1324 GA Highway 49 South | Americus Georgia 31719

(229) 924-0391  |  info@koinoniafarm.org
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Youtube
Flickr
Visit Store
  • Home
  • About
    • Koinonia Today
    • History
      • Clarence Jordan
    • News
      • Publications
      • Media Page
      • Koinonia in Your Inbox
  • Visit
    • Ways to Visit
    • Courses & Retreats
  • Internship
    • Internship – A Brief Description
  • Support
    • Sponsor a Tree
    • Service To Others
  • Blog
    • Brief Thoughts from Bren
    • Other Writings
Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • Koinonia Today
    • History
      • Clarence Jordan
    • News
      • Publications
      • Media Page
      • Koinonia in Your Inbox
  • Visit
    • Ways to Visit
    • Courses & Retreats
  • Internship
    • Internship – A Brief Description
  • Support
    • Sponsor a Tree
    • Service To Others
  • Blog
    • Brief Thoughts from Bren
    • Other Writings
Donate
Visit Store

Support Koinonia in Honor or Memory of a Loved One with

Top ^

Joy as Defiance – “Listen!” and “Why” by Wendell Berry

Steve Krout

Steve Krout

All Writings
  • July 17, 2020
  • 8:36 am
  • No Comments

by Steve Krout
July 17, 2020

Listen!
By Wendell Berry

How fine to have a radio
and beautiful music playing
while I sit at rest in the evening.
How fine to hear through the music
the cries of wild geese on the river.


Beneath the sound of Tom Waits crooning from my record player, I could hear one of our goats bleating outside. I glanced out the window and noticed Peanut trying to get the attention of a passerby. It often seems like he expects a tasty treat from anyone that has the privilege of walking near him. I smiled as I thought, “I have something in common with a goat!”

Life is filled with little moments like these that cause us to be happy. In another short poem titled Why, Berry writes of happiness:

Why all the embarrassment
about being happy?
Sometimes I’m as happy 
as a sleeping dog, 
and for the same reasons,
and for others.

 A person can easily feel embarrassed, perhaps even guilty, for being happy while there is so much suffering and turmoil in the world. But we cannot live a life of caring for others if we do not care for ourselves as well. We should take pleasure in those things that give us life: a song, a baseball game, a glass of wine with a loved one. 

Beyond happiness, which comes and goes, Jesus offers us a joy that lasts. This joy comes from being in relationship with the one who knows us on the deepest level and desires our highest good. Bono, of the band U2, once said, “Joy is an act defiance.” Its an act of defiance against the many evils and injustices of the world.

Listen! and Why originally appeared in Given (2005). Both also appear in New Collected Poems (2012).

Wendell Berry was born in Henry County, KY on August 5, 1934. He is a writer, farmer, and environmentalist. In 2015, Berry became the first living writer to be inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame. His notable works include The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture (1977), Sabbaths: Poems (1987), and Jayber Crow (2000).

Peanut the Goat close up
Peanut the Goat
Read the Introduction to Koinonia’s Summer Poetry Series
Read Poem 1: Mary Oliver’s “Blueberries”
Read Poem 2: Thomas Merton’s “For My Brother”
Read Poem 3: Billy Collins’ “Hippos on Holiday”
Read Poem 4: Teresa Mei Chuc’s “Pencil”
Read Poem 7: Li-Young Lee’s “The Gift”
Read Poem 8: Mary Oliver’s “Don’t Worry”

Share this with your friends:
Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on google
Google+
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
PrevPreviousFinding a Dear Friend at the Stewart Immigration Prison
NextDon’t Let This Time PassNext

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More to explore

blank
Blog
Steve Krout

5 Songs for Your Advent to Christmas Playlist

There’s the longing of the Advent season and there’s the excitement that is the Christmas season. I love both of those feelings.

Read More »
December 11, 2020 3 Comments
blank
Blog
Bren Dubay

Leisure

Leisure is an end in itself, a time to dwell on the beauty of creation, to read a challenging book, to be carried away listening to a soaring symphony, to catch one’s breath at a stunning work of art, a time to step back to admire the work that one has done. It is a time to worship and pray, the highest forms of leisure. It is a time to contemplate goodness and allow that goodness and all these meaningful activities to re-create us.

Read More »
October 28, 2020 1 Comment
Springtime Orchard
Blog
Bren Dubay

The Great Divorce

Good art, good literature, helps us imagine what a new normal and a new world can be. It is vital in times like these to seek out that which helps us imagine a better world and encourages us to work together, perhaps in small ways like Sarah Smith, to build this new world now.

Read More »
September 30, 2020 No Comments
Peace Trail Sign
Blog
Bren Dubay

Lessons for Disciples

The father went on directing his remarks to Naomi, “You aren’t one of us. Why would my children play with you?”
Naomi looked at the grown man. She could see kindness in his eyes even though his tone and words did not match it. She said to him, “Aren’t we are all God’s children, sir? That makes us one family … doesn’t it, sir?”

Read More »
August 24, 2020 1 Comment
blank
Blog
Steve Krout

Grace and Time – “Don’t Worry” by Mary Oliver

Grace must be lived and breathed. Perhaps you are not where you want to be today — Breathe. Live into the grace offered to you from God. And, don’t worry. Things take the time they take.

Read More »
August 14, 2020 No Comments
blank
Blog
Steve Krout

God as Father – “The Gift” by Li-Young Lee

There’s a beauty and grace to Li-Young Lee’s writing that touches something deep inside of me. When I read “The Gift”, my inner child cries out in longing for something he never experienced.

Read More »
August 7, 2020 1 Comment

Contact Us

Koinonia Farm

1324 GA Highway 49 South
Americus, Georgia 31719
Tel: (877) 738-1741
Tel: (229) 924-0391

E-mail: info@koinoniafarm.org

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Youtube
Flickr
Online Store

Looking for something else?
Enter a word or phrase below.

Koinonia In Your Inbox

Please fill out the information below so we can keep you up to date in your email inbox.

Designed and maintained by Lowthian Design Works

Designed and maintained by Lowthian Design Works

Koinonia Farm

1324 GA Highway 49 South
Americus, Georgia 31719
Tel: (877) 738-1741
Tel: (229) 924-0391

E-mail: info@koinoniafarm.org

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Youtube
Flickr
Online Store

Looking for something else?
Click on the search icon and enter a word or phrase.

Search
Close