Week 11

It doesn't seem like there is particularly a lot to say about class this week. I'm sure most everybody in our cohort is experiencing the same difficulty I am right now in trying to compose a blog post about only a couple of presentations over only a couple of Wendell Berry novels that only a couple of groups of students were actually assigned to read. I could reflect on the material of the novels, but Berry's thoughts in these novels seemed to be fairly consistent with his thoughts presented in the other novels of his that we've read over the course of the semester. Hence, any dissection of these novels that I could perform would simply be a repetition of any discussion our cohort has had about Wendell Berry, Andy Catlett, or Port William, so, for the sake of originality, I'll try to go a little further.

I don't think it's a huge secret anymore the issues I've been experiencing with this class as of late. After all, I kind of threw the whole system out of whack this past week by accepting Dr. Case's challenge to move to the front row of the class (my apologies to those whose seats Jayme, Joe, and I stole), so my efforts in creating thoughts about this class, working through those thoughts, and actually applying those thoughts to my life have been made rather clear. Hence, I think it's only fair that I further attempt to "connect the dots," to quote my last blog, with the new information and experiences from this past week's class. The problem, though, is that the only new dot that I have to connect is what little bit more of a glance into the works of Wendell Berry we received this past week, so it seems as if there isn't much more to contemplate. However, I think there might be an important takeaway from the works of Berry as a whole.

My biggest problem with what we've been doing in this class all goes back to our motives; I can't help but consider what is in actuality an informative, motivational presentation of solvable crises a depressing, degrading evaluation of the presence of inevitable dangers in the world. I've just been having difficulty grasping why we're doing what we're doing because a lot of it seems to be done in vain. Like I said, though, I feel like I've made that clear. Hence, when looking at the works of Berry this past week, I wasn't so much concerned with learning about what it appeared he was doing as much as I was about learning about why he was doing what he was doing; I wanted to evaluate his motive in order to better evaluate mine. In doing so, I found one truth so plain and simple that I honestly can't believe I didn't consider it before: Wendell Berry does what he does simply because he wants to.

Yes, that is a simple truth, but let me elaborate. Berry, like all people, has certain passions and certain gifts; he obviously has a deep passion for the earth and for agriculture, and he certainly has the gift of writing. Thus, he combines the two to create a lifestyle that embodies who he is and makes an impact on the world in which he lives. It's really that simple. He's merely in tune with himself enough to know what problems of the world he deeply wants to solve, but since he's also aware of which ones he truly can't, he's able to prevent himself from becoming overwhelmed with the many tasks at hand. He doesn't observe the earth's seemingly endless number of imminent crises (like we sometimes seem to be doing in this class) and, as a citizen of the earth, feel inherently obligated to act upon every single prompting to do good in a world of pain and suffering. He only acts when he wants to, but his wants are shaped by a deep understanding of himself and of the world around him, not by mere desire.

I know that this is a dangerous philosophy to follow. Only acting when one wants to do so is not necessarily good advice, especially to people who can be as lazy as I and my generation can be sometimes. However, that is not necessarily the lesson that Berry's life teaches; Berry, rather, models a proper formation of one's wants that encompass one's innermost being. After all, last week I concluded that life is "not about doing the best that I can as much as it is about being the best that I am," so this week only served as affirmation of that discovery. Being who I truly am will not only serve as the best method of countering the evil that is present in the world, but it will help form a man who will become better equipped to counter the evil that will be present in the future. Overall, then, perhaps this class hasn't taught me as much about agriculture, ecology, food production, and stewardship as much as it has taught me about myself. Perhaps my difficulty in processing this information and seeking answers to my questions is because I don't, in essence, "want" to solve the problems presented in this class. I know that sounds like a cop-out, but if I apply my observation of Berry's life to my own life, perhaps my passions and gifts don't exactly align with these countless ecological crises. Maybe, deep down, I "want" to act to leave an impact in many other areas, and the evils that have been presented in this class are thus clashing with the evils to which I am actually called to act against, leaving me confused and overwhelmed.

Again, I know this sounds like a cop-out, and I'm not necessarily saying that I want to not want to resolve these issues in agriculture and food production, if that makes any sense. All I mean to say is that Wendell Berry has gotten me thinking about what my wants truly are, and I would encourage others to do the same.