Wangari Maathai tells the story in this spiritually inspiring book, written to
share with the world the values of her Green Belt Movement, and the launch
in Nairobi of the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies.
The Green Belt Movement has four core values; Love for the environment, Gratitude
and respect for the earth's resources, Self empowerment and self betterment (or the
power to change within us), and The Spirit of service and volunteerism (or the ability
to behave selflessly for the common good).

In the first part of the book, and by way of introduction, she tells the story of the
beginnings of the Green Belt Movement in 1997, based on simple tree planting in
Kenya, and how it has grown from that modest start. In the second chapter she
describes many of the horrendous wounds we inflict on our earth, starting with
a visit she was invited to make into the forest of the Congo Basin, described as
the world's second lung after the Amazon.

We need, she says, a new level of consciousness, so that we can see that
the planet is hurting, and internalise our spiritual values to heal those wounds.
We crave over- consumption and the poor and needy crave equality. In the
process we become less and less happy, with our materialistic values, and the
indigenous tribes are harmed by Western values and diets.  We need, she tells us,
not only a change in perspective, but also a sense of responsibility to each other
and the planet, to between us heal its deep wounds.

So why do we do this? How long are we going to behave the way we do?
The second part of the book, in chapter three, urges us to look at the earth from three
different perspectives; the first important vision is that from space, as seen graphically
by Eileen Collins and other astronauts. These are highly trained scientists, who from
their cosmic perspective are often moved to an awareness of a god, a creator, a sense
of divinity, or simply a sense of "The Source" of all our creation. Then, she goes on to
explain, we need to consider the earth through the ages of its existence, and how man
occupies only a relatively tiny part of that time line. Finally she says we can view the
local earth, our own particular part of the ecosystem in which we are inextricably
involved. All are important to our understanding of the part man plays in this entire
cosmos and puts that part into perspective. As James Lovelock has pointed out, if we
continue to mess up the environment and the climate the earth will carry on quite
well without us. It will find its own equilibrium again, and man will be the extinct being.

The next six chapters then go on to explore the relevance of the GBM's core
values to our everyday actions wherever we are in the world. For this she draws
not only upon the spiritual wisdom of her own Kikuya community and the value
of the ancient practices and wisdoms that such indigenous tribes can teach us.
She also looks at the Japanese concept of mottainai (don't waste) and the
spiritual values of many of the great faiths, particularly as far as environmental
issues are involved. Here she finds some of them historically wanting, particularly
Christianity, which comes in for some knocks over its past colonialism, slave trading
and missionaries. But things are changing, and more faiths, including Christianity, are
now increasing their understanding of the errors of their past ways, and working hard
to put things right, to preach respect for the health of the earth, and the healing of
its wounds.

Throughout the book, Maathai's emphasis is on the fact that the ecological crisis
is not only physical, but also spiritual, and she illustrates her point well with stories
of her own and those from Biblical scripture, both Old and New Testament, incorporating
the wisdom of the prophets and the healing touch and parables of Jesus Christ.

Finally she writes of how she has seen spirituality meet activism, in the history of
conferences held by both governments and spiritual leaders. She writes of how over the
past 30 years of her involvement she has seen hope in the increasing understanding
shown by such gatherings of the spiritual values needed, how above simply monetary
values we need to call on those of compassion and empathy, justice and equity. And she
writes of those many who, sometimes at great personal risk, have fought for these values;
of Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Dorothy Day and Mother Theresa, and other campaigners
such as Prince Charles, Thomas Berry, Satish Kumar and Vandana Shiva, to name a few.

It may not be easy to change. She understands this. But we should be encouraged
by Christ's parables of the Mustard Seed, and the Sower. We may not always be receptive or
hear the call to action, not everyone may hear our message, and it can take time for ideas to
flourish even if they do fall on good ground. But tiny actions can have huge significance in
the long term. Do the best we can, she urges us, with tenacity, remembering E F Schumacher's
vision that "Small is Beautiful." And our reward will be happier and more fulfilled lives.

This book should be read by all those who are concerned for the future of our planet,
those of any faith or indeed of no faith, if they are able to respond to ancient spiritual wisdom
and feel in any small way the power of that spirit. From time to time Maathai includes some
general practical ideas that we can all learn from. But mostly the book is spiritually inspirational,
based not only on her own faith background but also with plenty of input from other faith disciplines.
The book concludes appropriately with news of her own first grand child in 2009. Will she ask,
Maathai wonders, when she grows up, along with the rest of today's youngsters: "Where did
they think we were going to live?...What water did they imagine we'd be able to drink?
What air to breathe? What food to eat? How did they calculate that we would be able to
survive without the forests or the wetlands? Yet they slashed and burned and ignored
all the signs. Why did they do these things?" Why indeed.