working Together in an economic Downturn
by Edgar hayes
It is 5am on a cool, calm weekday morning. As my internal alarm clock goes off, Rick and Julie are well underway to milking the cows at Freedom Hill Farm. I pray in thanksgiving for another beautiful day and set off to work in the garden. I make a mental note of the refreshing air as the southwest wind crosses my face. I notice the pond is still in its evening slumber with a blanket of mist covering it. The sun is playing peekaboo with the horizon while the songbirds are singing their melody. Caw caw tweet tweet chirp chirp zipadeedooda, and yes the occasional cocadoodledoo. It is all part of a rhythmic, ritualistic morning I enter into as I trample through the wet blades of grass covered by the evening's dew. It reminds me of the book of Exodus when the newly freed Isrealites grumbled about not having enough food and reminisced about the time when they did, in bondage. God heard their grumbling and provided manna amidst the dew.
Today, we are living in “hard times.” People are losing their jobs in record numbers. Banks are foreclosing on homes. The financial markets are in disarray, and more and more families are struggling to put food on the table. What are we to do? Who should we turn to? Many Americans called for change to our present conditions by voting for Barak Obama to be president in the recent historic elections. Yet whomever we voted for, we cannot put all of our faith in one man who, like all humans, is fallible. That space is reserved for God. Jesus said ”Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
We cannot get through these struggles alone. Jesus gave us a new commandment to
“Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” John 13:34
Aside from the greatest act of giving up His life for us, his examples of loving us were “…the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.” He wants us to take care of each other and not shun the marginalized the neglected. Nor does he want us to go through struggles alone. We all have something to offer one another from the least to the greatest.
At Freedom Farm this sumer, we extended the garden to include a roughly 100' x 120' section. Next year, we will extend it even further to grow more food to meet the rising number of families in need. We use the manure from the Freedom Hill farm to put on the gardens and fertilize the soil. Camp Deerpark, a local Christian camp, occasionally send volunteers to help out. Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship congregation comes up twice a year to work in the gardens. Cornell Cooperative Extension collects and distributes our produce to local food banks and soup kitchens. We are also incorporating a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program where families can purchase a “share” ($300-$500) for the year and receive fresh produce on a weekly basis for up to 20 weeks. Discounts would be available for those sharing in the labor.
Farming is hard work and very time consuming. Paul mentioned in 1Corinthians “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” We cannot do this without your help and ultimately not without the help of God. Please think about helping out on the farm or helping someone else in need. Give them a smile, cook a meal together, renovate a home, write a letter, poem or song, cut a lawn, send flowers, or pray for someone. Let us put all of our faith in the One who says “I am the way”. In that way, we will make it through these difficult times.
