This fall, Beth W and Allison P will facilitate a discussion of the book The Overstory by Richard Powers, a favorite they’ve each read at least once, in hopes of gathering in community around a story of interconnection and coexistence of nature and the human spirit.
We are gathering as action and antidote in a time full of grief, so much loss and transition; Something this book does not shy away from. A natural history, this fictional book of nine interconnected stories spans across recent human history, palpable in its timelessness, told in parallel lives of human and tree history, our human impact on the earth, and our ability to both do harm and to heal when connected to our innate interwoven love and remembering as nature; to see ourselves mirrored in and guided by the earths profound beauty.
Full of metaphor and natural history, loss and hope; guiding and offering perspective as we find our place within the present shifting— something many of us need at this great time of change—as a balm to continue forward in precarious times.
We will explore themes of:
Environmental loss
Connection/interconnectedness
Grief
Love of earth
Faith as we envision a future forward that includes us all
Hope for what’s still possible in resilience and ingenuity
Our role and place within it all
And anything else that our hearts and minds are stirred by
The gatherings to discuss this book will be split into three meetings over three months, as the book is broken into three sections— Roots, Trunk, Crown (and Seeds, a small final, technically 4th section, for beginnings and possibility in an ending).
We will meet Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. on September 24 (Roots), October 29 (Trunk), and November 19 (Crown and Seeds) at Hodgepodge, 158 E 14th Ave, Eugene.
If you can’t make them all, we would still love for you to join when you can, and look forward to being with you as we visit the rich world of offerings within this poignant book.
