"When despair for the world grows in me..." writes Wendell Berry, "I go and lie down where the wood drake rests ... I come into the peace of wild things... For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free."

It is good to rest, in the grace of the world; for God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. This raises questions for people of faith and goodwill. About those medical staff burnt out after weeks on 16-hour shifts: what changes are needed so that they can ‘rest in the grace of the world’? About those zero-hour workers yoked to their unpredictable working patterns: what adjustments could be made so that they are able to get out of their homes to ‘rest in the peace of wild things’? 

A talk for The Second Sunday before Lent, 12 February 2023.

Find the text to this and all my talks at bit.ly/johndavies-talks