Blessed Are the Meek

EARTHKEEPING NEWS
A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY

Volume Fourteen, Number One
January/February 2005

"A Turn of the Century Farm"? When is backwards going forwards? Some groups have been at it for a long time, like the Amish, some are just wising up to it now. And whoever or however, they are open to public ridicule and worthy of public praise!

Wanda Daniels is one. She talks about "Heaven's bounty heartland farm" and her memories go back to the days when her uncles toted her around the farm and said, "Honor the soil!" "Hear and see the corn grow!" "Respect the land!" They took "Sabbath" seriously, "cease, abstain, desist" so the earth can be honored and restored. Today we face the erosion of good soil, the disappearance of forest and farm land, the increase of desert, the starvation of millions, and we act as though making a fast buck was the answer to all our problems! Where farmers in Georgia today say you have to have a hundred acres to "make a living", Wanda is looking for 20 acres to make a life! She wants, with others to "produce and promote a natural, organic, chemical-free, bug, pest and disease-free environment for the purpose of growing agricultural products and livestock for the good of mankind and nature, all living things.

Is it time for some mature, informed environmentalist to look over the old ways and come up with newer, wiser ways to tend the earth? We take for granted today that everyone needs a day off a week, though it's not the same day for all. We haven't decided they would be better sharing the same day. We have decided every kid should have the opportunity to watch television, but we haven't decided they should have a chance, even in the cities, to hear and watch the grass grow. We know everyone needs a vacation and restoration time. We haven't decided that the earth needs a year off every few years to renew its strength.

Wanda says we need to preserve the legacy and traditions and rituals of the art of living and farming that our ancestors developed. We say she needs a network of likeminded spirits to share the planning and the task. Recovering not just the Judeo-Christian heritage, but the "moons" of the Indians, the wet and dry cycles of the Orient, and the four seasons of northern Europe may be just one way to recover the earth and leave it for an inheritance.