March 9, 2012

Think Little


Writer/farmer Wendell Berry is a sensible dude that is doing things right. It makes me wonder why we don't have people like him running our governments. Perhaps it is because they are too busy getting things done.

Berry writes about things that may be considered 'quaint' in today's fast-paced, slick modern age that offers all things shiny and new.

"According to him, the good life includes sustainable agriculture, appropriate technologies, healthy rural communities, connection to place, the pleasures of good food, husbandry, good work, local economics, the miracle of life, fidelity, frugality, reverence, and the interconnectedness of life." - Wikipedia

I like Berry because he gives hope to individuals and small groups in society that are making changes, and progress. He recognizes the value, the power, and the potential in the people. He knows how to think little.

"While the government is 'studying' and funding and organizing its Big Thought, nothing is being done. But the citizen who is willing to Think Little, and, accepting the discipline of that, to go ahead on his own, is already solving the problem.

A man who is trying to live as a neighbor to his neighbors will have a lively and practical understanding of the work of peace and brotherhood, and let there be no mistake about it - he is doing that work...

A man who is willing to undertake the discipline and the difficulty of mending his own ways is worth more to the conservation movement than a hundred who are insisting merely that the government and the industries mend their ways."  
- Wendell Berry, The Art of The Commonplace

Individuals and groups committed to making progress, that are starting by thinking little, then working their way up, are changing the world. Never doubt that this is the case. 

Your efforts and changes, regardless of how little, matter.

YOU have the power to make the world a better place.

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