we have come to our real work,
we have come to our real journey.
Searching…
Some people have a sense that there is something in their lives that has particular meaning, is waiting to get our attention, to be lived. Something to be done, to contribute to the world (small or large), to be spoken of, offered. We may not know what it is for a long time, although it seems that for a small number of people, their “real work” becomes clear quite early.
We may search for it in adolescence, or when we are choosing a career path, creating a family. Who knows when we will find it, or if we will. I love his words: “we have come to our real work” when we no longer know. We may have been certain once, and then… that dissolves. When there is no longer an obvious path forward, that is the time when our “real journey” begins.
Perhaps…. “it may be…” He offers this as a possibility, a perspective that helps us to keep going. Don’t give up, you’re not really lost – although you may be baffled, uncertain, perhaps frightened.
An Invitation
Ordinary life takes a lot of energy as it is. We do our best – to keep going, to meet our responsibilities, care for others who depend on us, make a living. And for some, there is a moment when meaning and purpose evaporate. There doesn’t seem to be any point to it all. We’re tired. Lost.
Berry throws out a life line, a glimpse of potential meaning , especially for those of us in the midst of feeling lost. He goes on to offer a surprising perspective, which is spoken in a negative framework:
“The mind that is not baffled is not employed.”
Don’t be afraid of confusion! This is the real journey – when we don’t know where we’re going or why! And going even further – “The impeded stream is the one that sings.”
Feeling, Knowing, and Doing
These words initially remind me of one of my favorite Rumi poems, The Guest House: what you are struggling with may be “clearing you out for some delight.” Things are not as they seem. Rumi is focusing on difficult feelings – sorrows, dark thoughts, shame, malice – which may, on a deeper level, be offering us guidance.
The similarity? Our stormy feelings may guide us, somehow lead us, to a clearer sense of our path – IfF we can receive them with equanimity, perhaps even laughter. That is REAL trust and equanimity. But as I sat with these two poems, I sensed a difference…. Wendell Berry’s poem places more emphasis on knowing vs. not knowing, or perhaps not understanding, discerning, what lies ahead on our life journey, what calls us, the meaning and purpose of our life.
I sense that Berry is addressing his encouragement to those, young or old, who are not content with the ordinary or conventional paths. They have deep questions: wondering, searching for a calling or deeper meaning before life ends. Longing for more depth, reaching for a sense of purpose, guidance for action…and on the way, encountering impediment and bafflement.
What is Real?
The poem is a deep invitation to receive bafflement and feelings of helplessness with equanimity. All is not as it seems. Trust the process. And even beyond that – when the flow of our life, our “doing,” seems blocked, remember that the water flows over and around those rocks and tree branches, and when we are open to listening, there is a “singing” in that flow. We are called…
Encouragement. Hope. A redirection of our attention and a remembering of natural dynamics. “Don’t give up, don’t stop.”
So timely – when many are feeling a deep calling: to find our true work. We are drawn to do something meaningful, helpful, to participate in addressing the complex challenges of politics (national and international), climate change (everywhere), suffering of all kinds.
And your reading of the poem may be quite different! I will simply close with what I am taking with me from this particular encounter with Wendell Berry….