Wishing you peace this holiday season
The Peace of Wild Things
By Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
As we gather together with friends and family to celebrate the season of peace and joy, we hope that you offer this point for reflection and wish you all the peace of the natural world. Let us remember the tranquility that can be found all around us and give thanks. As we think about this beautiful poem, may contemplate the effect that the environment has on us as well as the effect we have on it, and the value of this relationship.
Happy Holidays from the WEA family to yours!