“We have lived by the assumption that what was good for us
would be good for the world. And this has been based on the even flimsier
assumption that we could know with any certainty what was good even for us. We
have been wrong. We must change our lives, so that it will be possible to live
by the contrary assumption that what is good for the world will be good for us.
And that requires that we make the effort to know the world and to learn what
is good for it. We must learn to cooperate in its processes, and to yield to
its limits. But even more important, we must learn to acknowledge that the
creation is full of mystery; we will never entirely understand it. We must
abandon arrogance and stand in awe. We must recover the sense of the majesty of
creation, and the ability to be worshipful in its presence. For I do not doubt
that it is only on the condition of humility and reverence before the world
that our species will be able to remain in it. ~ Wendell Berry, American Poet
& Novelist
There are words from Brandi Carlile’s song, “The Story,” that I might sing, and perhaps you, too. “All of these lines across my face Tell you the story of who I am So many stories of where I've been And how I got to where I am But these stories don't mean anything When you've got no one to tell them to” You don’t have to be single or alone to feel the depth of those words. Someone in a longtime marriage or relationship might feel them, too. The voyage through life takes each one of us through an assortment of experiences. Some of them ennoble us. Some crush us. Some lift us beyond ourselves and carry us into the lives of those who need us. And some carry us to those we need. Some experiences are burdens. Others ease and encourage us. Some leave us baffled and unsure. Some build confidence within us and are so affirming that we grow in substance, in courage, in tenderness, and sympathy. As we age, the lines in our faces can represent the hurts we have not yet resolved. Or t
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