AlO Lancaster Farming, -Saturday, December 20,-3003
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OPINION
The Christmas Story
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree 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 Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David,
which is called Bethlehem (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 th it she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first
born 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, 10, the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them;
and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them. Fear not: for
behold. I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all peo
ple. 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 praising
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 born, unto us a son is given; and the govern
ment shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Won
derful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The
Prince of Peace.
Saturday, December 20
Monday, December 22
Adventures in Agriculture Plan
ning Meeting, Northampton
County Extension, Greystone
Building, 6:30 p.m., (610)
746-1970.
Editor:
With less than two percent of
Americans engaged in farming,
each generation is becoming fur-
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* Farm Calendar ❖
Thursday, December 25
Merry Christmas! Lancaster
Farming office closed.
(Turn to Page A 26)
❖ Farm Forum ❖
ther removed from agriculture.
There are many people chil
dren and adults that lack even
the most basic concepts of agri
culture.
As a lifelong dairy farmer, I
am constantly amazed at how
many people cannot tell you
where milk comes from, other
than from a plastic container at
the local grocery store. Agricul
ture is a leading economic enter
prise in the commonwealth, yet a
lack of knowledge about agricul
ture within the general public can
be extremely costly to an eco
nomic infrastructure that essen
tially revolves around the indus
try.
As secretary of agriculture, I
am committed to agriculture edu
cation, and this includes educa-
, ffgrp.tp Page A 25) , , ~,,
This time of the year it is especial
ly important that we take time to
count our blessings.
My wife and I spent six years in
Kenya on a mission project in the
early ’Bos, and that helps us under
stand how wealthy we really are
when compared to most of the
world’s population. I will always re
member one farmer who served on
the management committee, which
gave guidance to our development
project.
One time when I picked him up
for a committee meeting he men
tioned he didn’t get much sleep last
night. When I inquired about that, he
reminded me that it had rained hard
most of the night. I acknowledged
that, but 1 was still not sure what
that had to do with his problem.
Then he reminded me his home had
a thatched roof, and grass to repair
such a roof was very hard to come by
because of overgrazing in the region.
His roof leaked so bad the only way
his family could stay dry was to
stand up between the leaks for most
of the night!
Holy Bible
Background Scripture:
John 14:6-4.
Devotional Reading:
Matthew 1:18-25,
In the past few weeks we have
bought a car, had a new roof put on
the house, and purchased a computer
software program that was supposed
to permit us to orally compose manu
scripts by talking into a microphone.
Despite the car salesman's “guar
antees” that his prices were the low
est in Dallas, we found we could
have bought the same car for the
same price at three different places.
Despite the roofer’s promises as to
what would happen while we were
away, we came home to find a mess
that has taken more than a week to
rectify.
But the biggest of all disillusioning
promises was that of the computer
program that assured us that it
would work fine after just a day or
two of programming it to recognize
Valere’s voice. We not only couldn’t
make the program work, but also
talked to at least four other parties
who had the same experience. Prom
ises! Promises! They don’t seem to
mean anything.
As you may have noted, those ex
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* 5 *
To Remember The
Reason For The Season
PROMISES,
PROMISES
This past year we had an abun
dance of rain, which is a blessing
after a drought year but it also
caused some damage to some crops.
But whenever I experience some
problems caused by too much rain, I
remember my Kenyan friend and am
glad that at least I can be dry when I
am sleeping!
We do not need to travel overseas
however to be able to assist someone
in need. All of us can find a needy
family who could use a helping hand
in our community. Making an effort
to get to know their needs and assist
ing them as appropriate can help us
keep things in perspective. This can
be a very valuable experience for our
children and will help them to be
generous and to appreciate what they
have. This can also make some
Christmas memories your children
will remember throughout their lives.
Additionally this can also open the
doors to be helpful to this family
throughout the year since some situa
tions require long-term assistance.
To Enroll In The
Chemsweep Program
Secretary of Agriculture Dennis C.
Wolff recently announced that 21
counties have been chosen for the
2004 Chemsweep Program. This pro
gram is designed to provide business
es licensed to apply pesticides with
the means to properly dispose of
canceled, suspended, or unwanted
pesticide products.
The counties identified for collec
tions of pesticides in the summer of
2004 are Adams, Armstrong, Butler,
Carbon, Clarion, Cumberland, Dau
phin, Elk, Jefferson, Lancaster, Law
rence, Lebanon, Lehigh, Lycoming,
Mifflin, Somerset, Sullivan, Susque
hanna, Tioga, Venango, and Wayne.
Each year, many pesticide prod
ucts are canceled by the manufactur
er or phased out of operations, leav
ing growers and applicators with
quantities of potentially dangerous
and toxic materials. In addition,
many commercial establishments,
farmers and homeowners have un
wanted and/or unusable pesticides.
