Sermon "How to Be a Person" after a poem by Wendell Berry
25 July 2011
Our pastor here at St. Andrew’s, Jim Rigby, often talks about the role of art in our spiritual and political lives, and he routinely suggests that we think of scripture as a form of poetry. If scripture is poetry, then poetry certainly can serve as scripture, at least when the Doctrinal Police aren’t watching. So, for today’s scripture, we turn to the Book of Berry, as in Wendell Berry, and his poem “How to Be a Poet.” Just as I am going to embrace an expansive conception of scripture, I suggest an expansive reading of these verses. I am not a poet myself and have no plans to take up poetry. For our purposes, let’s generalize Berry’s message and retitle this scripture “How to Be a Person.”
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