ECPA Top Shelf Book Cover Award "Look at the birds" Through the painful days of the pandemic stuck in her home, Courtney Ellis found herself looking down in despair. Soon after, her beloved grandfather died unexpectedly. It was around this same time that Ellis took up watching birds. "Took up" might not be exactly right-as she puts it, "the switch flipped," and she's been borderline obsessed with birds ever since. Looking Up is a meditation on birding as a practice of hope. Weaving together stories from her own life, including the death of her grandfather, with reflections on birds of many kinds, Ellis invites us to open our eyes to the goodness of God both in the natural world and in our own lives. By "looking up" to the birds, Ellis found the beauty and wonder of these creatures calling her out of her darkness into the light and hope of God's promises.
"Like an oriole stitching together its magnificent nest, Courtney Ellis skillfully weaves together theology, poetry, psychology, history, and ecology to take you on a marvelous journey. Whether you are an expert birder or a total novice, you will alternately laugh out loud and hold back tears on Courtney's bird's-eye tour through the whole gamut of human emotion-love and grief, joy and fear, anxiety and wonder-until she brings you home at last to hope. An inspiring and heartwarming read!"
Keith Gregoire, physician, author, and birder
"Ever wish you could fly? Me too! Yet no matter how fast I flap, truth is, I flop. Next best thing to catching a wind shear is airlifting our hearts with Courtney Ellis's offering Looking Up. Two things we know: in this life we will all suffer loss and we will all long for hope. Courtney shares her flight plan from her own aerial story to her crash into grief and her recovery via the wings of hope. Need a new song? Lean in with me to Courtney's Looking Up, and let's feel our wings grow stronger, our minds gain perspective, and our spirits begin to soar."
Patsy Clairmont, author of You Are More Than You Know and cohost of the Bridges podcast
