Some helpful words for a Thanksgiving feast from Wendell Berry:
People who know the garden in which their vegetables have grown and know the garden is healthy will remember the beauty of the growing plants, perhaps in the dewy first light of morning when gardens are at their best. Such a memory involves itself with the food and is one of the pleasures of eating....The thought of the good pasture and of the calf contentedly grazing flavors the steak....A significant part of the pleasure of eating is in one's accurate consciousness of the lives and the world from which food comes.
Eating with the fullest pleasure - pleasure, that is, that does not depend on ignorance - is perhaps the profoundest enactment of our connection with the world. In this pleasure we celebrate our dependence and our gratitude, for we are living from mystery, from creatures we did not make and powers we cannot comprehend.
When we gather around the table tomorrow I'll take great pleasure in the thought of our turkey frolicking at Rocky Ridge Ranch and in the mystery of our multi-hued potatoes that were miraculously birthed from the soil in our backyard.
(Note: One of the hopes for my upcoming book is that it will introduce the writing and thought of Wendell Berry to a new audience. If there were a sub-subtitle for the book it would be, "What Happens When Wendell Berry Meets the Suburbs")
Hi Craig, I'm glad to have found your blog, and have enjoyed reading it over the past week. I love this quote by Berry; it's one of my favorites. Although, truth be told, the list of my "favorites" is quite long. I was thinking about the non-existent sub-sub title of your book, and thought, "What would Mr. Berry think about the suburbs?" I'm on a Wendell Berry group on facebook, and there seems to be a constant discussion about the irony of having an internet based fan group for Berry. I can't help to think (in jest) that the same irony would apply to Berry in the suburbs.
Thanks for writing and sharing your life.
Posted by: stephen | November 26, 2010 at 07:10 AM
Stephen,
I have a long list of favorites from Berry as well. There is plenty of irony to go around when it comes to Berry's popularity. I think the key question with Berry is, can his appeal among those of us in the suburbs or urbs move beyond nostalgia into authentic practices?
From the looks of you blog you're well on your way to authentic practices.
Blessings
Craig
Posted by: craig | November 26, 2010 at 08:41 AM