Wednesday with Words: Reflection

This week we were asked to look over our past posts in Wednesday with Words and pick a favorite. Wow, it was fun to walk down memory lane and consider some of what I have read and realize how it has shaped me.  It also made me realize I pick up on similar themes in books without realizing it.  In the end, I decided to pick a Wendell Berry quote because I think it gets at the core of what I am (still) trying to figure out.  In the essay he discusses quantity versus form and the longevity and goodness of human life.  Here is a favorite quote:

I am still working on accepting my limits and living gracefully within them.  He talks about the "wheel of death" and the insatiable desires that foster this wheel.  Finally he gives us a picture of the good life and it is what you would expect: 

But the ancient norm or ideal seems to have been a life in which you perceived your calling, faithfully followed it, and did your work with satisfaction, married, made a home and raised a family; associated generously with neighbors; ate and drank with pleasure the produce of your local landscape; grew old seeing yourself replaced by your children or younger neighbors, but continuing in old age to be useful; and finally died a good or a holy death surrounded by loved ones. 

So, maybe I should re-read Quantity vs. Form by Wendell Berry.  I think I am coming closer to living within my limits and allowing that to be enough.  One of our family mottoes is to "live generously and ably".  I can't find the exact place where I found this, but I know it was in Berry's work.  Really, that says it all.

I have truly appreciated the Wednesday with Words.  It has challenged me to think more about what I am reading, introduced me to new authors and works and become a virtual group of friends. Thank you for continuing to make this available to us.  It has been a blessing to me!

See what others are celebrating as they review their collection of passages at Ladydusk