Deeply grieved to hear of Wendell Berry’s death. May the Lord bless Tanya and Mary and the rest of the family as they enter into their mourning. This is not a very good likeness of him, but I wanted to sketch his portrait because I’ve found that it’s a way of loving the subject, meditating on him or her, and inevitably encountering the image of God in their faces. I love the photo I referenced because it captures the side of Mr. Berry that I encountered whenever I was with him (which was rare): playful, boyish, joyful, with a quick smile that took over his whole body. Though I felt and feel grief, I can’t help but smile, picturing him with this same grin at the resurrection, taking his first look at the New Creation, Christ’s work completed at last, and breathing a happy sigh that the end was always glory. ~ Andrew Peterson
Here’s a fine WB poem:
A MEETING
In a dream I meet
my dead friend. He has,
I know, gone long and far,
and yet he is the same
for the dead are changeless.
They grow no older.
It is I who have changed,
grown strange to what I was.
Yet I, the changed one,
ask: “How you been?”
He grins and looks at me.
“I been eating peaches
off some mighty fine trees.”
WHAT have you finished reading recently? The Unexpected President.
WHAT are you reading now? Truman, David McCullough; Heroes, read by Stephen Fry. Beginning the audio version of Jayber Crow by Hovel Audio; I bought it years ago for a $1 during a sale after I’d read the original book, and have made a habit of dipping into it over the years. Time for a re-read.
WHAT are you reading next? Wendell Berry. Jayber Crow, What are People For, maybe The Memory of Old Jack. Not sure, but it’s time to have a water-drinkin’ party at the Grandstand and spend time with Brother Wendell.
Reading Freely 