Jim Seybert - Strategic Planning Retreats - Strategy Audits - Executive Coaching

Michael Abbate’s Gardening Eden is everything I had hoped it would be:

Well-written

Authoritative

Fresh

Honest

Grounded

Abbate combines his experience as a landscape architect and his knowledge of biblical text to present a compelling argument for his assertion that Christians should be at the leading edge of environmental protection.

“People of faith claim to know the the Artist but lack any compunction for protecting the artwork.”

Gardening Eden presents reasoned answers to questions raised by skepticism about motive resulting from political differences.

“It’s not necessary to have complete agreement with any one point of view to be good stewards of our planet. We don’t have to accept a political point of view or oppose another to be advocates for the environment.“

I was challenged by Gardening Eden to think differently about the idea of protecting endangered species of plants and animals. My attitude has been one of concern for the larger animals such as bears, birds and whales, but indifference toward the fate of insignificant insects and pond dwellers. Abbate makes a strong case for the significance of every species by reminding his readers that God created everything and must have had a purpose for every living thing. By ignoring the fate of even the tiniest creature, we are ignoring something that was critical to God’s plan for creation.

For those of us who are in the “green” camp, Gardening Eden is a welcome breath of fresh air, providing conversation starters for dialog with our skeptical friends.

The term “creation care” is being heard more frequently in churches these days and my hope is that Gardening Eden will become a guidebook for people of faith who want to glorify their Creator by protecting His creation.

All the strategic planning in the world is worthless if it doesn’t turn into action.

American liberals - some call themselves progressives - are finding out that driving the bus is different than riding in the bus.

This piece from the NBC news blog, is a good reminder to anyone who wants to do something different. Make sure you leave with some action items in place or your strategy retreat will be tallied up as a waste of time.

Despite the attempted humor in the headline, we are excited about my brother John’s decision to run for a seat on the Redwood City (CA) Council. This is a video of his announcement event, during which he “blames” me for being the influence that led him to throw his hat into the ring.

I suspect he meant that he had to do something to protect the community from people like me.

We don’t agree on everything, but I know he’d do a good job.