Action Items from Jim Thompson’s Sermon: “Our Real Work: Spirituality in a Time of Climate Crisis”

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At the end of his sermon, Jim cited St. Francis of Assisi who said, shortly before he died that he was at peace because he had done what he had been given to do. Our question is – what we have been given to do to counter climate crisis?

Jim offered two practical actions that people can take to oppose climate crisis right now and a four-question framework for going deeper – to understand what our work is in the face of the most devastating threat in the history of humanity.

Two Actions

1)   Aligning your money with your values. If you are using a “climate-bad bank” that is financing the destruction of our planet, you can move your money to a credit union or climate-friendly banking institution. You can find tools and information to help you do this at https://thisiswhatwedid.org/move-your-money/. Click on “Actions” and then “Move Your Money.”

If 5 or more people from INUUC commit to moving their money together, THIS! will facilitate a 4-week Cohort (1 hour per week) to help them move their money successfully. Let Jim know: jim@thisiswhatwedid.org.

If you have already moved your money, join THIS! Is What We Did’s ad campaign and sign up to have your name listed in a full-page ad that will appear in a major newspaper this fall: https://thisiswhatwedid.org/join-our-ad-campaign/.

2)   Learn to be great at having effective climate conversations. Almost everyone has people in their network of family and friends who do not take climate crisis seriously. THIS! Is What We Did will teach you how to have effective conversations with anyone without those conversations going off the rails. It is fun to have these conversations when you know how to do them, and it can bring you closer to the people in your network. You can sign up for Effective Climate Conversations at: https://thisiswhatwedid.org/become-effective-at-climate-change-conversations/

 If 5 or more people from INUUC commit to taking this 3-week course (1 hour / week), THIS! will offer a 3-week training.

The 4-Question Framework for determining our real work

We can go deeper to determine what our real work is, the work that we have been given to do. The 4 questions are:

1)   What among the world’s great needs breaks your heart?

2)   What brings you joy?

3)   What are you good at?

4)   Where is the leverage allowing you to have the biggest impact?

If you keep asking yourself these 4 questions, jotting down thoughts about how to answer each one, you will likely find, over time, that you, like St. Francis of Assisi, can say, “I am at peace.” You will also be able to answer the ultimate question (“What did you do to fight climate crisis?) with “THIS! Is What We Did.”