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AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 5, 1997
OPINION
God Forbid That We
Should Ever Forget
In pursuit of freedom, they came to this distant, unknown land.
Seeking the right to worship freely, they left family and friends,
jobs, and the security that comes with living in a familiar setting.
They faced a harsh new environment, wary natives, were unpre
pared and unfamiliar with how to make a living on these primitive,
forested shores.
Indeed, many of them starved to death.
Then, they learned to farm.
Oh, it was surely primitive by today’s standards, crude tools, fish for
fertilizer, cutting trees and burning to clear land. Back-breaking labor,
which many of them had perhaps not before known.
But after they learned to farm, they ate. They put away for the wint
er. And they survived.
Once fed, they prospered, grew, fanned out to settle this America.
They built settlements, raised families. Elected leaders and estab
lished a government.
Because they were fed, our founding fathers could pursue this
experiement in freedom. Even then, the rich soils and productivity of
American farms freed a good portion of the citizenry to pursue the fin
er points of civilization. Doctors, teachers, craftspeople, printers,
shopkeepers, preachers.
They organized, rebelled against oppression, formed an army.
Threw off the yoke of foreign rule. Led by bands of farmers, who laid
down their plows and took up rifles, this fledgling, upstart nation of
renegades rebelled against one of the world’s mightiest powers. And
won.
Because they were fed, they could defend this precious freedom.
Seeking land they could call their own to farm, the more adventur
ous among the populous headed West Civilization followed as far
mers split the virgin prairie soil with plows and fattened cows and
sheep for food and fiber on its lush grasses. *
Because there was abundance of food, railroads followed. Rutted
wagon paths widened into roadways. Ports grew. Immigrants from
around the world fled oppression and hunger in their native lands to
embrace this land of peace and plentiful food.
With full bellies, inventive minds were free to dream and dare. To
power with waterwheels and belt drives. To dig canals, to mine useful
minerals, to raise up institutions of medicine and of learning. To invent
the likes of electricity and steam engines and gasoline motors.
A fed country is a country with freedom to grow, to imagine, to try,
to dream. A hungry country expends its limited energy stalking its next
meal, generally amid political, social and economic chaos.
Because we were fed, American ingenuity has prospered. Curious
minds have been freed to develop rocket science and nuclear power,
cures for polio and controls for insects which spread killer diseases,
lasers, microwaves, instant communication and computerization.
America is certainly not perfect. Still, others continue to arrive at
our steps, yearning for freedom from oppression, from dictators, from
war and from the wrenching hunger still prevalent in too many parts of
the world, hunger which skeletonizes aging bodies and bloats the bell
ies of starving infants.
Yet, after more than 200 years of abundance, we increasingly seem
to take for granted that we are free because we are fed. We have
become a citizenry too far removed from the source of plenty. Genera
tions distant from tilling the soil need to know more about the produc
tion of food for our national full bellies. It might simply magically
materialize somewhere in the dark recesses of supermarket
warehouses.
As we celebrate our national birthday on July 4, may we remember
that we have come this far because we have not had to scrabble, hand to
hand for every daily bite. America’s rich agriculture resources and
productivity have powered our prosperity.
We are free because we are fed.
God forbid we ever forget or neglect that blessing.
—Joyce Bupp, On Being A Farm Wife—And Other Hazards. Lan
caster Farming, June 29, 1991.
Saturday, .1 nl \ 5
Sullivan County Rodeo and
Demolition Derby, Sullivan
County Fairgrounds, thru July
ClaTOT^oun^Rur^ewßeSr
leheimjhrjWulvl2^^^^^
Judging Schools, Bedford
County, noon, thru July 8.
1997 NCWGA Region 5 Sheep
Tour, Roman Stoltzfus, Spring
wood Farm, Kinzers, 10
a.m.-noon DST.
Ephrata Area Young Farmers
meeting. Landscaping. Nevin
Homing’s Farm, Lititz.
Field Day, Donohoe Centbr/Bus
♦ ♦ 0 4 * * * $ ■* * * v «C '
To Test Water Supply
Leon Ressler, Lancaster County
agriculture environmental exten
sion agent, reminds people who
receive their water supply from a
private well that monitoring the
well water quality is your
responsibility.
The only way you can be cer
tain your water is safe to drink is
to have it tested periodically.
While it would be cost prohibitive
to test for every possible contami
nate, several screening tests can
give you a pretty good idea about
the quality of the well water.
A test for coliform bacteria
should be run annually. The
acceptable tests results are zero
colonies in the sample. Make sure
the lab running the tests is certi
fied for microbiology tests by the
Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection.
Another test that should be run
routinely is for nitrates. Other tests
including hardness, iron, and total
dissolved solids, may be run on
your water supply if you suspect
you have problems with these
contaminates.
If you have problems with cor
rosion of your plumbing, a pH test
may be helpful in finding a
solution.
To Store Large
Bales Correctly
Storing hay in large round bales
has become very popular, accord
ing to Robert Anderson, Lancaster
County agronomy extension
agent
Many producers leave the lar
ger bales of hay outside until they
are ready to feed them. However,
outside storage can result in a loss
of feed between IS and 20 percent
over time.
Ohio State has found that losses
can be reduced by keeping the
bale’s top half covered and allow
ing moisture to escape from the
bottom. Farmers have used slatted
Tour, 10 a.m.
' O Holsi
Junior Judging School, noon,
thru July 10.
Northeast Sheep and Wool Grow
ers Association Wool Pool,
Wyoming County Fairgrounds,
Meshoppen, thru July 10.
Soybean Inoculant Farm Field
Discussion, David Bitler Farm,
Fleetwood, 10 a.m.-noon.
