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Learning How to See with Brian McLaren

Seeing Nature as a Lover (Part 2) With Miriam Smith

Learning How to See with Brian McLaren

Center for Action and Contemplation

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.8748 Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2024

⏱️ 36 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What shapes the connection between your inner and outer landscapes?   On the second part of seeing nature like a lover, Brian interviews a non-profit leader in sustainable development, Miriam Smith. In this episode, Miriam shares her powerful story of growing up in Chad during a civil war. She discusses how these experiences shaped her perspective on life and instilled a deep passion for nature and the environment, and how this informs her work with Eden Thriving, an organization dedicated to sustainable development and landscape restoration. Miriam emphasizes the importance of cherishing both our inner and outer landscapes, highlighting the connection between love and care for both ourselves, and our planet. Lastly, Miriam also shares about her efforts to protect and restore land in Kenya, underscoring the significance of cherishing our planet. You can read more about that at the link in the resource section. Miriam Smith loves the outdoors, campfires, ‘ah-ha’ moments, poetry and the contemplative life. Her childhood was spent in Central and Eastern Africa where she gained a deep love for living close to nature, being present at a grassroots level, and working with dedicated teammates to cultivate the potential of land and lives. While raising her three children, she has served in a variety of non-profit community development programs in Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea and Kenya. She makes her permanent home along the banks of the Malewa River in Naivasha, Kenya where she serves as the Founding Director of Eden Thriving, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing the environmental roots of poverty. (www.edenthriving.org)  Resources: The transcript for this episode can be found here. To learn more about Miriam's work with restoring the land in Kenya, visit this website here. To learn more about Miriam, check out her website here.

Transcript

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0:00.0

In our last episode, we met with an ecologist, a wildlife biologist, who has devoted years and

0:07.4

years of his life to preserving threatened species. And there are so many wonderful, amazing

0:15.3

people in the world who develop a love for just one species. And they devote their lives along with many other scientists and

0:24.0

activists and caring citizens to try to save an individual species from extinction. There are other

0:32.3

people who fall in love with a place that they see is threatened with destruction of its natural beauty.

0:40.7

And that love for that place motivates them to not only invest their own time and energy,

0:48.7

but to inspire other people to love that place as well so that together, driven by love, motivated by love,

0:56.4

moved by love, they can try to save that beloved place. In today's episode of learning how

1:04.0

to see, we'll meet with someone who's been possessed by that love, and I think you'll feel that

1:10.7

it's contagious.

1:20.0

My guest today is Miriam Smith.

1:23.9

Miriam had a conversation with me from across the world.

1:28.2

She's in East Africa and the beautiful country of Kenya.

1:32.3

And I'm so happy you're going to get to hear her story.

1:35.6

You can learn more about her at her website, Eden Thriving.

1:39.3

One word, edenthriving.org.

1:43.1

Miriam speaks of cherishing, seeing the world with the eyes of a lover who

1:50.4

doesn't just want to use something, but wants that thing to be itself and expressed in its

1:58.9

fullness and to reach its full living potential.

2:02.8

I know you're going to be moved by what she says.

2:07.0

Miriam and I come from a similar religious background, and there was a hymn that I remember

2:13.4

singing as a child.

...

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