Go with your love to the fields: Practice Resurrection Stories

On joining Jesus to intercede for my pastor, who also happens to be my husband

The latest installment in my series using the Mad Farmer’s words to inspire my own storytelling. I write in hope that something I share will encourage you to think differently about your own life and to respond to that new way of thinking with joy and courage and new ways of becoming more like Jesus and more like the self God’s always imagined for you.

In case you’ve lost track, here’s a description of my current Stories series.

Today’s excerpt from "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" by Wendell Berry:

Go with your love to the fields.

Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head

in her lap. Swear allegiance

to what is nighest your thoughts.

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.

Resurrection StoriesTamara Hill MurphyOctober 22, 2021Brian, finding Tamara, Practice Resurrection 2021

Will this satisfy a woman satisfied to bear a child?: Practice Resurrection Stories

The latest installment in my series using the Mad Farmer’s words to inspire my own storytelling. I write in hope that something I share will encourage you to think differently about your own life and to respond to that new way of thinking with joy and courage and new ways of becoming more like Jesus and more like the self God’s always imagined for you.

I’m grateful to my mom, Nancy G. Hill, for writing today’s post. This is re-printed from a beautiful project she’s working on with Storyworth. (I’ll share more details at the end of today’s story.) If you’ve been following along in this series of Resurrection stories, you’ll notice my grandmother Geraldine and her mother Calla Mae. Consider today’s story a prequel to this one.

In case you’ve lost track, here’s a description of my current Stories series.

Today’s excerpt from "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" by Wendell Berry:

So long as women do not go cheap

for power, please women more than men.

Ask yourself: Will this satisfy

a woman satisfied to bear a child?

Will this disturb the sleep

of a woman near to giving birth?

Resurrection StoriesTamara Hill MurphySeptember 28, 2021mom, Practice Resurrection 2021, StoryWorth, Family

Laugh: Practice Resurrection Stories

The latest installment in my series using the Mad Farmer’s words to inspire my own storytelling. I write in hope that something I share will encourage you to think differently about your own life and to respond to that new way of thinking with joy and courage and new ways of becoming more like Jesus and more like the self God’s always imagined for you.

In case you’ve lost track, here’s a description of my current Stories series.

Today’s excerpt from "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" by Wendell Berry:

Expect the end of the world. Laugh.

Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful

though you have considered all the facts.

Say that your main crop is the forest: Practice Resurrection Stories

The latest installment in my series using the Mad Farmer’s words to inspire my own storytelling. I write in hope that something I share will encourage you to think differently about your own life and to respond to that new way of thinking with joy and courage and new ways of living. As a reminder, here’s a description of my current Stories series.

Today’s excerpt from "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" by Wendell Berry:

“Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion — put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.”

Ask the (35) questions that have no answers: Practice Resurrection Stories

The latest installment in my series using the Mad Farmer’s words to inspire my own storytelling. I write in hope that something I share will encourage you to think differently about your own life and to respond to that new way of thinking with joy and courage and new ways of living. As a reminder: here’s a description of my current Stories series.

Today’s excerpt from "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" by Wendell Berry:

“Give your approval to all you cannot

understand. Praise ignorance, for what man

has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.”

Denounce the government: Practice Resurrection Stories

The latest installment in my series using the Mad Farmer’s words to inspire my own storytelling. I write in hope that something I share will encourage you to think differently about your own life and to respond to that new way of thinking with joy and courage and new ways of living. As a reminder, here’s a description of my current Stories series.

Today’s excerpt from "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" by Wendell Berry:

“So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.”

Take all that you have and be poor: Practice Resurrection Stories

The latest installment in my series using the Mad Farmer’s words to inspire my own storytelling. I write in hope that something I share will encourage you to think differently about your own life and to respond to that new way of thinking with joy and courage and new ways of living. As a reminder, here’s a description of my current Stories series.

Today’s excerpt from "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" by Wendell Berry:

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
anymore. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.