AlO-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, November 25, 2000
OPINION
A National Day Of Thanksgiving
As we make plans for Thanksgiving Day, many of us have
visions of family, food, and football. And those of us with
young children probably have refrigerators adorned with art
work Pilgrims, Native Americans, and turkeys shaped like
a child’s handprint.
I hope that we will also take time to reflect on the signifi
cance of this holiday in our nation’s history. We, as Ameri
cans, enjoy so many blessings. Among these blessing is the re
ligious freedom that the Pilgrims sought when they set out for
the New World nearly four hundred years ago. They found
this freedom, but with it came incredible obstacles to their
survival. With help from Native Americans, they made it
through their first year, and were blessed with a harvest that
would see them through another very harsh northern winter.
They celebrated their good fortune with the great Thanksgiv
ing feast that we all learned about as children.
This tradition has continued for about 400 years. Beginning
with George Washington, our presidents have annually called
on all Americans to celebrate our great blessings. In 1795,
President Washington issued a National Thanksgiving Proc
lamation that began: “It is our duty as a people, with devout
reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our
many and great obligations to Almighty God, and to implore
him to continue and confirm the blessings we experience.”
We are blessed in this nation. As we join with family and
friends during this Thanksgiving weekend, let us reflect on
the many gifts that we, as a free people, often take for grant
ed.
Introduction to Wmaowsand
Computers Workshop, Lan
caster Farm and Home
Center, Lancaster, 9:30 a.m.-3
p.m., and Nov. 28,9:30 a.m.-3
p.m.
NYFEAir^^^^vvTonung,
institute,
thru Dec. 2.
Introduction to Computers
Using Windows, Adams
County Extension, thru Nov.
30.
Southeast Grape Industry Asso
ciation of Pa. Annual Meet-
ing, Lancaster Farm and
Home Center, Lancaster, 8:30
a.m.-4 p.m.
Marylam^Dair^naustr^vss^
ciation Annual Meeting,
Westminster.
Greenhouse Food Production
Workshop, Terra Community
College, Fremont, thru Dec. 1.
Pre-Conference Dairy Work
shop On National Dairy Info
Base, Carroll Community
College Annex, Westminster,
Md., 8 a.m.-9:30 a.m.
New Connections: Creating
Partnerships In Farming and
Food Distribution in the Mid-
Atlantic, Hilton Valley Forge,
Lebanon
Lebanon Valley Expo Center,
9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Mennonite Farming History In
Europe, Christian Aid Minis
tries Warehouse, Ephrata, 7
p.m.
U.S. Senator Rick Santorum
* Farm Calendar *
2000 Buckeye Shepherd’s Sym
posium, Clarion Hotel,
Worthington, Ohio, also Dec.
Berks County DHIA Banquet,
Berks County Ag Center, 7:30
p.m.
York County DHIA Banquet,
York County 4-H Center, 7
p.m.
Potter County DHIA Banquet,
Erways Restaurant, Couder
sport, 1 p.m.
Dairy Calf Workshop, New
Franklin Ruritan Community
Center, New Franklin, 10
Future of Our Food and Farms,
Radisson, Philadelphia, thru
Dec. 3.
4-H Dairy Judging, John
George Farm, New York, 8:45
a.m.
Pork 509: Meeting the Need For
High Quality, Consistent
Pork Products in Ohio,
Animal Sciences Building,
Ohio State University College
Campus, thru Dec. 5.
New York Farm Bureau State
Annual Meeting, Adam’s
Mark Hotel, Buffalo, thru
Ephrata Area Young Farmers
Christmas Event, Ephrata
Middle School, 7:30 p.m.
First National Conference On
Grazing Lands, Bally’s Las
Vegas, Las Vegas, Nev., thru
Dec. 8.
Western Pa. Vegetable and
Berry Growers’ Seminar,
Days Inn, Butler.
Lebanon Valley Farm-City Ban
quet, Lebanon Valley Expo
sso-
(Turn to P«fl» A3O)
To Realize
Manure Spreaders
May Be Deadly
Three farm workers died after
they climbed into a 4,755-gallon
liquid manure tank (spreader)
and were overcome by the fumes.
Police believe the men were
killed by inhaling deadly meth
ane gas when they climbed into
the nearly empty tank to repair a
faulty part. The methane gas had
pushed the oxygen out of the
tank. The men were using the
mobile tank to spread manure on
a farm.
One man entered the tank to
make the repair, but failed to re
turn. A second man went in to
O ‘GOLDEN OLDIE
Background Scripture:
1 Kings 11.
Devotional Reading:
Nahum 1:2-8.
If, like me, you know the full
story of King Solomon, you have
perhaps shared my uncomfort
able feeling while, in the last two
weeks, we have studied passages
extolling Solomon as Israel’s
king of kings.
“Uncomfortable” because, de
spite the superlatives heaped on
him in the previous chapters, I
knew that 1 Kings 11 was wait
ing for us around the comer.
This 11th chapter is an abrupt
about-face. Despite the glowing
expectations of his younger days,
Solomon, has another side which
is far from exemplary.
It would appear that the di
vine dissatisfaction came late in
Solomon’s life, but you can bet
that it didn’t happen overnight.
In all likelihood, Solomon’s dark
side had been there for a long
time and only became so evident
in his later years. Early on it
seemed that Solomon grew only
better and better, but somewhere
along the line he must have
stopped growing in that direc
tion. Despite his early prospects,
the end was tragic.
What happened to King Solo
mon?
