Aifrlancnlir Farming, Saturday, Daoambar 25,1993
OPINION
The Christmas Story
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a de
cree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor
of Syria.) And all went to be taxed every one into his own city.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazar
eth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethle
hem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be
taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And
so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accom
plished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her
firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid
him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the
inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the
field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, io, the an
gel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord
shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the an
gel said unto them. Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tid
ings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is
bom this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the
Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. And suddenly
there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host prais
ing God. and saying. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good will toward men.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them
into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go
even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass,
which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with
haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a
manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad
the saying which was told them concerning the child. All they
that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by
the shepherds.
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light;
they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them
hath the light shined.
For unto us a child is bom, unto us a son is given; and the
government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlast
ing Father, The Prince of Peace. Holy Bible
Farm Calendar
Sund.n, DtctmluT 26
liu'S(l;i\, IKarnlui 2S
Lebanon County 4-H Livestock
Club Winter Roundup. Leba
non Fairgrounds.
I i kJ.i\. DiTi'mluT 21
Sunda>. ,lanuai \ 2
Mond.n. .laiuiarx 3
Mercer County DHI annual
meeting.
New Jersey Farm Bureau Dairy
Summit, Tranquility Church,
Tranquility, NJ., 10 a.m.-3
p.m., continues Jan. 6.
Leola Produce Auction meeting,
Bareville Fire Hall, Leola,
12:30 p.m.
Raleigh DHIA Records Work
shop, Amos Stoltzfus Farm,
Honey Brook, 12:30 p.m.
Mid-Atlantic Nurserymen’s Trade
Conference, Baltimore, Md.,
thru Jan. 6.
Lancaster County Conservation
District annual meeting. Stock
Yard Inn, 6 p.m.
Bucks/Montgomery Dairy Day,
Family Heritage Restaurant,
Franconia, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Franklin County Dairy Day,
Kauffman’s Community Cen
ter, Chambersburg, 9:30
a.m.-2:40 p.m.
Milk Marketing Board Sunshine
Meeting, Pa. Dept, of Ag,
Pa. State Farm Show, judging
only.
Mercer County pesticide meeting,
Elder Sales and Service,
Stoneboro, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Financial Management Workshop,
Schuylkill Campus, Schuylkill
Haven, continues Jan. 13 and
27.
Lancaster County Tobacco Show,
Farm and Home Center, 10 a.m.
New Jersey Farm Bureau Dairy
Summit, Elmer Grange Hall,
Pole Tavern, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Raleigh DHIA Records Work
shop, Lancaster Farm and
Home Center. 7:30 p.m.
(Turn to Pag* A3l)
NOW IS
THE TIME
By John Schwartz
Lancaster County
Agricultural Agent
To Work Safely
Winter is a good time to service
equipment to keep it in good run
ning order.
When servicing, adjusting, or
repairing tractors and machinery,
always follow the recommenda
tions in the operator’s or service
manuals.
When working on equipment,
observe the following:
• Have the right tools for the
job. Handle them properly to avoid
skinned knuckles, strains, and
pinched fingers.
• Wear well-fitting work
clothes with no loose ends to catch
in moving parts or snag on
projections.
• Wear personal protective
equipment such as safety shoes,
gloves, etc., as needed to protect
you from various hazards of the
job.
• Provide plenty of ventilation
in an indoor area, especially when
using solvents, cleaning, painting,
tuning up engines, etc.
• Make certain equipment is
securely blocked when removing
wheels. Never rely on hydraulics
to hold up any component Block
solidly or use safety stands.
To Protect Hearing
Many farmers have something
in common with many rock musi
cians; hearing loss.
Loud rock music averages about
115 decibels. Farm noise ranges
between 90-140 decibels, well
above the 85-decibel limit at which
industrial employers must provide
hearing protection for workers.
Consistent, repeated exposure
to such volumes may damage your
ears before you notice any change.
If you must shout to be heard three
feet away, the noise is too loud.
You must either reduce the noise
level or wear protection.
Even though surveys show far
mers recognize the hazard of
excessive noise, they rarely use
hearing protection. Some fanners
believe that it is inconvenient,
unhandy, or too time-consuming.
Granted, it will take some get
ting used to, but the benefits far
outweigh any inconvenience and
the need for buying and wearing a
hearing aid.
Noise protection comes in two
basic forms muffs that fit over
the ear and plugs that fit inside the
ear. Average devices reduce noise
volume by about 25 decibels.
When choosing hearing protec
tion, consider comfort and effec
tiveness. Muffs are comfortable
for longer wearing times but are
not effective when obstructed by
glasses or hats. Plugs are less
noticeable than muffs and arc
small enough to fit in a pocket.
Now is the time to protect your
hearing, before it is too late.
To Look At
Farm Profitability
There are many factors that
affect farm profitability.
Every year we must examine
these factors and identify those
factors that ate changing. Once
those changing factors have been
identified, we may start working
on developing plans on how to deal
with these changes.
