Common Wealth

I keep sitting here deliberating about exactly how to begin, exactly what to write here in this bare new space. I have a lot of ideas, really, and a lot of things tumbling around in my mind each day, but none of them seem right as a way to begin. Yet I have to begin somewhere, eventually, or those other things will never be written, and will just bounce around in my mind until they end up bumped, crinkled, smashed, discarded.

So, taking perhaps from the oldest page in the blog-writing book, I’ll start by elucidating just why I chose to call this space “Common Wealth.”

First, I’ll go ahead and admit I really wanted to use “Practicing Resurrection” in a nod to one of my favorite poems, Wendell Berry’s "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front."

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. Be like the fox

who makes more tracks than necessary,

some in the wrong direction.

            Practice resurrection.

However, I found a couple of other blogs with similar names, and, not wishing to appear to be trying to copy them or confuse anyone looking for their blogs, I (reluctantly, yes!) parted with that idea. But what other name would encompass the varied topics I was itching to write about? I don’t have a narrow vision for this little nook on the web — possibly to my detriment if I ever yearn to be a popular blogger — and will no doubt end up floundering around in all manner of topics, sacred and profane. What other name was big enough for all of that, yet still in some way suggestive of it?

I finally noticed it on the spine of a book, and it seemed at once to fit. Common Wealth. Of course there’s the sense in which our home is a commonwealth, and much of what I hope to write is home-focused, so there’s that. But more than that, it brings to my mind common wealth, whether everyday riches of life, or the riches common to all of us. The everyday wealth in the individual life of kisses from children, soft looks from spouses, warm meals on worn tables. Or, in a slightly different sense, the riches that may vary throughout the world but are still universal: traditional foods, home arts, language, and the Ultimate Riches available to all from God Himself. (Yes, we’re Orthodox Christians in our home. It’s ok if you’re not… feel free to stick around!)

So that’s the story behind Common Wealth. A bit common in itself! I can’t be sure exactly what direction I’ll be taking here, but I hope it will connect with at least someone who reads. That’s my basic hope, in any case! Your comments are coveted, as I’m sure they are by every blogger everywhere.