Egret Isle Farm
Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong …
So what choice remains?To be ordinary is no choice:It is the usual freedomOf men without visions. Thomas Merton Today we finish unpacking Thomas Merton’ poem “In the soul of the serene disciple” and I remember a dance which never fails to bring bittersweet moisture to my eyes. My wife Kay and I had been ushered …
We come now to what I think is, for some, the most problematic part of the Merton poem we have been unpacking for several weeks now, but I think it is possibly the most powerful stanza of poem. Click here to read the poem in its entirety. Last week I dealt with the first part …
I want to take a moment and talk about what you will not see here at the farm. If you visit Egret Isle, you will not find a picture perfect, story book farmstead. While I hope you find it a pleasant place, it has its rough edges and undone work. One of our goals with …
I want to return to our discussion of the Thomas Merton poem, “When in the Soul of the Serene Disciple.” If you have not read the full poem or need a refresher you can find the complete text here. The previous stanza rings with relational tension as “Friends as well as stars are angry with …
For the last several weeks I’ve been writing about the Thomas Merton poem from which we get the name the Serene Disciple Project, but after last week’s newsletter, I received some very good questions about what we do here on the farm and decided to take a break and answer them. While I have previously …
These are exciting times in the life of the Serene Disciple Project and Egret Isle Farm in same way a roller coaster is exciting. It promises to be fun, and you know it will probably all turn out ok in the end, but there are moments when it feels like it might crash and burn! …
I sat on the ground having just been run over by an an escaping pig. Brushing its hoof prints from my shirt, I pulled out my phone and Googled, “Loading pigs.” Surprisingly, the search retrieved several videos, but my favorite featured an old, wrinkled farmer from North Dakota who pronounced with a twinkle in his …
On Monday I shared one answer to the question, “What is the connection between the Serene Disciple Project and Egret Isle Farm?” If you missed it you can read it below. The second connection between The Serene Disciple and Egret Isle has to do with honoring a sense of place, recognizing and interacting with the …
Our first farm day is coming up this Saturday, March 2 and I wanted to answer two questions I get frequently about the Serene Disciple Project and Egret Isle Farm. Those drawn to the Serene Disciple Project ask, “Why does your ministry need a farm?” Those drawn to the farm ask, “Why does your farm …
