Recently, I spent two rejuvenating days participating in an annual prayer ceremony for the Earth. It was led by Penobscot visionary Sherri Mitchell (Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset), along with Indigenous people from around the world. I won’t quote any of the profound things that people said since I do not have their permission, but I will share some of what I got out of the experience.

First, I was moved that hundreds of people gathered, some from as far away as Mongolia and New Zealand. For those who needed to cross national borders, these were challenging times to come to Penobscot territory, in what colonizers called Maine. I was reminded that the names I know for places are not the original names, and that Indigenous nations were separated from their kin by the borders Europeans created. Still, I felt deep generosity toward the many participants of European background. The leaders acknowledged the painful personal and collective histories that separate us, and called us all to pray for healing—for ourselves, our ancestors, each other, and the Earth.

I’m not a big crier, but I found myself with tears in my eyes very frequently and outright weeping during a prayer song for the children. A young girl who was directly in my line of sight will be in her seventies at the end of this century, a date often cited in horrific climate predictions. I’ve read enough of those studies to know that if we remain on our current course, the wildfire smoke and scorching temperatures oppressing Philadelphia a few weeks ago will likely seem mild compared to what these children will have to bear, not to mention my own grown children.

Despite this, I came away affirmed in my hope that, in the longerm, “the crisis of the Earth is saving us from our illusion of separation,” which is the slightly wordy subtitle of my book Common Ground. This year has been a hard time to carry that message, a time when the forces of fear and division dominate the news and many people’s psyches.

In contrast, this gathering was grounded in the Indigenous prophesies that predicted that humanity would come together in these times of ecological crisis, and white people would seek Indigenous wisdom to help us rebalance humanity’s relationship with the Earth. Sherri recounts several of these prophesies in her book, Sacred Instructions, which also uses the term “illusion of separation” repeatedly. I’m honored that she endorsed Common Ground, saying that it “guides us toward the longview, helping to illuminate our deep interconnectedness and the very real capacity that we have to harness people-power.”

I’m coming up on a year since Common Ground was published, and there’s a part of me that fears that after a certain point it’s obnoxious to keep promoting your book. But the truth is that I’ve spent a lot of this year talking about how to resist authoritarianism. I’ve made it to more actions protesting ICE than Vanguard, the world’s largest investor in fossil fuels. Lately I’ve done more nonviolence trainings than book talks, though I do still have some book talks on the calendar (in Boulder, Colorado and both ends of Massachusetts). Hearing Indigenous elders from diverse parts of the globe reminded me how central the themes of the book are to all that ails us. To use a Quaker phrase, I haven’t been released from this work yet.

So, as I approach my birthday and the one-year anniversary of Common Ground’s publication, I’d like to ask you to consider supporting my work. I would deeply appreciate any of the following:

green cover of the book Common Ground: How the Crisis of the Earth is Saving Us from Our Illusion of Separation1. Buy Common Ground from your favorite bookseller, if you haven’t already. Publishers notice how many copies sell in the first year, and that helps me next time I try to publish a book. If books aren’t in your budget, please share it on social media or recommend it to your librarian.

2. Write a brief review on sites like Goodreads or amazon (you don’t have to buy the book there!). This makes the book visible to other people. You don’t have to give the book five stars (though if you hated it I will understand if you skip the review).

3. Make a financial contribution to support my work. A Venmo gift (Eileen-Flanagan-8) is easiest for me, but please reach out if you need other giving options. It would not be tax deductible, but much appreciated as I continue to feel led to travel.

Thanks for considering!

love,
Eileen