by Wendell Berry
ALL that I serve will die, all my delights,
the flesh kindled from my flesh, garden and field,
the silent lilies standing in the woods,
the woods, the hill, the whole earth, all
will burn in man's evil, or dwindle
in its own age. Let the world bring on me
the sleep of darkness without stars, so I may know
my little light taken from me into the seed
of the beginning and the end, so I may bow
to mystery, and take my stand on the earth
like a tree in a field, passing without haste
or regret toward what will be, my life
a patient willing descent into the grass.
...
68,832 innocent civilians are suspected to have been killed in Iraq as of today.
“Change the channel”
- Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt's advice to Iraqis who see TV images of innocent civilians killed by coalition troops.
[NYT 12th April 2004]
...
We must go deeper, we must care, we must ask questions, we must live further than lunch! Skip lunch! Fast! Starve yourself! Wake freak'n up!
I get SO frustrated at the violence, the hatred, my own selfish conundrums, our surface levels of disconnect to systematic racism, economic worship, normalacy of "good morning neighbor...wave...pay bill, plant seed, wear hat, make joke, retain accent...wear underwear"...
My day of gut wrenching hatred summoned by ambivalence toward world affairs, violence, affluent blindness, attitudes of passive unwillingness to recognize our civic responsibility to each other...to poetry... (Ranting continues...) We are stagnated by tradition, by normality, by a white Jesus Christ with pretty lambs in a green grassy picture who's Hollywood west coast face is so removed from East Coast Wall Street stock market economic reality that I may back track a bit and say that a literal hell does exist - the minute Christ was put in white skin, in hollywood, worshiped in suit and tie on Sunday, forgotten as one invests in foreign oil on Monday...Hell is here and now. Not only in the physical pain that it causes the people affected by reaping that oil, but also the dead nothingness of a life whose sole purpose is to make money without even a thought as to what is happening on the other side of the world and even worse what is happening within their soul... Going to hell one ticker tape at a time!
We must support each other by setting alarm clocks - Wake up! Might as well live with our eyes open...
68,832 innocent civilians are suspected to have been killed in Iraq as of today.
“Change the channel”
- Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt's advice to Iraqis who see TV images of innocent civilians killed by coalition troops.
[NYT 12th April 2004]
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3 comments:
Have you read "The Irresistable Revolution" by Shane Claibourne? I loved it. It was recommended to me by Tim Dunbar. One thing I really appreciated about the book is that it reminded... it showed me that I am not alone in my struggle to live out a real and genuine Christianity. It's hard to get linked up with all those other real folks out there, but I'm atleast encouraged that I'm not alone. And so I'm encouraging you that you're not alone. I know it's not enough, but it's a start. How can I help??
Mark and I are in Newcastle for this long-weekend. We are visited such a lovely Christian chiropractor friend of Mark's. We watched "Fast-food Nation" last night. I thought it was good, but I'm not sure where to go from there. I wasn't eating fast-food before I saw the movie, and the majority of our meat already comes directly from farmers (Farmer's markets). Good things to think about, I'm just wondering what actions to take.
Hope you're well. We're back in the States for a month around Christmastime. Maybe we'll see you then...
-Rachel
I agree Casey. It's painful. And the advent of Free Trade has increased all other injustices. Free Trade was Satan's idea of a giant American boob job: everything looks bigger and better but feeling can be lost ... and even the ability to feed your children.
Thanks for your comment guys - in response to rach - i'm doing very well - I just thing rants like that are important (though a bit shaky and scattered)...they are part of the mess - pointing toward "more" and "better" and "alive". Deeper i say!
Grace - yes, I've realized the hollow sleaze that is simultaneously sneaky with its "capitalistic godliness" that gets attached to free trade. We have smart folks in the world - $ is louder than brains I'm afraid. Glad we have a hope that is deeper...(?)
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