THE LAND — APRIL 15/APRIL 22, 2022
PAGE 5
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Are field rocks a nuisance or a blessing? The number of rocks which surface picked up over the course of many generfrom deep beneath the topsoil of a field ations. Out of many of these rock piles, that has been slumbering for months is those who cared for the land before us, always astonishing to me. A field that has constructed the very foundations of their been cleaned up, taken care of and homes and barns. These rocks became “tucked in” after harvest can birth and the foundation on which their livelihoods become home to scores of rocks by spring. and families were built. I am amazed when I think of the farmers Are these rock piles much different of generations past and how physically than the altars built by Abraham, Isaac, DEEP ROOTS taxing it was to hand-pick rocks. Jacob, Moses or other forefathers of the Although farming practices have changed By Whitney Nesse faith? Altars made of uncut stones piled and rock picking looks much different on top of one another, signifying a place now, I imagine one would be hard pressed to find a for all succeeding generations to stop and remember farmer whose beginnings do not include rock pickthe things that God had done in the past. ing. Even the most seasoned farmers who hire Perhaps this year, instead of grumbling at the ambitious neighbor kids to do their rock picking for rocks that break our planters, become lodged in our them will still find themselves hopping out of the finishing baskets, shear off shovels on our cultivacab of their tractors and picking up a stray rock tors and try our sanity, we can look at them differhere and there. For as much of a nuisance rocks can be, I have an intriguing thought. I think of the farmer — the steward, the caretaker of the land — and how the farmer bends low, face towards the ground, breathing in deeply, filling his nostrils with the earthy and unmistakable scent of soil, surrounded by land that the farmer owns, but is merely lent by God himself. One by one, over and over, the farmer bends low, face to the ground picking up rocks that the land births with each spring season. GUEBERT, from pg. 3 How similar is the farmer’s posture when toiling under the sun to the posture of the tax collector in U.S. Department of Agriculture didn’t help, either. the synagogue who could not lift his eyes to heaven “‘The food industry is lobbying USDA, which in as he humbled himself before the Lord (Luke 18). turn puts pressure on FDA through the White Could it be that God, in his mercy, allows these House and Capitol Hill, in a way that’s unproducrocks to continually surface in order to offer the tive…’” former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb farmer the opportunity to humble himself over and told Politico. over across thousands of farm acres? Bottemiller Evich, however, makes it clear that I think of the rock piles growing larger and larger FDA has more problems than just Big Food bigfoot— added to year after year. How they are strategically placed so they are easy to access, yet out of the ing its way around FDA. FDA has become a shrimp in an ocean of transnational whales and its — and way. Rocks of every shape, size and color have been
ently. What if we choose to take a moment each time we bend low, to humble ourselves before the Lord? What if we choose to see those rock piles as altars for the Lord — a place to remember his faithfulness and thank him for giving us the opportunity to steward the land? Or maybe we will find a greater appreciation for the backbreaking work past generations endured that has now become the foundation on which our very own livelihoods are being built. My hope is that with each passing year, as more and more rocks find their way to the surface, I will allow myself to be humbled before the Lord, be reminded of his faithfulness, and to deepen, enhance and grow my sense of gratitude for the generations gone before me. Whitney Nesse is a sixth-generation livestock farmer who is deeply rooted in her faith and family. She writes from her central Minnesota farm. v
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