It seems to be human nature to reflect back on the year as it draws to a close. All the media outlets do their part, all the newspapers and news shows and magazines. There are lists that run down the celebs that have passed, the bits of human tragedy that happened, the few accomplishments we managed to achieve in the past year. Of course, I read them and make my same ol’ remarks that I hadn’t realized that so and so had died, what a shame this happened…you know the drill. But down deep inside, I have to question why we always seem to emphasize the negative side. It often leaves me feeling restless, empty and wondering.
There is a poem by Wendell Berry that I often think about when I’m in this kind of mood. I think that it is a good year-end poem for me. It’s called
“The Peace of Wild Things.”
When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of 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 for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
and I wake in the middle of 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 for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Some peaceful thoughts as this year comes to an end...
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