perform bird surveys, and a great story about one place you should never drive a Prius.Join us for this special, encouraging episode all about the beautiful birds of one of our most fantastic and ecologically fragile states. Get full access to Keep Looking Up at courtneyellis.substack.com/subscribe
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