DISQUS

Joel · 1 year ago

I really like that second poem. I have never read Wendell Berry before, but if this is indicative of the kind of things that he writes, I may have just found a new favorite author.

Jason Winton · 1 year ago

The book I started with, in case you want to read more, was Berry's novel Jayber Crow. One of my favorite all-time-quotes comes from his main character, Jayber, who quietly confesses to the audience:

"I am, I suppose, a difficult man. I am, maybe, the ultimate Protestant, the man at the end of the Protestant road, for as I have read the Gospels over the years, the belief has grown in me that Christ did not come to found an organized religion but came instead to found an unorganized one. He seems to have come to carry religion out of the temples into the fields and sheep pastures, onto the roadsides and the banks of rivers, into the houses of sinners and publicans, into the town and the wilderness, toward the membership of all that is here. Well, you can read and see what you think" (p. 320-321).

Anyway, I think that's a good place to start.

Joel · 1 year ago

Thanks

athada · 1 year ago

Mr. Berry rocks my socks off... acoustically of course.

Jason Winton · 1 year ago

For anyone that's interested, I had prepared these questions based on the poems and my own thoughts about them but decided not to include it at the last minute. I didn't want to detract from the intent of the piece: an introduction to Wendell Berry and his poetry. But now it doesn't really matter because they will be in the comments section! Here they are:

Which cultural/religious/economic pressures most threaten our community's liberation--such that we need to draw from the Mad Farmer's resistance and/or contrariness?

Are we aligning with ideas that are foreign to Jesus’ message by embracing industrialist/militarist/capitalist ideology or economic practice?

The Mad Farmer exhorts in the latter poem, “Practice resurrection.” What newly resurrected ideas or rhythms should we invite into our own communities?

Anna · 1 year ago

Speaking for my own community, if there were no industrialist/militarist/government props, it would blow away with the prairie wind. We've got an Army base/bombing range, a tire and cardboard factory, a state university, the Indian/Native American tribal cabals and casinos, a major defense contractor headquarters, box top stores, a wildlife refuge, and probably many other players I don't know about all within a 50 mile circumference.

People should plain old not be living here in the concentration they are. Agriculture has been a failure, but no one wants to admit it. The Feds bail out the farmers year after year. Oil is not such a major factor, though a little still is pumped further east. The Complexes keep the people here, like a gully collecting tumbleweed. I think it would be perfectly sane to move out and turn the land back over to roaming tribes and herds of bison.

Jason Winton · 1 year ago

Anna, good comments...have you ever read (or heard of) Wes Jackson? He founded the Land Institute in Salina, KS. They have been working to promote and research Natural Systems Agriculture for over 20 years, an approach that sees nature (not corporate or agro-business interests) as the measure for health and membership. On their website (http://www.landinstitute.org/) they state the reason behind their conviction, "The tendency of all natural ecosystems is to increase their ecological wealth. For instance, all prairie, left alone, recycles materials, sponsors its own fertility, runs on contemporary sunlight, and increases biodiversity." They seek to honor and mimic this system in the production of food for humans.

As a side thought (though an important connection to make), how can this type of thinking inform the ways we have learned to do evangelical church planting, evangelism, discipleship programs, etc.? What would it be like to find God at work in our place (sustaining it, loving it, holding it together) vs. importing Jesus-y products from the "experts" who live at a distance and do not honor the local names?

Anna · 1 year ago

Yep, I started reading Jackson, Berry, and Logsdon over 12 years ago. They are the trifecta of Land-Loving authors.

The problem is that our physical landscape will not support any large scale (and small scale is stretching it) agricultural methods. The land is suited for grazing animals; following with the Jacksonian wisdom, we should be herders/gatherers here.

Sorry to sound so pessimistic. I am actually trying to see how humans could creatively dwell...or maybe just leave it alone.

sue · 1 year ago

what address did you use to contact berry?

Jason Winton · 1 year ago

Hopefully you'll check back, Sue...http://library.louisville.edu/government/states/kentucky/kylit/berryadd.html

layne (herman) · 1 year ago

Up until this past week i mostly read Wendell Berry's essays. But then on Monday someone presented one of Mr. Berry's pieces of poetry to me.

Right after our encounter i made a trip to our local library to check out one of his books of poetry.