Down on The Farm
Last week I was talking on the phone with one of my best friends, Black, and I told him one of the biggest issues our world is facing is we lack good farmers. When he asked me to elaborate, I laughed and said, “I don’t want to get too biblical…” but as the words began to leave my mouth, I found myself going deeper into the imagery of agriculture and the timeless rules of farming.
Before a farmer even considers planting a seed, there are three things that must be understood:
What are you growing?
Will the climate partner with you in growing it?
What type of soil are you dealing with?
In most cases, unless you inherit a field that has already been tilled and cultivated, the soil will resist you. You’ll have to work it. You’ll have to plow it. You’ll have to water it. And here lies the problem with our culture today: no one wants to tend the soil.
We live in a microwave generation, hungry for instant results. Farmers are deceived into thinking that seeds can grow on hard, uncared-for ground. They forget that unbroken soil rejects what’s placed in it. And when the seed doesn’t take root, frustration sets in. Many give up, blaming the seed when in reality, it was the soil that was never prepared.
Great farmers understand that cultivating takes time. They respect the process because they know the process never loses. Some seasons will not yield crops, no matter how faithful you are. But patience builds a resilience that shortcuts never deliver.
When you are growing something that people need for their well-being… whether it’s love, wisdom, vision, or truth… you must make sure the process is healthy from the start. That’s the only way what you deliver will be healthy in the end. Farm-to-table living is the clearest expression of this: what is cultivated with care becomes nourishment without corruption.
If we are farmers of the soul… planting seeds into people… we must understand three things:
The seed. What is it that we’re depositing? Is it healing, wisdom, accountability, encouragement?
The time. Growth is never immediate. Even when roots are invisible, life is still happening beneath the surface.
The sustainment. Once it grows, how do we protect and preserve it so that it doesn’t spoil?
Down on the farm, the lesson is clear: everything valuable takes tending. And when it comes to people, you don’t just plant seeds for your sake… you plant for the harvest that others will one day eat from.
We’re all responsible for ourselves, but the best farmers know we’re also responsible for what we plant, how we tend, and what we leave behind.