Some factors to consider
include the rate of return on assets.
The rates in the 1990 s are the low
est in more than 40 years. For the
past 40 years, the range was 4.89
percent in the 19S0s to 10.23 per
cent in the 19705.
The 1980 s had a return to assets
of B.IS percent while the 1990 s
have only 1.4 percent However,
17 percent of the farms in the
United States will earn more than
10 percent return on assets.
The key to profits are cost con
trol and low overhead. Two areas
5 \~T
BY LAWRENCE W AIIHCJUbi |
samiLS
m/
THE BENEFITS OF
TEMPTATION
December 26,1993
Background Scripture:
Luke 3:21,22; 4:1-15
Devotional Reading:
Matthew 4:1-11
In The Screwtape Letters, C. S.
Lewis says. “There is a silly idea
about that good people don’t
know what temptation means.”
He’s right, for many of us assume
that temptation is the snare of only
those who are weak. It came as a
shock to me to learn that some of
the “good people” I knew were
sorely tempted and sometimes
succumbed.
But Twain is quite correct: this
is “a silly idea,** because we all
ought to know better. In the gos
pels we find a time when Jesus
himself was sorely templed. Per
haps the problem is that, although
we know that, we assume his
temptation was not real—real like
ours. But Luke uses the word
“tempted” meaning that Jesus had
to feel the pull of it; there had to be
the possibility that he would give
in to it. That makes his tempta
tions just as real as ours.
One of our misunderstandings the
belief that the temptation itself is
the sin. If we think about doing
something wrong, we do not sin
until we do it Someone has said
that we can’t keep the birds from
flying over our heads, but we can
keep them from building nests in
our hair. You and I—and Jesus,
too —cannot keep the tempting
thoughts from our minds, but we
can keep them from being trans
lated from thought into action. So
often we exhaust ourselves spir
itually. feeling guilty, not in suc
cumbing to temptation, but in
being tempted. There is no shame
in being tempted, only in giving in
to it
STONES INTO BREAD
Also, we often assume that
temptation is always evil in
appearance. To be sure, there is a
definite attraction to “forbidden
fruit,” but more often the most
dangerous temptations are the
ones, like those of Jesus, that
appear so compellingly reason
able. For example, the first was to
use the power of God for material
needs: “Command this stone to
become bread.” What’s the harm
to look at are debt load and family
living expenses. Fifty percent of
American farms are debt-free. The
avenge American farm has a
$2.50 of debt for every dollar of net
farm income.
Debt to net farm income is
strong, up to 5 to 1. This ratio is
deadly when it goes beyond 10 to
1. Avenge family living cost on
farms is $36,000 to $40,000. This
is the fourth or fifth largest
expense in agriculture.
On many farms, this is the
fastest increasing cost on the farm.
Successful business people are
able to make objective evaluations
and take the necessary steps to
maintain profitability.
As we approach the end of
another year, now is the time to
take a hard look at your farm busi
ness and look for ways to control
costs and lower overhead.
Feather Profs Footnote; "In
the race to be better or best, do not
miss the jay of being."
in doing that? Why not use that
power to turn stones to bread and
feed the people? Surely that would
bring them into the fold! Even in
our own day, just think of all the
starving people we could feed if
we could turn stones into bread.
And the second temptation is no
less reasonable: the kingdoms of
the world in exchange for wor
shipping the tempter. Once again,
Jesus, consider all the good you
could do throughout the world
with this kind of power! Does it
matter whom we worship so long
as we get the job done?
SQUEEZED BENEFITS
The third temptation is possibly
the most compelling: if you are
really the Son of God, throw your
self down from this pinnacle and
prove that you are God’s Son. But
in this one, as in the previous two,
Jesus is able to resist because he
keeps his attention, not on the
temptation, but upon the relation
ship with God. The more we stare
at the temptation, the more quick
ly we forget God. The more we
focus on God, the less compelling
the temptation.
Actually, there are some bene
fits to squeeze from the experi
ence. Just as Jesus came through
his temptation spiritually stronger
and more confirmed in his mis
sion, so resisting temptation
makes us stronger and gives us a
sense of satisfaction. One experi
ence of resisting gives us a base
for defense against future snares.
But we must realize, when we
have resisted, we have won a
battle, not the war.' Someone has
said that most people who fly from
temptation usually leave a for
warding address. “And when the
devil had ended every temptation,
he departed from him until an
opportune time". Even in Jesus’
life, the tempter would return.
Celebrate your victories over
temptation and be ready for the
next occasion.
***
(Note: the 34th Ski & Spa Holi
day in Badgastein, Austria led by
the Althouses is set for March
4-19, 1994. For information, con
tact: 4412 Shenandoah Ave., Dal
las. TX 75205)
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St
Ephrata. PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A SMvna/i EMdprfM
Robsrt G. Campbell General Manager
Evans R. Newiwenger Managing Editor
Copyright INS by UneaMer Farming