I read a recent interview of Wendell Berry in the New Yorker. Berry is a decade older than I am and much more famous! He is a Kentucky writer and farmer, who is real throw back or perhaps a prophet of the future. He is a poet, novelist and so much more. Amanda Petrusich interviews Berry about a range of issues. I want to focus on a couple of the issues and, perhaps, come back to this interview for more ideas at a later time.
One of my favorite sections lets us hear Berry reflect on our contemporary culture (which he does a lot) and yields a story about the Amish. Berry has Amish neighbors and he claims they have taught him much. I also had some Amish neighbors when I lived in Indiana and I also felt like they were both teachers and challengers. The challenge was their way of life asked me to think about my way of life. I think the same thing happens to Berry.
Before getting to the Amish, however, Berry reflects on President Trump. In almost every way I can think, Trump is an alter-Amish---the opposite of the Amish person. Berry does not want to go on about Trump, but he does see Trump in an interesting fashion. In Berry’s words, “he’s the embodiment of an ideal that has liberal and conservative versions: ‘If you want it you should have it.’” In a sense, Berry says Trump is the logical result of where our culture has gone. And it is not just a one-sided political issue---it is a national issue.
If you want it, you should have it. That does sound very American to most ears, I would guess. Probably most of us are not so brazen that we would put it this way. But I wonder if this does not help us understand the current focus on rights rather than an older focus on responsibilities? It would be too easy for me, as an older person, to say this is just an issue with young people. But I do see it as an issue with the younger ones. What they desire, they expect to get or to have. I do think this characterizes much the older group too---the Boomers and Millennials.
Berry links the idea of getting what you want to finding yourself. Again, this idea makes perfect sense to most of us, because that is how so many of us interpret the point of life. We go to school, choose careers, etc. in order to become the person we want to be. In Trump’s case, it was fame, fortune and so on. Apparently, he has got it and it should make him happy. That is the American dream. Get what you want, find yourself, be who you want to be and be happy.
Deserving to get what we want led Berry to his story from the Amish. It is easy to imagine Berry’s friend, David Kline, coming into his mind as the alternative to the Trump comments. Berry says, “My friend David Kline, an Amish man and environmentalist, said to me one time…” I wish I knew Berry personally and could watch this story evolve from his mind into words. This is what his friend, David Kline, told him: “The idea of finding yourself falls very strangely on Amish ears.” I had to laugh. It is true.
It is difficult to imagine an Amish person on a quest to find himself or herself. But let’s let friend Kline tell his story. David Kline continues, “After all, we Amish are not trying to find ourselves, we’re trying to lose ourselves!” Ah, the irony! And it is the irony of the gospels. One can almost hear Jesus saying that we have to lose ourselves in order to find ourselves. And this is exactly what Kline and the Amish intend. Oddly enough, it really isn’t about us---about our own little individual self.
It’s not about me! Wow, this is radical stuff. And maybe un-American and at least crazy. If I don’t get what I want and be who I want to be, what is life going to be like? The Amish (and maybe spiritual folks of every major religious tradition) would say life is not designed for us to be selfish. We were created from love and for love.
If there is a secret to life and the universe, love is it. God is love and so we are called to be love, too. It is not about me, but about we. The group or community is always more important than the individual. Selfishness is not the aim, but altruism and love of neighbor. Indeed, we are enjoined to love others as we would love ourselves. Do no harm. Take care and be careful.
The Amish are examples of folks who are trying to live out this calling and this ethic. I am sure they are not doing it perfectly. They are human. But I like their focus and commitment. Kline’s story makes sense to me and I can try to embody it and live it out in my own way and in my own culture. It actually may be a little more difficult, because the element of community is missing in most of our lives. Maybe that means we need to find and love each other.
