. . . and St. Wendell too.

Local cultures and economies, forest communities, small shares of private land, and health--these are the themes explored by Wendell Berry in the latest book of his that I have devoured. Six relatively short essays only add to the imperative that Western culture has some serious problems with it. That fact is not news (nor even literature ala E. Pound) but Berry's solutions could be considered a new antithesis to the G.O.D. complex of our political masters (that's Grow Or Die).

I suppose one could say that Farmer Wendell says nothing here that he hasn't already said. But wisdom doesn't come in a vaccination i.e. one shot of it doesn't keep you for life, instead one needs a regular dosage of wisdom to truly be at home in our skins and on the earth. So, Berry will keep writing until enough of us get the message and do something about it.

A couple of excerpts (note I've posted a couple of different quotes from this book earlier in "What Hath Economics to Do with the Environment?"):

There are . . . two laws that we had better take to be absolute.
The first is that as we cannot exempt ourselves
from living in this world, then if we wish to live, we cannot
exempt ourselves from using the world. Even the most scrupulous
vegetarians must use the world--that is they must kill creatures, substitute
one species for another, and eat food that would otherwise be eaten by other
creatures. . . . The second law is that if we want
to continue living, we cannot exempt use from care.

And again in the same essay " The Conservation of Nature and the Preservation of Humanity"

There is simply nothing in Creation that does not matter.

If you haven't read Wendell Berry yet, I honestly don't know what to tell you other than Wisdom is calling in the marketplace, can't you hear her?

Worth Quoting

There are but three social arrangements which can replace Capitalism: Slavery, Socialism, and Property. --Hilaire Belloc The Servile State

Good reads of 2009

I haven't made a list like this in a while, and I believe I discussed most of these on the blog as I finished them, but I thought I'd make a handy short-hand list for you and me. These are only in the order I read them and do not indicate any preference. The Open Door * Frederica Mathewes-Green The Children of Hurin * J.R.R. Tolkien The Omnivore's Dilemma * Michael Pollan Agrarianism and the Good Society: Land, Culture, Conflict, and Hope * Eric T. Freyfogle Wonderful Fool * Shusaku Endo Up the Rouge: Paddling Detroit's Hidden River * Joel Thurtell and Patricia Beck Johnny Cash and the Great American Contradiction: Christianity and the Battle for the Soul of a Nation * Rodney Clapp (I started the following in December, but I haven't finished them--so far they are excellent: Love and Hate in Jamestown * David A. Price and The Picture of Dorian Gray * Oscar Wilde) Try one of these--let me know.

Gaudete, dammit!

I was not at my home church for mass this morning (not that I feel like I have a home church since becoming Popish), but nevertheless my mood was buoyant. After all, how could it not be. Here we were standing as brothers and sisters commemorating one of the top five greatest events in the history of reality: the Incarnation. Yet looking out and listening to the participation of my Roman brothers and sisters, one would think that something less than mundane had happened. Something BORING, even. We gathered to remember the God of the universe condescending to take on human dress and all we can do is half-heartedly sing and mumble ancient creeds that people died for? I remained buoyant despite the lack of mutual awe. Annie Dillard said waggishly that when people go to church they ought to be wearing crash helmets. Do they really know who or what they are summoning? Something more terrible, merciful, and real than the Great and Powerful Oz for certain. Lest my Protestan

I Am Not Hamlet

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