The loved ones we call the dead
depart from us and for a while
are absent. And then as if
called back by our love, they come
near us again. They enter our dreams.
We feel they have been near us
when we have not thought of them.
They are simply here, simply waiting
while we are distracted among
our obligations. At last
it comes to us: They live now
in the permanent world.
We are the absent ones.
By Wendell Berry
Wendell Berry was an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic and farmer. Berry was identified with rural Kentucky. Wendell Berry died on August 31, 2026 at the age of 92.
My Commentary:
Wendell Berry turns our usual understanding of death upside down. We say that our loved ones have “departed.” They are absent. They have left us behind.
But then comes that remarkable final thought: “They live now in the permanent world. We are the absent ones. That is a profound Christian thought!!
Our faith teaches that this world, beautiful as it is, is not our permanent home. St. Paul tells us, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” Jesus promises, “I go to prepare a place for you.”
Perhaps those we love who have died have not disappeared at all. They have simply gone ahead.
We occasionally sense their nearness. A dream. A familiar song. An anniversary. A photograph. A phrase they used to say. Suddenly, someone we have not thought about for months seems very close again.
Christian faith does not require us to pretend we know exactly how the dead remain connected to us. But it does allow us to believe something magnificent: love is stronger than death.
We grieve because someone is missing from our table. Yet perhaps, from eternity, the perspective is reversed. They have reached the great banquet, while our chair is temporarily empty.
We call them absent.
Perhaps they are waiting for us.
We call them dead.
Jesus calls them alive.
And someday, when our own journey is completed, perhaps we will discover that they were not the ones who had gone away.
WE were the absent ones — still traveling home.
Have YOU ever considered what Wendell Berry is telling us: At last it comes to us: They live now in the permanent world. We are the absent ones.
TIME IS THE DRESSING ROOM FOR ETERNITY. IN THE FEW FLEETING DAYS OF LIFE ON THIS PLANET, WE ARE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO PREPARE FOR ETERNITY!
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