Famtihfc'&tliraay; Juhfc 19,1976
LIFE on the farm
Daylight was over an hour away
when my brother, Ingo, and Tclosed
the kitchen door behind us. As we
rounded the turn of the sidewalk next
to the house, and passed beneath the
huge maple tree outside Mom and
Dad's bedroom window, we won
dered how much of the milking we
might get done before Dad got up. We
both knew he was awake after
thousands of days of getting up early
in the morning to milk the cows, his
biological clock wouldn’t let him
oversleep no matter what.
Still, ingo and I liked the idea of
giving him an opportunity to rest a
little longer than usual. Not one to
pass responsibilities to others, it
always took some persuasion on our
part to convince him he could take it a
little easier on Father’s Day. Except
for his birthday, when we made
similar arrangements, this was the
only day of the year he could “sleep
in.”
Eager to do as much as possible,
and wanting to prove to him and
ourselves we could do it well, Ingo
and I tackled the work with special
satisfaction and a bit of excitement.
Our goal was always to get as much
.of the work done as possible before
he showed up in the barn. And we
waited to have more milk In the tanlj
than what we'd have ordinarily. But
that was no easy task and provided a
real challenge for us.
Dad had a long history of being a
top dairyman both in Germany and
in the United States. What’s more, he
has always been religiously faithful to
the kind of schedule he kept even
when it meant getting up at 2:30 a.m.
to milk 106 cows by himself.
He has worked 18 hours a day for
years, never taking a day off, never
missing a milking.
And he’s the type of man who
shows up in the barn on Father’s Day
morning when he doesn't need to
RURAL ROUTE
Happy Father’s Day
<" S.X *
By Dieter Krieg, Editor
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simply because he doesn’t know any
better.
A father myself now, I can more
fully appreciate the joys and trials of
being a father. So far it’s been
nothing but pleasure. My children
both of them boys are aged three
and two and think of the cutest
things.
The other day our three-year old,
Paul, was in the sandbox playing.
When his mother came out to chat
with him he happily announced that
he had made a cake. With rooster
eggs!
Although we do not live on a farm
now, we try to stay close to that most
wonderful way of life and visit farms
frequently. Paul and Karl have taken
a real interest in cows, cats, dogs,
chickens, and farm equipment. So
much, in fact, that they’ll say hello to
tractors and even yell out “Hey
tractor, whatcha doin?”
Recently my wife, Lisa, caught Paul
licking his little brother and an
nouncing to her that he was a cow.
And the list of pleasurable moments
goes on and on. The boys amaze us
with their witty and healthy'
imaginations. They’re a source of the
greatest joy a parent can ask for.
But it’s' not just our children who
are like that. I suppose most all of
them think of unusual things to do at
one time or another if not every
day. One enterprising young man in
our neighborhood, for example, was
pulling his little red wagon around
one day with a bit of hay in it. “Hay
rides, ten cents!’.’ he called out as he
wandered down the street with not a
care in the world.
I remember being a kid and it
was great. 7 Now I’m a father (and still
a kid at heart) and it’s just as great,
maybe even better, especially since I
have a son who can bake a cake with
rooster eggs.
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WITHSTANDING
fcOD
Lesson for June 20,1976
Background Scripture:
Acts 11:11-18; 15: 1-35*19:23-
27; Galatians 2:11-16.
Devotional Reading:
Ephesians 6:10-20.
I have often noted in my
study of history that
revolutionary movements
often tend in time to become
very much like'the very
forces they have over
thrown. 1 think of reform
movements that, having
grasped power, have become
and decadent
themselves. 1, think of
religious groups who came to
America to find freedom of
religion and. then, having
found that freedom, went on
to deny it to others. I think of
children who have vowed not
to be like their parents and
then have incarnated the
very characteristics they
have decried.
J&»tific»tion by faith
Christianity, came into
being as a revolutionary or
reform movement. If we
examine the gospels closely,
we find that there is one
characteristic of Judaism as
Jesus found it that was the
most recurring negative
theme in the mission and
message of Jesus: legalism!
No group was as subject to
his condemnation as ’ the
scribes and Pharisees who
.. were the chlef proponents of
a legalistuTJudaism.
The problem, Jesus made
it clear, was not with
religious laws - he
acknowledged the need for
these - but with what the
legalists did with these laws.
These rules and regulations
became a substitute for the
living God.
So primitive Christianity
1 came into being with a bias
against the legalistic ap-'
proach to religion. Yet,
despite that fact, no temp
tation was more pervasive to
the early church than the
lure of legalism. Most of the
conflicts and tensions in the
early church can be at
tributed to the struggle over
this question: what is ba£c
is the Christian faith - rules
and regulations or the grace
of God offered in Jesus
Christ?
