May we all do what we can to re-enchant our homes. Perhaps, if we can all start small and re-enchant at a local level, we can ripple out to the rest of the world.
This is why we need good stories. It seems that now might be a good place and time to start writing/ telling those stories again. Something seems to be in the air. A want to change. I’m here for it.
On a personal level, it’s past time for me to stop complaining about how deconstructed the world is and, instead, work to build a build a better alternative.
That’s a good reminder for all of us, Derek. We can rightly lament the worldwide loss of enchantment, but if we’re not making our own individual ripples, that’s on us.
This is beautiful, Jacob! Thanks for putting these thoughts into words. A man can never go wrong starting out with an Aldo Leopold quote.
The loss of mystery and enchantment in our world has such saddening and unfortunate outcomes. It sounds great to demystify everything until you do, and it leaves you unfulfilled and full of longing.
Awesome! My copy has some extra essays tacked on the end about his views on ecology in philosophy and legislation. It's a fun read. I actually have a post on my substack where I compare several Leopold quotes to biblical passages about the earth and its fate, which was a fun little exercise to do.
I need to find your post and read it. Leopold is fairly glum on Christianity and Abrahamic concepts of land, but the more I read Wendell Berry and other Christian agrarians and study the agrarian principles of the Old Testament, I think Leopold and Christianity are more compatible than he ever realized in his lifetime. Sadly, the Manifest Destiny Christians did lasting intellectual damage to the idea of Christian stewardship of the natural world.
I am utterly amazed by your ability to capture so many existential ideas in one small essay. God, the unknown, the beauty and eeriness of nature, childhood ignorance which brings about innocent joy, spirituality (or lack thereof) in the modern era, etc. Beautiful. I miss October already.
May we all do what we can to re-enchant our homes. Perhaps, if we can all start small and re-enchant at a local level, we can ripple out to the rest of the world.
This is why we need good stories. It seems that now might be a good place and time to start writing/ telling those stories again. Something seems to be in the air. A want to change. I’m here for it.
On a personal level, it’s past time for me to stop complaining about how deconstructed the world is and, instead, work to build a build a better alternative.
That’s a good reminder for all of us, Derek. We can rightly lament the worldwide loss of enchantment, but if we’re not making our own individual ripples, that’s on us.
This is beautiful, Jacob! Thanks for putting these thoughts into words. A man can never go wrong starting out with an Aldo Leopold quote.
The loss of mystery and enchantment in our world has such saddening and unfortunate outcomes. It sounds great to demystify everything until you do, and it leaves you unfulfilled and full of longing.
Hey, my birthday is in the beginning of October too!
Love the Aldo Leopold quote. More people should read A Sand County Almanac.
Amen to that! I just finished a reread of it. I decided to start rereading it at least once a year. It’s a very worthy task.
Awesome! My copy has some extra essays tacked on the end about his views on ecology in philosophy and legislation. It's a fun read. I actually have a post on my substack where I compare several Leopold quotes to biblical passages about the earth and its fate, which was a fun little exercise to do.
I need to find your post and read it. Leopold is fairly glum on Christianity and Abrahamic concepts of land, but the more I read Wendell Berry and other Christian agrarians and study the agrarian principles of the Old Testament, I think Leopold and Christianity are more compatible than he ever realized in his lifetime. Sadly, the Manifest Destiny Christians did lasting intellectual damage to the idea of Christian stewardship of the natural world.
I agree with every bit of that!
The post is called “‘Washing the future into the sea’ and the God who gathers back the waters”.
@earthkeeper , feel free to delete this if it crosses a line into self-promotion.
Fear not! I'm not about to wash this plug into the sea.
I am utterly amazed by your ability to capture so many existential ideas in one small essay. God, the unknown, the beauty and eeriness of nature, childhood ignorance which brings about innocent joy, spirituality (or lack thereof) in the modern era, etc. Beautiful. I miss October already.
Thanks John! So many kind words.
Very inspiring!