Let The Great Summer Go

I. So We Can Have Work To Do

I know I've already talked Levi's "Go Forth" ad campaign into the ground, but it's just so good. This video, the kickoff for Levi's series on Braddock, PA, includes some inspiring lines, this one in particular:

"Maybe the world breaks on purpose, so we can have work to do."

This has inspired some theological musings about humanity, purpose, work, brokenness, etc. Please feel free to spin your own webs of meaning in the comments section, as my thoughts are incomplete. Read some Wendell Berry on the nature of good work if you need some reading.

II. Herbsttag

Speaking of reading, I'd like to share this poem. It is my favorite fall poem, and as I've been spending my time "reading, writing long letters, and wandering restlessly in the alleys while the leaves dance," it rings particularly true this fall. Here is the German text and a number of well-known translations. Here is a site that uses the poem as an exercise in translating poetry and ends up with some interesting translations in the process (don't worry--the lesson still makes sense if you don't know German). 

P.S. the wonderful Levi's Walt Whitman commercial seems to have disappeared from most of the places it was posted on youtube, but I found this one, for your re-viewing pleasure.