Even the Gentiles
Well, of course everyone
knew that, as Paul puts it, “a
man is not justified by works
of the law but through faith
in Jesus Christ” (Galatians
2:16). Yet, although they
knew it, many of the early
Christians continued to act
as if the rules and
regulations were primary.
Many Jewish Christians still
continued to act in a manner
that was reflective of the
legalism of the Pharisees.
By Tom Armstrong
’ i t
The farm pond becomes a
very popular place during
the hot summer months for
both young and old; we have
hundreds of these ponds in
this part of the state
providing both summer and
winter recreation. A word of
caution is in order at this
time to prevent serious
accidents and drownings.
Every pond owner should
provide rescue equipment at
the pond side to be used in
case of emergency; this
might include a boat, raft,
wooden ladder or plank, a
rope, or other equipment
that can be used quickly to
help a person-in deep water.
Swimmers should not be
permitted to swim alone and
this equipment should be at
the pond * not in the barn or
garage. GootT pond safety
might save the life of a friend
or loved one this summer.
Weeds continue to be a
major problem on piany
farms and on non-farm
properties; unfortunately,
too many absentee lahd
owners do not make much
effort to control weeds and
they present a community
problem. At this time of the
season most weeds have
developed seed heads and
should be either mowed or
sprayed. If they are per
mitted to mature, the seeds
will spread over the com
munity and increase the
problem next summer. Most
areas.have weed control
regulations; we urge local
officials to enforce these
regulations and suggest that
all property owners control
the weeds voluntarily. The
beauty of most farms,'
pastures, andproperties can
be improved by the frequent
mowing of weeds. Don’t be a .
weed producer and get into
troubfc with your neighbors.
The American Elm is a
very popular shade tree in
this area; however, they are
seriously threatened with the
Dutch Elm disease which
has been the reason for the
death and removal of many
local elm trees. Recent
So when Peter found
himself criticized for eating
with gentile Christians, “he
drew hack and separated
himself, fearing the cir
cumcision party” (2;12). Of
course he knew better than
that, but his fear dominated
bis actions until Paul boldly
confronted him and con
demned his actions as
contrary to the spirit of
Christ.
On another occasion, it
took a vision to persuade
Peter to go to Simon the
tanner, (a Gentile) so that he
and his family might repent
and receive the Holy Spirit.
It took impassioned
reasoning by Peter to con
vince the church at
Jerusalem to set aside their
legalistic reservations and
accept the idea of gentile
converts. It is still a problem
for Christians today: almost
two thousand years later and
we still tend to make our
religion one of legalism in
stead of God’s grace. The
danger no was then is that in
doing so we may still be
God’ himself.
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NOW IS
THE TIME.
Max Smith
County Agr. Agent
Telephone 394-6851
releases from Penn s
reveals the research *
done by injecting a J
form of Benomyl
tree is encouraging f
slightly infected or *
-preventative meas®
However, trees that,
partly dead carrying
infection have not resp«j
as well. We urge elrnj
owners to evaluate i
condition of. their tree m
secure professional heh
getting the tree treated ]
materials and equipmi
needed require consider*
knowledge and caution
making the treatment. ]
treatment works best
prevent the infection earh
the attack on the tree,
m
Farm
Calendar
Sunday,
June 20
Father’s Day all day
Enjoy it.
'Dairy Day in
County, New Jersey
Wednesday
June 23
Annual conservation
sponsored by the
County ACC
and the Berks
Conservation
Bus loads at
Municipal Stai
leaves 1 9:30
Reservations on
come basis.
Thursday
Jane 24
South Central Pa.
Goat Association
at the Adams \
Extension Service i
7:30 p.m.
New Jersey 4-H’ers
State Presentation
all day, at Cook r
Friday
Jone2s
Wool pool, Cook •
Rutgers Universit
Brunswick Agri<
Engineering Ct
Begins at 1 p.m.
again Saturday
Sunday at 8 a.n. (
each day at 6 p.m.
Saturday
Jane 26
4-H horse judges, Di
hold all-day (
in Lebanon Coi
Sunday
Jane 27
Testimonial dinner for
Sec. of Ag.,
Alampi, Cedar
Restaurant,
reservations thi
Hunterdon County
of Ag.
Statistics Lie?
A life insurance ago
naturally quite surp'
see an elderly gentle
95 in the office want
take out a policy. The.
told the senior citizen
chances were slim ’
plication would be a\
Annoyed, the white
man commented
making a mistake, «
look' at the statistics
find that mighty few'
after the age\of,9s.”
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