Aug 25 2023

Climate justice: What’s an introvert to do?

Talitha Amadea Aho, keynote speaker for the Youth & Young Adult Climate Summit, held after MennoCon23, writes a letter to thank the climate summit attendees and follow up on a question about participating in climate justice while honoring one’s own introversion.

Talitha Amadea Aho is the author of “In Deep Waters: Spiritual Care for Young People in a Climate Crisis.” She was the keynote speaker for the Youth & Young Adult Climate Summit. Amadea Aho has worked with children and youth for many years as a Presbyterian minister in Oakland, California, and is a chaplain at a children’s hospital in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has witnessed first-hand the spiritual crisis that climate change has perpetuated in young people.
_______________________________________________

Thank you, Mennonite Church USA, for the awesome Youth & Young Adult Climate Summit. I was so inspired by the panelists, the event itself, your heartfelt comments and your different perspectives. I was astounded at your spontaneous multi-part hymn singing. My heart remains full of gratitude. It was so cool to meet so many new people and get to know your passion and your commitment to creation care.

In a breakout session, one of you asked me a question that has stayed with me: “What’s an introvert to do? What do you do if you care passionately about the earth, but marches and megaphones drain a month’s worth of energy out of you in a few short minutes?” Some of you survived the climate summit only because you cared, not because the convention center atmosphere was giving you life.

What’s an introvert to do?

It’s a great question. God calls us all in different ways, and some of us are not called to take up the megaphone. I do not feel like I answered the question well in the moment — it surprised me to realize that I had not thought about it — but you started brainstorming with me at the end of the summit, and the brainstorm has continued. I want to offer a few reflections on quieter tasks, more suited for solo work, that are still urgently important.

You might be called to research. Extroverts can do it, too, but introverts are especially good at diving deep into a topic, for solo exploration. And there are so many climate-related topics that urgently need researching! The range of topics is so wide that, if this is your call, you can hopefully even be specific enough to find the topic you most passionately want to research. Perhaps, it is alternative fuels, battery chemistry or refrigerant technology … or perhaps, you would love to research best practices in city planning and transportation systems. There are a host of climate solutions that all need researchers working on them. Find your zone, and let your energy flow.

You might be called to stewardship: taking care of the land and its creatures. I have a friend who hikes the mountains of Vermont in pursuit of finding endangered plant species, not to collect them but simply to document and safeguard their habitat. They spend time with the non-human siblings of the natural world — creatures who don’t talk much and who desperately need human protection. Or maybe, you could manage a farm, seeking the best possible farming tactics for a warming world with chaotic weather. Perhaps, you get involved in supporting local Indigenous people working to restore the plants and animals stewarded by their ancestors before settler-colonizer farming techniques destroyed the local ecosystem. Perhaps, you will be a weekend gardener, just puttering around with techniques to restore the fertility of your little backyard and grow enough food to share. All of these are excellent introverted pursuits.

And you might be called to creativity. Some of the most powerful, hopeful, and inspiring art and books and music come from introverted creators. It is hard to write a book without embracing some introversion, as it requires seclusion, even isolation, and self-motivation to finish the task. Those of us who are not afraid of being alone with our thoughts can think about the big questions. How will we find hope? What will life look like so many years from now? We can write songs about this precarious moment in history and create art to carry us forward, observing and celebrating where God can be found in the ruins around us.

Thank you again for the amazing summit, for the passionate conversations and excitement you shared. I hope the introverts among you have recovered from the highly extroverted environment, and I thank you for showing up outside your comfort zone to engage in this good work. Stay in touch — let me know what you will do!

Every blessing,

Talitha

© 2023 Mennonite Church USA

The views and opinions expressed in this blog belong to the author and are not intended to represent the views of the MC USA Executive Board or staff.

Interested in submitting a blog for Menno Snapshots? Please see our blog guidelines here.