[Poetry Chaikhana] Wendell Berry - Sabbaths 1985, V

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Sabbaths 1985, V By Wendell Berry (1934 - )   How long does it take to make the woods? As long as it takes to make the world. The woods is present as the world is, the presence of all its past and of all its time to come. It is always finished, it is always being made, the act of its making forever greater than the act of its destruction. It is a part of eternity for its end and beginning belong to the end and beginning of all things, the beginning lost in the end, the end in the beginning. What is the way to the woods, how do you go there? By climbing up through the six days' field, kept in all the body's years, the body's sorrow, weariness, and joy. By passing through the narrow gate on the far side of that field where the pasture grass of the body's life gives way to the high, original standing of the trees. By coming into the shadow, the shadow of the grace of the strait way's ending, the shadow of the mercy of light. Why must the gate be narrow? Because you cannot pass beyond it burdened. To come into the woods you must leave behind the six days' world, all of it, all of its plans and hopes. You must come without weapon or tool, alone, expecting nothing, remembering nothing, into the ease of sight, the brotherhood of eye and leaf.   -- from A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems 1979-1997, by Wendell Berry Amazon.com / Photo by mindfulness /

============ Thought for the Day: Belief is not knowledge. ============

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Hi Omss -

Something so healing, so earthly -- in the most sanctified sense -- in this Sabbath meditation by Wendell Berry.

His phrases of the "six days' world" and the "six day's field" are references to how we see the world and interact with the world on all the other days of the week, the non-Sabbath days. In the "six days' world" we work, we do, we accomplish, we acquire. Often it is a world of control and burdens, "plans and hopes." It is a world of objects and tools to manipulate those objects. Too often it is a world of domination and separation.

An essential reason for the Sabbath is to remind us that that "six days' world" is not the real world nor is it the whole world, it is only one way of interacting with the world. When we take a true day of rest, and enter a majestic space not made by men -- like the ancient, silent woods -- we remember that we participate in a larger life, eternal, eternally recycling itself. We are reminded that there is a wholeness to the world we live in, something we can't segment and sell without harm to ourselves. The Sabbath, the woods, the wilds, these remind us of the sacred, whole, eternal spaces within the human spirit. In true rest and quiet awe, we return to ourselves.

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I want to wish a joyous Diwali / Deepavali -- the Festival of Lights -- to all my friends in India!

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And also a genuine thank you from my heart for the many wonderful emails and blog comments I received after Tuesday's email. I was so touched by the stories you shared of spiritual exploration and the significant books you encountered along the way.

In another couple of weeks, I will send out a further list of holiday book recommendations that focus on poetry.

Blessings, and have a wonderful weekend!

Ivan

 

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