BEYOND THE MARGIN By Joe Spear
A new twist on reap what you sow E
ach October harvest leaves no doubt we live in an area of abundance. Corn, soybeans, wheat, pumpkins. From the fields to the farmers’ markets, crops in a droughtstarved year still shimmer in the low angle of the sun in their gold, orange and beige hues. In churches that dot the countryside from Bernadotte on the Nicollet-Sibley county border to Good Thunder at the end of Blue Earth County Road 1, it’s likely ministers will find a way to expound upon the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Galatians 6, verses 7-8 about reaping what you sow and other verses of harvest thankfulness. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
14 • OCTOBER 2021 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
Or 2 Corinthians 9-10: “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.” The Old Testament can be interesting as in Job 4:8 “As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.” But I like the guys who are now sowing things like Kernza (a wheat grass) in fields surrounding St. Peter and Helles Lager barley 15 miles from New Ulm on the Fort Road. Both are used in making tasty local beer. A fine harvest indeed. In a moderately interesting essay in crosswalk.com, a website offering daily Christian Bible devotionals, the editors argue that reap what you sow is not the same concept as karma, something Hindus believe in. Karma is the idea that if you live a good life and try to do good in all efforts, interactions and challenges,
