Hello, fellow pilgrims. It is week 2 of our Lenten season and week 2 with our Lenten Devotional Wendell Berry and the Sabbath Poetry of Lent. The poem highlighted in this week’s devotional is “Again, I Resume the Long Lesson.” This poem ties into this Sunday’s Gospel lesson from John 3. It may not seem so at first, but it does. Wendell Berry speaks of the beauty of creation, including us and for us—nature as God’s reminder to us that we are Beautiful and Beloved for eternity. He defines eternity as such:
Eternity is not infinity.
It is not a long time.
It does not begin at the end of time.
It does not run parallel to time.
In its entirety it always was.
In its entirety it will always be.
It is entirely present always.
(From Leavings, by Wendell Berry)
And in his poem “Again, I Resume the Long Lesson,” he speaks of his experience being present in the woods and taking in all its gifts and beauties—even amid the havoc of life in those woods, even amid the havoc of life in the world. The woods (and wherever you experience the Love of God) serve as a long lesson that holds continuous reminders of God’s eternal Love for us and the importance of faith and sabbath rest. Sabbath can mean many different things in our lives. It can mean resting our hearts and minds through prayer and worship, resting our bodies through relaxation or a sacred practice (like walking or gardening), resting our conscience through charity or community service. Resting—assured of our Belovedness and Belongingness as creatures of God.
The meditation in this week’s devotional draws our attention to John 3:17: God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. God loves all of creation including every single one of us, including the least and the lost—everyone. And the featured poem this week is Wendell Berry’s attempt at affirming that Love. Here is the poem:
VII
by Wendell Berry
Again I resume the long
lesson: how small a thing
can be pleasing, how little
in this hard world it takes
to satisfy the mind
and bring it to its rest.
Within the ongoing havoc
the woods this morning is
almost unnaturally still.
Through stalled air, unshadowed
light, a few leaves fall
of their own weight.
The sky
is gray. It begins in mist
almost at the ground
and rises forever. The trees
rise in silence almost
natural, but not quite,
almost eternal, but
not quite.
What more did I
think I wanted? Here is
what has always been.
Here is what will always
be. Even in me,
the Maker of all this
returns in rest, even
to the slightest of His works,
a yellow leaf slowly
falling, and is pleased.
[“VII” by Wendell Berry from This Day. ©Counterpoint Press, 2013.]
You are Beautiful, and you are Beloved.
Angela+