Honestly, I'm mostly feeling resistance. I've been feeling invited to live counter-culturally, in the way of the kingdom, but it feels so hard. The lines I'm resonating with:
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
This feels like kingdom work. A vision for caring for what I did not plant and will outlast me for certain, but caring for it all the same. Thanks for sharing this!
Those are beautiful lines and, you're right, it does feel like sacred work. Caring for what will outlast us - may it be so, even when it means hard choices... With you in the struggle/hope/joy of it all, Erin.
I LOVE the fox imagery too. What a rebel to make extra tracks in the wrong direction! Curious to know what these words have opened up for or in you.... I think what I like is that Berry giving us a way to course correct even when "the motions of our mind" do become predictable. The fox doesn't worry about making a single, steady path and we don't need to either. The key is that we know when we need to change direction. If our choices look "weird" maybe we can consider that success!
As an American, the implicit "if you need to" has fallen away, and the moment to obey this has found us. The acceptance of this is difficult, but the encouragement rings in my ears. Someone else gets it. Knows the Kingdom and the Empire are not the bedfellows that many believe them to be.
"As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction."
Connected to the other quote, this just feels...badass. My apologies to Mr. Berry, but I know no other way to describe it. When I read these lines, I hear the epic score begin to swell and see our characters preparing for the moment that is so very much larger than they are, but which rests on their shoulders nonetheless. Though no match for those pursuing them, their sheer determination not to shrink back tips the scales in their favor.
(Reading back over that, it feels so distant from the thing that has been playing in your mind--and mine!--for the past few weeks. But the simple life IS the resistance. And I've always felt the pull away from conformity...)
Bad ass! Yes! I feel so empowered when I read those final lines! Losing our minds on purpose, marking a false trail, making tracks in the wrong direction - it feels like a guide to wriggling free if/when we fall prey to the ensnaring powers that be. Maybe we should all get fox tattoos!
Honestly, I'm mostly feeling resistance. I've been feeling invited to live counter-culturally, in the way of the kingdom, but it feels so hard. The lines I'm resonating with:
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
This feels like kingdom work. A vision for caring for what I did not plant and will outlast me for certain, but caring for it all the same. Thanks for sharing this!
Those are beautiful lines and, you're right, it does feel like sacred work. Caring for what will outlast us - may it be so, even when it means hard choices... With you in the struggle/hope/joy of it all, Erin.
“Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.”
I’ll be chewing in this for the next week, reflecting on why it’s hitting my soul so deeply. Thank you for sharing these words 🫶🏻
I LOVE the fox imagery too. What a rebel to make extra tracks in the wrong direction! Curious to know what these words have opened up for or in you.... I think what I like is that Berry giving us a way to course correct even when "the motions of our mind" do become predictable. The fox doesn't worry about making a single, steady path and we don't need to either. The key is that we know when we need to change direction. If our choices look "weird" maybe we can consider that success!
"Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands."
As an American, the implicit "if you need to" has fallen away, and the moment to obey this has found us. The acceptance of this is difficult, but the encouragement rings in my ears. Someone else gets it. Knows the Kingdom and the Empire are not the bedfellows that many believe them to be.
"As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction."
Connected to the other quote, this just feels...badass. My apologies to Mr. Berry, but I know no other way to describe it. When I read these lines, I hear the epic score begin to swell and see our characters preparing for the moment that is so very much larger than they are, but which rests on their shoulders nonetheless. Though no match for those pursuing them, their sheer determination not to shrink back tips the scales in their favor.
(Reading back over that, it feels so distant from the thing that has been playing in your mind--and mine!--for the past few weeks. But the simple life IS the resistance. And I've always felt the pull away from conformity...)
Bad ass! Yes! I feel so empowered when I read those final lines! Losing our minds on purpose, marking a false trail, making tracks in the wrong direction - it feels like a guide to wriggling free if/when we fall prey to the ensnaring powers that be. Maybe we should all get fox tattoos!
Now there's an idea!