"In the grace of the world ..." - Wendell Berry

I rest in

When despair grows in me

and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting for their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

~ by Wendell Berry

  the grace

of the world

Someone asked today "How do we make sense of violence in the world and how do we understand what makes a person cause such harm?"  My head had many words to share, though not any answers.  My body, however, knows just what to do and seems to deliver me without thought to finding beauty, if even only for a moment.  Living near a beautiful beach is indeed a privilege and often I escape for a walk letting my body get its fill of fresh air in my lungs, sunshine or misty rain on my face and beauty all around.  None of it changes the world, but it changes me in ways that make me strong once more to face the questions that defy answers and strong once more to face a world desperate for more bodies, minds and souls rooted in beauty and balance.  May all beings have access to rest in the grace of the world and knowing so many do not, may those of us who do have access, drink deeply and remember not to rest too long and then get busy.

, and am free.