Reading 1 Kings 11 we might
conclude that the fault rests
upon the fact that “King Solo
mon loved many foreign
women.” So Solomon had several
foreign wives. How did that turn
him in the wrong direction? We
know that in his day and for long
centuries thereafter in many cul
tures, royal marriage was a polit
ical and diplomatic act. Kings
married the daughters of other
kings so as to strengthen an alli
ance or discourage invasion. Da-
rescue him and the third was
then prompted to go in after the
other two failed to come out. The
men ranged in age from 23 to 33.
Police said criminal negligence
on the farm owners has yet to be
assessed.
This case reminds us that ma
nure spreaders are a safety haz
ard that is often overlooked.
Also, there could be criminal and
civil penalties if the farm owner
does offer and monitor a good
safety program.
To Plant Trees
You do not have to cut down
trees in order to save on your fuel
bill. You may do just the oppo
site.
Plant trees to cut your fuel bill
by considerable amounts. Trees,
both deciduous and evergreen,
can do wonders for you if you
make careful selections, locate
the trees in the most strategic
areas, and supply plenty of pa
tience.
Deciduous trees can cut the
cost of cooling your house. By
creating shade on the south and
west walls of your house, as well
as on the roof, they can lower the
inside temperature by as much as
18 to 20 degrees. When the tem
perature cools down, the trees
drop their leaves, allowing the
sun to come through and raise
the inside temperature during
the cold months.
Evergreen trees may be placed
to the west and north of your
house to break the force of the
cold winter winds that come
down from the cold arctic air
vid’s many wives did not seem to
inspire God’s rebuke.
Those Foreign Wives
If we read on, however, we
find two facts that help to ex
plain the problem.
First, God had explicitly en
joined the people of Israel from
marrying Egyptian, Moabite,
Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian,
and Hittite women. Why? Be
cause the Lord anticipated that
these women would be a cor
rupting influence within Israel.
The people of Israel needed to
withstand the beguiling influ
ence of idolatry and these
women would make it more dif
ficult to keep Israel unpolluted
by the worship of idols.
Secondly, we find that Solo
mon did not have “a few foreign
wives.” In fact, the sheer statis
tics of Solomon’s harem are as
tounding: “seven hundred wives,
princesses, and three hundred
concubines” (11:3). There were
more than a thousand women in
Solomon’s harem. He could not
justify seven hundred wives on
the grounds of diplomacy, be
cause Israel didn’t have that
many neighbors and enemies.
There could be no justification
for three hundred concubines as
they carried no political or diplo
matic clout. How could such a
wise man ever be so foolish!
The writer of 1 Kings partly
rationalizes Solomon’s excesses
by explaining that the king
“loved” the women of his harem
and “clung to these (women) in
love.” He loved a thousand
women? One cannot love a thou
sand women if, by love, you
mean he cared for them. If it
means he made “love” to one
thousand women, that’s some
thing else. Perhaps that is the
key to what happened to Solo
mon over the years: he was ob
sessed with women; he could not
have loved them.
He Loved 1,000 Women?
Also, I do not believe the
problem was with the women
themselves, but with Solomon.
They were his obsession. Most of
them probably had no choice in
the matter. As women, they were
merely the pawns of men, little
more than property. Further
masses, usually from the north
west. Slowing the wind down
makes it easier for your house
heating system to do its job with
much less fuel. You could reduce
fuel usage as much as 20 to 25
percent with a mature wind
break.
Another ingredient is patience.
If you plant conifers about four
to five feet tall, it will take about
12 to IS years for you to reap
real dividends through smaller
fuel bills. However, even when
trees me only 8 to 10 feet tall
they will already start helping to
pay their room and board.
To Be Safe
Around Grain Bins
Each year flowing grain takes
the lives of farmers and family
members. Flowing grain can
quickly trap and suffocate a per
son working in a bin or storage
area.
Typically the accident involves
a young person less than 16 years
of age. Accidents often occur
when individuals are busy, in a
hurry, become careless, and are
taking shortcuts or simply slip.
Flowing grain can grab and
pull a person under in as little as
10 seconds. It can take as little as
two seconds to become helplessly
caught in flowing grain.
The best defense against grain
suffocation is constant attention
to safety and prevention. It is ex
tremely important to warn chil
dren to stay out of grain bins.
Feather Profs Footnote:
“Where there is no vision, the
people perish ”
Proverbs 29:18
more, they could not have cor
rupted him unless Solomon were
corruptible. Assuming that they
did represent a threat to his reli
gious faith, it was his weakness
that gave them that power.
So what was Solomon’s weak
ness? I suspect that it was the
corrupting influence of power.
He knew God’s commands
against marrying foreign wives,
but he believed he was above
those commands. They just ap
plied to others. You know the old
quotation from Sir J.E.E. Dal
berg: “Power tends to corrupt
and absolute power corrupts ab
solutely.”
Power is seductive, probably
more so even than sex and sexual
abuse is often really the abuse of
power imposing our will on
others. It is like a drug that
makes us insensitive to others
and focuses us into a consistent
compulsion to exercise more and
more power. The son of Mussoli
ni once remarked how much fun
it was watching people run from
shelter from his machine guns.
Solomon’s fantastic wealth and
power dulled and overrode his
early moral consciousness.
One does not have to be a king
or president to be seduced by
power. It can happen to doctors,
lawyers, ministers, judges, jour
nalists, military, business people,
and labor leaders and factory
workers. It can be just as real in
your home and your community
as well as in the seats of secular
and ecclesiastical power.
Solomon’s 40-year rule was
long regarded as Israel’s golden
era. But despite his so promising
youth, Solomon proved to be no
“golden oldie.”
Lancaster Fanning
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stemman Enterprise
William J. Burgess General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Editor
Copyright 2000 by Lancaster Farming