Weekly Reaction #10 - A Mess

I don’t know about you guys, but I went into reading Wendell Berry’s Remembering a bit skeptical. Maybe it is because his name kept popping up in all of our readings and it became somewhat of a joke to curse Berry and his insight in EVERY book or text we have read. I regret it a bit now. Isn’t it strange that once we decide that we don’t like something or someone, almost nothing can change our opinion? This is so dangerous! We need to make sure we have open minds to other viewpoints and are able to change our opinions. And this isn’t just in reference to honors and the subject we are talking about. But I digress.
As we have read a few of Berry’s short novels and heard some of his poetry, I have really begun to enjoy his work. I love his style, tone, and creativity in his writing! Not only this, he is able to capture thoughts and mannerisms that everyone can relate to but not necessarily put into words, if that makes sense. All of this aside, one of my biggest reactions to many of the themes that flowed beneath the narrative in Remembering was this: What a mess!
The beginning of the novel begins with Andy Catlett at this “Future of the American Food System” conference. Andy feels a bit trapped and panicked. He describes his experience, “Having come in just at starting time from the clear warm morning outdoors, Andy felt suddenly submerged, as if he were sitting on the bottom of an aquarium. That his ears were still tightly stopped from his plane flight seemed to corroborate this impression with physical evidence. It was as though he had changed, not only elements, but worlds” (Berry, p. 5). The paragraph before explains how Andy sits down in an auditorium with no windows, air conditioning methodically moving the air, and a huge screen as the back drop behind a stage. This struck me as quite depressing. Since when have we become so disconnected from the natural world? Sometimes I look at buildings, houses, and heck, my own dorm room and wonder when did huge buildings, spacious homes, and rooms full to the brim with stuff  became the norm. After all, for hundreds of years and in some parts of the world, the majority of humans haven’t lived in such large houses or had nearly as many material things as we have. And when I say “we,” I mean those of us in the United States or in the developed world.
Now, I understand the incredible importance of the shift from a mainly agrarian culture to an industrial or material culture. For example, without the trend towards “modern” life, we wouldn’t have developed such amazing medical practices. People live for so much longer now! That is such a blessing. But what is the quality of that life? And, to be clear again, much of what I’m referring to encompasses the developed/modern world or “my place” as we have defined it in class.
One chapter that opened my eyes and made me think was chapter five in which Andy is working for the journal, Scientific Farming. He visits a modern farmer by the name of Meikelberger. This farmer did everything right. He had an enormously profitable farm/business, a accomplished  family, and a flawless house. He had everything that money could buy. But, Andy describes him as this, “The obstacle that now lay in his way was his realization, which Meikelberger himself had left him no room to avoid, that there was nothing, simply nothing at all, that Meikelberger allowed to stand in his way: not a neighbor or a tree or even his own body. Meikelberger’s ambition had made common cause with a technical power that proposed no limit to itself, that was, in fact, destroying Meikelberger, as it had already destroyed nearly all that was natural or human around him” (Berry, p. 62). Since when has success been considered equivalent with exhaustion, too much stuff, and broken bodies? Yet, this is what our culture values as success, and it breaks my heart.
I was talking to a resident this week about the difference between the American culture and the Mexican culture. She told me that in America, there is a focus on earning a lot of money through a career and then retiring later to enjoy life while, in Mexico, they focus more on enjoying life in the present by yes, working, but also knowing when to slow down and appreciate life now. There isn’t an expectation to make a lot of money or building a lofty career.
As this semester has progressed, a lot of what I have learned has further solidified what I consider a type of calling. My goal in getting an education has not necessarily been about money. It isn’t necessarily part of my nature to desire a high salary which is something I’m thankful for. But what we have been wrestling with this semester has provided concrete reasons as to why it is important as a human created in God’s image and for God’s glory to live simple lives of service centered on building his kingdom, not ours. There is only destruction, failing families, and a hurting culture in store for us when we seek to please ourselves with what the “world” has to offer. So when my reaction to all of this was “What a mess,” I was referring to the brokenness in which we find our world. But we should never think about this and feel discouraged or overwhelmed. Instead we need to become intent on living our lives as examples of God’s kingdom, which, if I can be so bold, includes caring for God’s creation, our place.