Tag Archives: Wendell Berry

Carrying a Candle against the Wind

By Robin Bates | Published: April 25, 2020

A simple Wendell Berry poem/prayer asks for help in keeping a candle alight against the wind.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "I know I have life", fathers and sons, Georges de La Tour, St. Joseph and Jesus | Comments closed

Manifesto for the Earth’s Future

By Robin Bates | Published: April 21, 2020

Wendell Berry’s manifesto of “The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” is worth revisiting on this 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day. It captures the spirit of the times.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Manifesto: Mad Farmer Liberation Front", Earth Day, Environment | Comments closed

After the Long Dark Wait, Light Again

By Robin Bates | Published: March 7, 2020

In a Sabbath poem written in 1992, Wendell Berry marvels at spring’s return.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Spring", Sabbath poem 1992, twinleaf | Comments closed

To Fight Climate Change, Plant Gardens

By Robin Bates | Published: January 14, 2020

Wendell Berry asserts that growing and maintaining gardens is an antidote to climate change.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Speech to the Garden Club of America", climate change, gardens | Comments closed

Destroying What We Were Given in Trust

By Robin Bates | Published: August 27, 2019

Wednesday After defending Brazil strongman Jair Bolsonaro for his assault on Brazil’s rain forests, Donald Trump is now going after our own, with Alaska’s Tongass National Forest the latest natural treasure on the chopping block. When hearing such dispiriting environmental news, I often turn to Wendell Berry, who is sure to articulate my outrage while […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Donald Trump, Environment, Tongass National Forest | Comments closed

Like the Crocus Budding through the Snow

By Robin Bates | Published: December 10, 2017

Melville’s “Clarel” wrestles with faith and doubt and whether science can be reconciled with religion. In the end, the poet tells us to look to the heart, a good Advent message.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Testament", Clarel, faith and doubt, Herman Melville, science and religion | Comments closed

Nature Lit Has Healed for Centuries

By Robin Bates | Published: December 5, 2017

For years my Intro to Lit class has had a nature theme.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Bacchae, Barbara Kingsolver, climate change, environmental issues, Euripides, Flight Behavior, John Keats, Leslie Marmon Silko, Lord Byron, Lucille Clifton, Margaret Atwood, Mary Oliver, Midsummer Night's Dream, nature poetry, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, William Blake, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Year of the Flood | Comments closed

Finding Beauty in Ravaged Landscapes

By Robin Bates | Published: April 20, 2016

In “Gift of Gravity,” Wendell Berry finds beauty even in ravaged landscapes. But is there a limit to how much of a devastated landscape he could learn to love?

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Gift of Gravity", climate change, global warming | Comments closed

The Peace of Wild Things

By Robin Bates | Published: December 21, 2014

My Intro to Literature class explored how a disconnect from nature leads to existential anguish while opening themselves up to nature provides spiritual nourishment.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Ancient Mariner, "Egrets", "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud", "Killing the Trees", "Peace of Wild Things", All the Pretty Horses, Bacchae, Barbara Kingsolver, Ceremony, Cormac McCarthy, Euripides, Flight Behavior, Leslie Marmon Silko, Lucille Clifton, Mary Oliver, Midsummer Night's Dream, Nature, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, spiritual healing, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth | Comments closed