In Praise of Wendell Berry

Two Cups of Tea at Hope’s Café

For a long time, all I knew of Wendell Berry was his poem “The Peace of Wild Things.” A few years ago I discovered he has written novels.  I particularly liked Jayber Crow, a book a friend had suggested to me. This week in one of the sites I like, I received a quote of his, which grabbed my attention:

“Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner sense of justice than we do.”  How beautifully he captures in one sentence what we seem to deny or ignore!

When I searched his name to pull up which site had posted that quote, I found many of the sites from whom I receive posts had his work on them: Sojourners, Plough, inward/outward. His gifts are well recognized. 

Something of a rebel, he has no computer, no internet, no cell phone, no voice recorder.  Counterpoint Publishing is his publisher, a name which seems apropos for his style.   His typewriter must get a workout as in his ninety years he has written over 80 books of poetry, fiction, essays and criticism. 

A New Yorker article “Nick Offerman on the Essential Wisdom of Wendell Berry”the author notes Berry’s “most well-known essay, ‘A Native Hill’” in which Berry recounts the story of himself as a young writer living in New York City. There he finds himself writing mostly about his native Kentucky.  Following his own instincts, instead of the dire warnings of other writers, he moves back to Kentucky.  There he buys a plot of land and begins a life of socio-conscious farming. 

While I sometimes give in to a sense of doom about our planet, his works remind me that our task is to continue efforts to meet the challenges of life on earth in the present moment. His writings reflect a deep love and respect for the land. I leave you with this quote:

“The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.”—Wendell Berry

The invitation is open to share “two cups of tea” anytime at Hope’s Café, or anywhere you share companionship and conversation.