Because of the nature of these poten
tially hazardous materials, often
periences have left me somewhat
sour about human promises. As a
well-known politician recently told a
colleague about whom he had told a
vicious lie, “It’s only politics, John.”
So, when I expressed my views of the
present ethics of entrepreneurs, 1 was
told, “it’s only business, Larry."
By You Or To You
Many of us have known the heart
ache of broken promises in personal
relationships. “1 will love you forev
er.” “I’ll never do that again.” “I as
sure you it wasn’t I who did that.”
From your own experiences, I’m
sure you can add some additional
broken promises that have either
been committed by you or to you.
So what promises can we live by?
For our own self-protection, must we
become thoroughgoing cynics?
Those are timely questions to deal
with as we approach Christmas,
which is essentially founded upon
God’s promises. The first of these in
Matthew’s Christmas story is the sig
nificance of the name to be given to
him: “... and you will call his name
Jesus, for he will save his people
from their sins” (1:21). In Hebrew,
the name was Yeshua, which we can
render as either Jesus or Joshua and
means “Yahwe (or God) is salva
tion.”
Note that the promise is not to
save God’s people from temptation,
enemies or disaster, but “from their
sins.” Anyone who becomes a Chris
tian for the sake of avoiding trouble,
deprivation, or prejudice is subject to
a rude awakening. Christians die in
plane crashes, automobile wrecks,
sinking ships, collapsing buildings,
epidemics, and natural disasters.
Christians get cancer, go bankrupt,
and even get thrown in jail.
God’s promise is not to keep us
from the consequences of being
human beings, but from our sins,
which ultimately are of more conse-
limited options are available for re
sponsible management.
1 he high cost of disposal prohibits
many users from hiring professionals
to dispose of these materials and also
postponing such disposal decisions
until a more cost-effective means be
comes available. The waste pesticides
may then become a safety hazard
and environmental liability through
long-term storage in barns, garages,
or other areas in and around the
home.
“Before Chemsweep began in
1992, there wasn’t a cost-effective
way for people to dispose of unwant
ed pesticides properly,” Wolff said.
“We are now taking the necessary
measures to ensure that these chemi
cals do not harm the environment.”
Pesticides control, kill, or mitigate
pest organisms and can include her
bicides, fungicides, insecticides, and
rodenticides. The products are classi
fied as Universal Waste Pesticides
and will be collected, transported,
and disposed of in accordance with
all applicable rules and regulations.
“At no cost to the business, Chem
sweep provides central collection
sites where people are asked to drop
off unwanted pesticides, or the haz
ardous waste disposal company
under contract by the Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture will col
lect the pesticides directly from the
storage location,” Wolff said.
For information, visit the Depart
ment’s Website at
www.agriculture.state.pa.us/
plantindustry/site or Penn State Uni
versity’s Pesticide Education Pro
gram at http://www.pested.psu.edu/
pdaprog www.pested.psu.edu/
pdaprog. Information also can be ob
tained by contacting the Department
of Environmental Protection’s
Household Hazardous Waste Pro
gram at (717) 787-7382 or http://
www.dep.state.pa.us, keyword:
“HHW.”
Quote Of The Week:
“Do not be afraid, I bring you
good news of great joy that will be
for all people. Today in the town
of David a Savior has been bom to
you; he is Christ the Lord. ”
An angel appearing to the
shepherds near Bethlehem
quence than any other disaster.
Paul’s life was a lot tougher because
of his apostleship (see 2 Cor.
11:23-29). And Jesus ended up on a
cross!
God Is With Es
There is a second promise and
this, too, has to do with a name
drawn for Isaiah’s prophecy (Is.
7:14): “...and his name shall be
called Emmanuel” (Mt. 1:23). So far
as we know, no one called Jesus by
the name Emmanuel during his life
time in the flesh. But the writer of
Matthew identifies Jesus with the
Emmanuel of whom Isaiah wrote.
The reason for this identification is
that Emmanuel means “God is with
us.”
In the midst of our accidents, dis
eases, disasters, and tribulations,
Jesus represents the promise that
God is with us, just as he was with
Paul in his tribulations and with
Jesus on the cross.
Being a follower of Jesus Christ
does not promise us protection from
our crosses, but the power of God to
overcome them with victory. The
good news of Jesus Christ is not that
we shall escape human tragedy, but
that by the power of God we may see
it through. Where is my proof? I
have no proof, but I trusted in other
promises, believing they were true
and they have been proven other
wise. None of the other sources to
which I have looked for my well
being have panned out.
That leaves the promises of God to
be with me in the midst of life and
save me from the folly of my sins. It
is on them that I will stake my life
and my destiny.
Lancaster Farming
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
Andy Andrews, Editor
Copyright 2003 by Lancaster Farming
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