Active Hope Revised

The challenges we face can be difficult even to think about. Climate change, war, political polarization, economic upheaval, and the dying back of nature together create a planetary emergency of overwhelming proportions. This revised, tenth anniversary edition of Active Hope shows us how to strengthen our capacity to face these crises so that we can respond with unexpected resilience and creative power. Drawing on decades of teaching an empowerment approach known as the Work That Reconnects, the authors guide us through a transformational process informed by mythic journeys, modern psychology, spirituality, and holistic science. This process equips us with tools to face the mess we’re in and play our role in the collective transition, or Great Turning, to a life-sustaining society.

“[A] landmark book . . . Solnit illustrates how the uprisings that begin on the streets can upend the status quo and topple authoritarian regimes” (Vice). A book as powerful and influential as Rebecca Solnit’s Men Explain Things to Me, her Hope in the Dark was written to counter the despair of activists at a moment when they were focused on their losses and had turned their back to the victories behind them—and the unimaginable changes soon to come. In it, she makes a radical case for hope as a commitment to act in a world whose future remains uncertain and unknowable. Drawing on her decades of activism and a wide reading of environmental, cultural, and political history, Solnit argues that radicals have a long, neglected history of transformative victories, that the positive consequences of our acts are not always immediately seen, directly knowable, or even measurable, and that pessimism and despair rest on an unwarranted confidence about what is going to happen next. Now, with a moving new introduction explaining how the book came about and a new afterword that helps teach us how to hope and act in our unnerving world, she brings a new illumination to the darkness of our times in an unforgettable new edition of this classic book. “One of the best books of the 21st century.” —The Guardian “No writer has better understood the mix of fear and possibility, peril and exuberance that’s marked this new millennium.” —Bill McKibben, New York Times–bestselling author of Falter “An elegant reminder that activist victories are easily forgotten, and that they often come in extremely unexpected, roundabout ways.” —The New Yorker

This book introduces readers to the known psychological aspects of climate change as a pressing global concern and explores how they are relevant to current and future clinical practice. Arguing that it is vital for ecological concerns to enter the therapy room, this book calls for change from regulatory bodies, training institutes and individual practitioners. The book includes original thinking and research by practitioners from a range of perspectives, including psychodynamic, eco-systemic and integrative. It considers how our different modalities and ways of working need to be adapted to be applicable to the ecological crises. It includes Voices from people who are not practitioners about their experience including how they see the role of therapy. Chapters deal with topics from climate science, including the emotional and mental health impacts of climate breakdown, professional ethics and wider systemic understandings of current therapeutic approaches. Also discussed are the practice-based implications of becoming a climate-aware therapist, eco-psychosocial approaches and the inextricable links between the climate crises and racism, colonialism and social injustice. Being a Therapist in a Time of Climate Breakdown will enable therapists and mental health professionals across a range of modalities to engage with their own thoughts and feelings about climate breakdown and consider how it both changes and reinforces aspects of their therapeutic work.

Living Wisely and Well in the Evening of Life addresses the increasing difficulty of those in our culture who are “in the evening of life,” who must manage a rapidly changing society and a new world being born almost daily. There are several dimensions of life which have become especially difficult for those in this position, including loneliness, the sense of being set aside in a changing culture, the cost of medical care, the deep conflicts in our political life, and the increasing sense of not being able to cope. Deep universal values, articulated by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthian church, must be claimed and internalized. Paul artfully guides those from this church in a complex setting by suggesting a “more excellent way” in which to live with complexity and challenge. Then and now, we need to cultivate a thoughtful and credible faith in our mature years; second, we must sustain the well-founded hope, rooted in our faith in a loving God, especially necessary in the evening of life. In keeping with the teaching of Jesus, we should make unconditional love the central value in life. It is possible to flourish in the evening of life undergirded by faith, hope, and love.

Much more than knowledge or even understanding, wisdom is seeing life through the eyes of an awakened heart and transformed consciousness. Rather than being the result of the accumulation of information, wisdom comes from acquiring a new mind. Buddhists speak of this new mind as enlightenment. The Christian name for it is the mind and heart of Christ. This is the basis of wisdom. Wisdom is grounded in a deep awareness of the sacredness and interconnectedness of everything in existence. It is living in alignment with the creative Spirit of Wisdom who inhabits all of creation and is our truest and deepest self. It is learning to participate in God’s transformational agenda of cosmic whole-making, this being the way in which everything that exists becomes whole in Christ. This book does not offer gems of wisdom. Instead, it seeks to facilitate the awakening of your heart and transformation of your consciousness that will allow wisdom to flow your from depths.

The first edition of this book, published in 1948, was widely discussed. "There is hardly a page which does not bear evidence of shrewd insight, profound theological grasp and evangelistic passion," wrote Principal F. J. Taylor in The Churchman. Essentially, the book was an explanation of the theology behind the infant Church of South India in which Dr. Newbigin was a bishop. For this edition, first published in 1960, Dr. Newbigin wrote a new introduction. This drew out the significance of the Church of South India's experience after 1948, and was an important contribution to the continuing worldwide discussion. An outspoken commentary on the Lambeth Conference of 1958 is included.

A different kind of hope for living in these turbulent times Climate disruption. Growing social inequality. Pollution. We are living in an era of unprecedented crises, resulting in widespread feelings of fear, despair, and grief. Now, more than ever, maintaining hope for the future is a monumental task. Intrinsic Hope offers a powerful antidote to these feelings. It shows how conventional ideas of hope are rooted in the belief that life will conform to our wishes and how this leads to disappointment, despair, and a dismal view of the future. As an alternative, it offers "intrinsic hope," a powerful, liberating, and positive approach to life based on having a deep trust in whatever happens. The author, a hopeful survivor, shows how to cultivate intrinsic hope through practical tips and six mindful habits for living a positive, courageous life in these troubled times. Whether working directly on ecological or social issues or worried about children and grandchildren, this book is for everyone concerned about the future and looking for a deeper source of hope for a better world. AWARDS GOLD | 2018 Nautilus Book Awards: Social Grand Prize Overall Winner GOLD | 2018 Nautilus Book Awards: Personal Growth

As trauma survivors living in times of political disarray and pandemic, we embody hope when we keep moving forward, one stubborn step after another, like walking through steady rain. We also embody hope when we take shelter for protection and rest. How does the force of hope feel inside you right now? With the help of this book, name the truth of your past and present. Explore your body and emotions. Celebrate endurance. Relate with kindness. Give and receive support. Beyond surviving, take action toward a more equitable world.