NYS Farmers’ Direct Marketing
Association, twilight meeting
on merchandizing, Abbott
Farms, Baldwinsville, N.Y., 7
Branch, Jackson.
Landisville Weed Day, Research
Farm. 10 a.m.
(Turn to Pag* A 29)
•# r «*■'»*«
pallets, old tires or poles to allow
air to get to the bottom of bales.
In a six-month study, bales
which had a lop cover and were
supported on slatted pallets had
losses between 4 and 7 percent.
Bales which were covered but set
on the ground had losses 7 and IS
percent Rectangular bales stored
in a bam usually have a 4 percent
loss.
To Check Tobacco
For Aphids
Robert Anderson, Lancaster
County agronomy extension agro
nomy agent, reminds us that
aphids usually start to show up on
tobacco in mid to late June with
the major numbers appearing
about the fourth of July.
If Orthene was used in the
BY LMVktNU W ALI H OUSt
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WHAT’S IN A NAME?
July 6, 1997
YTHATS IN A NAME?
July 6. 1997
Background Scripture:
Hebrews 1:1-5; 3:1-6
Devotional Reading:
Hebrews 1:6-14
“What’s in a name?” asks
Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet.
“That which we call a rose by any
other name would smell as sweet.”
Names are important as signs in
helping us to identify people and
things, but we err when we
assume that the name is equal to
the reality we are naming. When
someone speaks your name, have
they fully defined what you are? If
someone calls you be your voca
tional title clerk, carpenter,
lawyer is that the sum total of
your destiny? Of course not.
These names are helpful, but we
must never assume they are the
last word.
I determined long ago that any
language I used to speak of God
would be at best inadequate. This
is true also of Jesus Christ We
call him by many titles and these
all help us relate to him. At the
same time, we must remember
that human titles even the word
GOD are but human symbols
of a divine reality that quite tran
scends human vocabulary.
THE NAMES
Look at how many different
titles we use for this Jesus of
Nazareth. We call him the Christ!
Messiah the “annointed one.”
The name JesuslYeshua means
“God saves.”
Emmanuel!lmmanuel means
“God is with us.” Jesus usually
spoke of himself as Sonlson of
Man (which can be interpreted to
mean “a man”). Contemporaries
called him the Nazarene or Rabbi
(“My Great One”), while those
closest to him addressed him as
Master or Lord. Writers of the
New Testament called him the
Son of God and the Logos or “The
Word.” Today we still use titles
such as Redeemer, Saviour, King,
The Good Shepherd. The Bread of
Life and many others.
All of these are helpful but none
is definitive. I am glad we can use
a variety of terms that give our
experience of him a depth and
richness. The same is true of the
term Son of God. It tells us a lot
about who and what Jesus is, but
like any analogy it has its limita
tions. Down through the ages peo
ple have argued and fought over
transplant water, it does a good
job of controlling the early aphids,
but by early July that control has
diminished to near zero.
Aphids can build up very rapid
ly under ideal conditions. Heavy
infestations of aphids can decrease
both yield and quality. To monitor
aphids on tobacco, begin looking
for them around the fourth of July.
When you find 20 percent of the
plants with aphids, it is time to
being spraying. Most labeled pro
ducts do an excellent job of con
trolling aphids when spraying
starts before a large buildup
occurs and continues as needed
throughout the growing season.
Feather Prof’s Footnote: “Suc
cess is a journey, not a
destination.”
the precise terms by which Jesus
of Nazareth was, became or is
God’s Son. And to make things
even more difficult to nail down,
Jesus sometimes called his follow
ers “sons of God.”
What does it mean for us to call
Jesus the Son of God? The begin
ning of the Letter to the Hebrews
is very helpful: “In many and vari
ous ways God spoke of old to our
fathers by the prophets; but in
these last days he has spoken to us
by a Son, whom he appointed the
heir of all things, through whom
also he created the world” (1:1,2).
THE WORD
God spoke and still speaks to us
in many ways through history,
nature, beauty, law, reason, ait,
other people and all of these
can be valid channels of revela
tion. But, the writer of Hebrews
tells us that his most complete
revelation to us comes in the per
son of Jesus Christ In the one per
son God revealed to humanity that
we can apprehend and compre
hend of his own nature. That is
why we speak of Jesus as The
Word.
Very often when they meet me
for the first time people say that I
look like and sound like my father.
That does not mean we are physi
cally identical, but that there is in
me a resemblance of my father. So
it is, says Hebrews, with Jesus
Christ who “reflects the glory of
God and bears the very stamp of
his nature” (1:3). When we
encounter Jesus we come as close
to God as it is possible for us to
come and we understand as much
of him as we can.
In chapter 3 the writer of
Hebrews compares and contrasts
Jesus with Moses. What was
exemplary in Moses is even more
so in Jesus. Moses was “faithful”
to God, but Jesus’s faithfulness is
that of a son to a father. Faithful
ness is the key. Jesus was faithful
and he calls us to faithfulness.
Actually, faithfulness is much
more important than the names
and titles we use for either God or
his Son. Without faithfulness the
names are useless.
(The Althouses will walk in the
footsteps of Paul and John of
Revelation, leading a tour to Turk
ey next Oct. 17-Nov. 2. For infor
mation: "Turkish Delight,” 4412
Shenandoah Ave., Dallas, TX
75205/(214) 521-2522.)
Lancaster Farming
Established 19SS
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
IE. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
-by-
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stelnman Enterprise
Robert 0. Campbell General Manager
Everett R. Newewanger Managing Edltoi
Copyright 1997 by LnncoUtr Farming