Hi,
Thanks for joining me.
I thought Wendell Berry passed away and I thought I would share A few lines from some of his poems,
Just real quick,
Real little snippets.
So Wendell Berry was,
If you're not familiar with him,
He wrote over 50 books.
He was an activist and a farmer.
And just really in touch with nature and just somebody that I really appreciate.
So one of his poems is called Wild Geese and he talks about geese and then he says this is the last part of the poem Abandon,
As in love or sleep.
Holds them to their way.
Clear in the ancient faith.
What we need is here.
And we pray not for new earth or heaven.
But to be quiet in heart.
And in I clear.
What we need.
Is here.
I want to relate this to sort of a funny story,
Or it could be considered a weird story.
I was walking by an old cottonwood tree once and I just said,
How you doing?
Not expecting to hear anything.
And the words that popped into my mind were,
I am here.
So who knows if it was that tree talking to me or not.
And it seemed quite profound at the time.
I got a little further down the trail and I asked myself Am I here?
Am I really here?
And that became a regular reminder for me to ask myself,
Am I here often on my walks?
Um.
.
.
I would be in my head up until this tree was about 10 minutes into my walk and I would be in my head and it was just a reminder to be present on my walk and I think this poem reminds us to be present to our lives.
And.
.
.
And he's saying what we need is here.
The tree was saying to me,
I am here.
Then I asked the question,
Am I really here?
And then Wendell says,
What we need is here.
And it's evidenced by nature,
Isn't it?
When you watch nature,
When you watch geese,
For example,
You know,
It just seems like they are provided for.
Everything that they need is here.
And the ancient wisdom for them is to remain present and is to remain aware.
And I think it is for us,
Too.
What we need is here.
Let's just close.
For a minute at the end here.
Bye.
Participating in what Wendell's prayer was.
We pray not for a new earth or heaven,
But to be quiet in heart.
And an eye clear.
Let's spend a moment being quiet.
In heart,
And I'll guide you through that just real quick.
Drop your shoulders.
They're up.
Relax your chest.
And invite you to say to your body,
Be still.
If thoughts arise or feelings of Resistance.
Just say.
To your thoughts,
To your mind as well.
Be still.
Have.
A quiet body.
Have a quiet mind.
Just rest in the.
Presence.
And peace.
And stillness.
I believe this is love.
I believe this is where wisdom comes from.
This is where we get in touch with that.
Ancient faith.
That Wendell's talking about.
Take good care.
