LETTER FROM KATIE • September 2, 2026

Arwen Donahue Berry conversing with visitors at his home in Henry County, Kentucky.

Dear Holy Comforter,

Wendell Berry, perhaps as much as any theologian or writer, has taught me that the places and people among which we are planted are not to be resented or resisted, but received as the very places of our formation as believers in Jesus’ resurrection and in the hope of a world made new again.

As I gave thanks for his life and witness this week, I was reminded of these words from his poem “The Mad Farmer, Flying the Flag of Rough Branch, Secedes From the Union.” For me, they echo Paul’s words to the church in Rome, reminding them that we are members of one body and belong to one another.

May we continue to grow into that reality:

Come into the life of the body, the one body
granted to you in all the history of time.
Come into the body’s economy, its daily work,
and its replenishment at mealtimes and at night.
Come into the body’s thanksgiving, when it knows
and acknowledges itself a living soul.
Come into the dance of the community, joined
in a circle, hand in hand, the dance of the eternal
love of women and men for one another
and of neighbors and friends for one another.

I know many of you will be away this weekend, and I’ll be praying for your rest and renewal. I’ll see the rest of you on Sunday.

Love,
Katie