As the leader of a Christian think tank in Sweden, Per Ewert watched Greta Thunberg’s global crusade unfold earlier than most of the world. But when he saw her demonstrating outside parliament with her school strike movement, he got a jolt: The book Greta was reading was co-written by … him.

In a new essay for the Acton Institute’s Religion & Liberty Transatlantic website, Ewert writes:

When I think of the school book Greta was reading when it all began, I think about the illustration to the chapter I wrote about influencing society: a photo of an enraged young girl travelling by train to a demonstration at a UN summit. I don’t pretend to be her defining source of inspiration. But still, Greta’s unparalleled one-year-voyage from a lonely seat by the parliament to her current position as the informal leader of a global movement gives me reason to raise a loving warning.

He goes on to share the lessons he believes young activists, and especially her older supporters around the world, should take to heart about environmental stewardship and exercising wise, mature decisionmaking.

Read his important essay here.