Friday, August 12, 2016

Wendell Berry

Wendell Berry is a farmer, a writer, a Christian and an environmentalist. I came across some of his more noteworthy quotes and found them interesting. I do not know much more than this about him, but his words seem wise.

“It may be that when we no longer know which way to go that we have come to our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.”
 
Sometimes we have to be lost enough to let ourselves be led. We do not understand. We cry out to God for direction. All He says is "follow Me".

“So, friends, every day do something that won't compute ... Give your approval to all you cannot understand ... Ask the questions that have no answers. Put your faith in two inches of humus that will build under the trees every thousand years ... Laugh. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts ... Practice resurrection.”

The notion of practicing resurrection is particularly appealing to me.  Living each day anew,  reborn as it were, reaching out in faith even though we may not understand; is that not what Christianity is about? We no longer need to fear the darkness or hopelessness. We are His for eternity. Enjoy what has been given now and look toward what comes after. 

Just A Side Note...


I have nothing to say today, so I think I will just ramble on that men may know I am mad.

I had coffee this morning with two friends from church. It was not planned. I crashed their party. I'm sure it was irritating, but what's a lonely old guy supposed to do? They did not dismiss me as uninvited and I appreciated that and they listened to me opine all my recent travails. They are so kind and sympathetic. Thanks friends!

There are some really hot guys traversing the Hy Vee parking lot today. Must be Fair traffic. I should stop it or park in the back of the lot. It's like sitting at a table with a plate full of brownies when you're on a diet. You can smell them. You know they are delicious. You want one. Well, not 'you' per se, but you know what I mean....really all I wanted was to use the free wi-fi.

Back to the 'brownies' though, it's my belief that we have to bring ourselves right up to the edge of temptation. Then, when we walk away, the sense of victory is overwhelming. It's a reaffirmation of the power given to resist. Some might say I consider the 'brownie' in my mind too much, that my desire is as vile as actually consuming the pastry. Piffle. The Maker of all things made these beautiful 'brownies' in all sizes, shapes and colors. He wanted them to be appreciated. And so I rationalize my 'brownie' gazing as a gift from upon high. Seriously, it's like looking at new cars that you will never buy. Looking is ok. Test driving though...that's another issue.        

An old lady just banged my front bumper with her car door. And if I think she's old, you know she must be old. That always ticks me off, but I can't bring myself to yell at an old lady. Besides, she had her old 'brownie' with her. It might have been her son. He was old too.

Uh oh. Here she comes again...bang. What an old bag. She must think I need a new shade of beige on my red truck. I think she did it on purpose.

I should probably go to work soon. Should be a long day. My 70 year old is gone today. It's just me and the trainee until closing. Could be a long night. You may not know what I'm talking about. It's OK. The trainee is not a 'brownie'. There will be no danger.

Getting Dad to look at his new memory clock is a challenge. He liked it at first, but now he's sure it's wrong most of the time. Interesting dilemma.

Why do people enjoy watching the Olympics so much? It's really just a bunch of hormone cases playing grab ass with each other while trying to gain product endorsements. I will say there has been some fine 'brownie' watching. The wet ones are particularly alluring. I think they do that on purpose just to spite me. I'm sure that's just what the broadcast executives at NBC had in mind. That, and advertising dollars.

But I digress...it's really getting bad. I do it all the time now. I need to go. The 'brownie' quality is dropping off at the Hy Vee.