Larry L. Rasmussen ’65 M.Div. is the author of “The Planet You Inherit: Letters to My Grandchildren When Uncertainty’s a Sure Thing,” with foreword by Terry Tempest Williams (Broadleaf Books 2022). Rasmussen is the Reinhold Niebuhr professor emeritus of social ethics at Union Theological Seminary. As a grandfather and a scholar of faith-based earth ethics, he writes about questions of justice, meaning, faith, and love in a world undergoing profound transformation due to climate change and mass extinctions.
“This heart-wrenching collection is Rasmussen’s most personal engagement with the climate crisis,” writes Dianne Rayson, senior lecturer in theology and ethics at Pacific Theological College. “It follows decades of research and teaching in social ethics, grounded in his lifelong engagement with Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
“Writing to his grandchildren, Rasmussen represents all of us grappling with the regret and trauma of our times. In the new age of instability, Rasmussen, like Bonhoeffer, finds sure hope (rather than glib optimism) in community, honesty, and love for others. It is a profound and beautiful companion as we learn to live in the Anthropocene.”