The beloved American poet, essayist, and farmer, Wendell Berry, has a clear sense of how all things are connected and find their truest meaning in love; love of God, love of his creation, and love for one another. He comes to this in and through his faith, his understanding of scripture, and his humble observations of the little plot of God’s green earth that he farms. Berry has meditated on this love while working on his farm with his hands and through the workings of his heart and his mind for most of his now 90 years of life.
In one of his poems from his latest collection called, “Another Day: Sabbath Poems 2013 to 2023” he continues his meditations on that small part of the natural world that he cares for on his farm in Kentucky. He writes in #17 of his 2014 series of Sabbath Poems the following:
These few poetic words reveal a small part of the great mystery of God’s love and our response to it. They speak of God’s love dwelling in all of his creation, that it was that love that called forth the beauty of the natural world out of nothing, and that we can recognize this love only when our hearts become sufficiently humble enough to see it, not just in the beauty of the world around us, but in the eyes of our neighbor. It is God’s love that gives meaning, purpose, and value to the natural world around us, to our own lives, and to the lives of all others.
It is for this reason that Jesus says to us: “A new commandment I give you; Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (Jn 13: 34-35). When we are able to love as Jesus loved us, the world will come to know his love through our love for one another and for His creation. This is what we pray for when we say the words in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy kingdom come, They will be done.”
The meaning, the purpose of God’s love is always before our eyes. Do we see it? Do we recognize it? Do we respond to it by becoming lovers like he loved us? We have not recognized God’s love dwelling in the natural world that he so lovingly created and gave us, commanding us to steward it and care for it in his name. Rather, we have turned the natural world into a mere commodity in our selfishness and greed. It is also clear that we do not recognize God’s love for one another. All it takes is a brief look at the daily news to see that we do not yet love one another as he loved us. We are not yet sufficiently humble enough to love as he loved.
Let us, then, pray always. Let us ask the Lord, in his infinite love and mercy, to forgive us for our failures to love one another and our natural world. Let us ask Him to pour the enlivening grace of humility into us so that we might begin to see and truly care for the beauties of the natural world around us, and that we might come to love each other more dearly in the manner that he loves us. The truth is that it is only in and through this “indwelling” love that we will find our truest meaning and purpose, and begin to know the true happiness that our hearts desire.
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