Wendell Berry

“Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy.”
― Wendell Berry

Last night I had the pleasure of hearing Wendell Berry speak at Samford University.  If you don't know who Wendell Berry is, I am not surprised.  Berry has never sought fame, despite a wildly successful literary career. In fact he has spent considerable effort running from it. He is a man of quiet wisdom.  While I love Wendell Berry quotes, one cannot fully appreciate his expressive gifts by reading these stingy samplings.  His stories are meant to be savored. His characters are meant to be learned as old friends over a period of years.  And his thoughts must be chewed like a cheap steak, though ultimately much more satisfying.

I get intense these days about politics, about government, about justice or the lack thereof.

But I have been blessed in the past few days to be reminded of balance.  Last night Mr. Berry expressed a radical thought disguised as an ordinary observation.  He said something like "well, I guess you could say we are in a crisis (referring to the world food/population problem).  But, we too often forget to be patient in a time of crisis . . ."

He read a story.  For about 40 minutes a crowd of about 900 listened spellbound as the 77 year old author-poet-philosopher-activist-farmer read his latest work "Sold."  He stood at a podium and read to us, breaking only to occasionally drink from a glass of red liquid.   His yarn made 3-D movies seem like  primitive drawings from a child's coloring book, restricting art to inside the lines.  I do not know how others reacted to his reading, because I didn't notice anyone else.  I didn't really notice him after a while.  He drew rich, colorful pictures that filled my mind, dancing with sounds and smells and emotions that took me away from Wright Hall, transporting me to the countryside of Port William, the hometown of Berry's works.  And there I stayed for years.  But it only took about 40 minutes.

Mr. Berry chose not to make any other prepared remarks but he did agree to accept a few questions.  When asked a good question about whether he wrote the plot first and then developed his rich characters, or developed his rich characters and then created a plot, he quickly retorted, "Well, if it was that difficult, I doubt that I would ever have written anything at all."

The room became quiet as a questioner asked if Berry had any thoughts about the Alabama immigration law.  It was if the crowd were wishing to protect their grandfather from such a pointed question.  Just as he writes, his answer moved slowly, and thoughtfully.  While denying much knowledge of theology, he began his answer by citing Biblical references to God's creation of all of humanity.  He said he had often thought of how much we would have to pay to illegal aliens if we were to pay them adequately for all the work they had done for us. But then he said that it was important to consider our "carrying capacity,"  a reference to how many head of cattle a pasture can accomodate.  He seemed to be struggling with the answer within himself as he spoke.  He said many things that I wish I could remember.  But his last thought on the subject was that whatever the solution, we just can't be mean about whatever we do.

I left the auditorium feeling refreshed, as if I had been for a slow walk through the woods and fields just outside of Port William, as if I had just left a conversation with old friends outside the stores in town on a clear cool evening.

I felt as if I were a child, gently corrected by a wise grandfather.

Thank you Wendell Berry.

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