Earth Day 2020: Meet Author + Farmer Wendell Berry
I first “met” Wendell Berry more than 20 years ago when I read his prescient essay “Think Little”. In it he wrote about the dire environmental consequences that America was facing, as our culture became more + more separated from the land.
Despite his grave warning, he also held out hope + affirmed his belief that if we harnessed our will, we had the ability to fix things + make them right. Today his message remains the same + he offers optimism over despair.
Wendell Berry’s Port Williams novels are favorites of mine. They span time, from the Civil War to the present. In recent days I have found myself wanting to reacquaint myself with the small town Kentucky characters in Jayber Crow + Hannah Coulter as well as others in Berry’s books. I think our present days call for the comfort of old friends!
Over the years, I have turned to this beloved author’s remarkable poetry. Time + time again, I have been uplifted + sustained by the abundant wisdom + beauty they hold. Perhaps even more than his essays or his novels, they reflect his profound connection to the natural world.
His poem, The Peace of Wild Things, is so perfectly fitting for this moment in time.
When despair grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world and am free.
Wendell Berry has made a special gift to us all during this time. He agreed to read his poetry aloud at On Being.
I hope you listen: https://onbeing.org
On Being is a wonderful collection of Podcasts full of interesting ideas, conversations + music. Check out A Listening Care Package For Uncertain Times.
If you’re not familiar with the work of Wendell Berry, a world of wonders awaits you. In 2010 President Obama (who’s a fan) awarded him the National Humanities Medal, because he is a national treasure.
These days, I find myself daydreaming about being outdoors, carefree + unfettered. I know that we must wait patiently for that time to come again, but rest assured that time will come.
I may not be able to immerse myself in the beauty of the natural world however I wish on Earth Day 2020 but through the words of Wendell Berry I am blessed by the grace of the world .
We are like the day-blind stars awaiting their light. We are waiting for the post Covid-19 light to emerge. The Earth’s beauty has never left us, nor our deepest desire to honor it.
All of us at Supple join you as we celebrate the Earth, which gives us life + grounds us all. We are wishing peace to your hearts + looking forward to when we will see you again.