I walked to fast flowing water in the woods. It's energy and exuberance were inspiring, but too much for me in my mentally drained state.
I turned to the slow water channel for some relief, and approached it with the spirit of Wendell Berry. I sat and absorbed the quiet nothingness, thinking of his words.
"When despair for the world 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 with their light."
"For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free."
I return home feeling refreshed and revitalized, ready to forge ahead and meet the challenges of the day.
The still waters do it again, and I am grateful. For the moment, I feel free.
What a beautiful post.
ReplyDeleteOne of my all time favorites. I read this Berry poem over and over in times of stress.
ReplyDeleteas soon as boomers die off in mass, we millennials will vote for socialism. Within the next 5 to 10 years, as more and more of you boomers die off, we are going to turn America into a socialist country, and we are going to STOP giving 80 billion a year to Israel. Everything you boomers worked to create, we will destroy.
ReplyDeleteBoomers have much to answer for, but there were also many who fought for many of the rights millennials take for granted. Civil rights, women's movement, gay pride, environmental movement and giving equal access to those with disabilities all started with "Us Boomers". But I think you are right, socialism will take hold in the furture and I'm glad.
DeleteSocialism? Bring it on. I am all for a more people-focused system.
DeleteThe USA has given billions of dollars of American taxpayer's money to Israel since 1949. It should stop, I agree.
I had a lot of hope for the millennials as they seem to reject a lot of the stupid stuff in our system. But I am still waiting for a lasting movement that can shift the way we do things. Where is the movement? Millennials are already a larger voting block than boomers. Why aren't their votes changing things, or are they voting?
As Marla points out, boomers did a lot of good in their time. Why destroy that? Unfortunately, they also have taken us to the brink of collapse on all fronts, and have left us without leaders of substance to help save us from their errors.
Destruction is easy. Creating something is more difficult, but is the better option. That is the challenge for gen x, millennials, z's, and all future generations. Will they be up to it? Time will tell.