Coming into the Presence

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.

From The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry. Copyright 1998. We were graciously granted permission to reprint this poem in our book We Thank You, God, for These: Blessings and Prayers for Family Pets.

The Right Path?

"Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere, but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life."

--Carlos Castaneda, 1925-1998, The Teachings of Don Juan

A question to ask myself every day....