Perhaps the first step is to give up the illusion of finding ourselves. Thomas Merton, famous monk, whom Berry reads, says we do have or, better, are true selves. But our true self will simply be the kind of disciple Jesus has in mind. We will have to lose ourselves to find our true self. That is the spiritual journey we each will need to make in order to be truly happy---or better, blessed.
One of my favorite sections lets us hear Berry reflect on our contemporary culture (which he does a lot) and yields a story about the Amish. Berry has Amish neighbors and he claims they have taught him much. I also had some Amish neighbors when I lived in Indiana and I also felt like they were both teachers and challengers. The challenge was their way of life asked me to think about my way of life. I think the same thing happens to Berry.
Before getting to the Amish, however, Berry reflects on President Trump. In almost every way I can think, Trump is an alter-Amish---the opposite of the Amish person. Berry does not want to go on about Trump, but he does see Trump in an interesting fashion. In Berry’s words, “he’s the embodiment of an ideal that has liberal and conservative versions: ‘If you want it you should have it.’” In a sense, Berry says Trump is the logical result of where our culture has gone. And it is not just a one-sided political issue---it is a national issue.
If you want it, you should have it. That does sound very American to most ears, I would guess. Probably most of us are not so brazen that we would put it this way. But I wonder if this does not help us understand the current focus on rights rather than an older focus on responsibilities? It would be too easy for me, as an older person, to say this is just an issue with young people. But I do see it as an issue with the younger ones. What they desire, they expect to get or to have. I do think this characterizes much the older group too---the Boomers and Millennials.
Berry links the idea of getting what you want to finding yourself. Again, this idea makes perfect sense to most of us, because that is how so many of us interpret the point of life. We go to school, choose careers, etc. in order to become the person we want to be. In Trump’s case, it was fame, fortune and so on. Apparently, he has got it and it should make him happy. That is the American dream. Get what you want, find yourself, be who you want to be and be happy.
Deserving to get what we want led Berry to his story from the Amish. It is easy to imagine Berry’s friend, David Kline, coming into his mind as the alternative to the Trump comments. Berry says, “My friend David Kline, an Amish man and environmentalist, said to me one time…” I wish I knew Berry personally and could watch this story evolve from his mind into words. This is what his friend, David Kline, told him: “The idea of finding yourself falls very strangely on Amish ears.” I had to laugh. It is true.
It is difficult to imagine an Amish person on a quest to find himself or herself. But let’s let friend Kline tell his story. David Kline continues, “After all, we Amish are not trying to find ourselves, we’re trying to lose ourselves!” Ah, the irony! And it is the irony of the gospels. One can almost hear Jesus saying that we have to lose ourselves in order to find ourselves. And this is exactly what Kline and the Amish intend. Oddly enough, it really isn’t about us---about our own little individual self.
It’s not about me! Wow, this is radical stuff. And maybe un-American and at least crazy. If I don’t get what I want and be who I want to be, what is life going to be like? The Amish (and maybe spiritual folks of every major religious tradition) would say life is not designed for us to be selfish. We were created from love and for love.
If there is a secret to life and the universe, love is it. God is love and so we are called to be love, too. It is not about me, but about we. The group or community is always more important than the individual. Selfishness is not the aim, but altruism and love of neighbor. Indeed, we are enjoined to love others as we would love ourselves. Do no harm. Take care and be careful.
The Amish are examples of folks who are trying to live out this calling and this ethic. I am sure they are not doing it perfectly. They are human. But I like their focus and commitment. Kline’s story makes sense to me and I can try to embody it and live it out in my own way and in my own culture. It actually may be a little more difficult, because the element of community is missing in most of our lives. Maybe that means we need to find and love each other.
Perhaps the first step is to give up the illusion of finding ourselves. Thomas Merton, famous monk, whom Berry reads, says we do have or, better, are true selves. But our true self will simply be the kind of disciple Jesus has in mind. We will have to lose ourselves to find our true self. That is the spiritual journey we each will need to make in order to be truly happy---or better, blessed.
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