Peace
(Farley Lord)

Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

-The Peace of the Wild Things, Wendell Berry

In Advent we, like the poet, name our fears, our anxieties, our heavy responsibilities. Advent is the uncertainty and anticipation of a first pregnancy. Advent is exile, fear, and homelessness. Advent is haunted dreams and wakeful midnights. Yet Advent is when we find the peace of wild things.

-Farley Lord

In your own words, what does it mean for Advent to be “the peace of the wild things”?

This episode was written and recorded by Farley Lord. It was produced by Jim Keat. Background tracks include Relinquish by Podington Bear and Overcoming Stage Fright and Juncture by Dexter Britain.

Click here to download the 2018 Advent devotional.

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