The Worst Erosion

El cristianismo primitivo--Primitive Christianity--O cristianismo primitivo

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The Worst Erosion

The last article left me rolling in the dust after my expulsion from the "Certified Organic" wagon. Did I leap off, or was I pushed? I am not sure, to be honest. I could start a conspiracy investigation; but I have better projects to invest my time in, because that is not the important question.
The big question is "Where do I go from here?" To the farm supply store and pump my soil full of chemical compositions that are alien to God-made dirt?
No, I trust that my integrity is better rounded than that. Bear with me a moment while I mount my stump for another lecture...
Far worse than the Ohio soil erosion of 2.5 tons/acre/year calculated for the year 1997, is the erosion of ethical and moral character in our land. Instead of a flash-flood cutting a gully in the back 40, we see a gush of greed wipe out a man's determination to do what is right.
My mind goes to my wife's uncle, a small dairy farmer in neighboring Pennsylvania. He recently made the decision to quit injecting his cows with recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST). As well, he intended to cut back on herbicide use and use old-fashioned row cultivators in his corn.
To me, that is integrity of character. He told me he will take a cut in income for his decisions, but that was secondary to the point that he wanted to live by the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
I am not about to get into a discussion of whether rbST is bad stuff. That is far beyond my capability to determine. I personally do not like the idea of using it: if God meant for cows to give more milk, He would have made them with better producing capabilities in their own pituitary glands. My personal opinion on the matter certainly does not qualify as scientific data, of course.
But let us take a look at the character of such a decision: a man has come to the conclusion that the long run side effects of rbST are not clear, and therefore he will abstain from using it, at the cost of a smaller milk check. He is looking out for more than himself. He will lose, so that others may gain. That is integrity; that is character uneroded by greed.
This brings me back to the question of where do I go, now that my ignorance has ejected me from the "Certified Organic" wagon? I hope that when the dust has settled and I have stopped rolling, I will not have landed outside the bounds of ethical integrity.
Yes, I "gave in" enough to put some triple-12 on my stunted vegetables. But I also have brought home a pickup load of manure from the neighbor, with plans to get more. Another trip to a neighboring sawmill has capped this manure pile with some rotting sawdust. In the plans are a trip to the creek to dig out some sand.
This sand/manure/sawdust mixture should loosen up my clay soil and add enough organic materials so that next year I may be able to get my sweet corn to grow higher than my belt; without any addition of triple-12.
No, I will not be able to label some of my products as "Certified Organic" now, but I hope I can call them "conscientiously grown". I also hope, by the grace of God, that the integrity of my character-however immature that may still be- will not be shattered by my fall from the "Certified Organic" wagon. My intention is to think beyond the realms of "now" and "me". And that is what sustainable living is all about.

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I exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. Jude 1:3

Me ha sido necesario escribiros amonestándoos que contendáis eficazmente por la fe que ha sido una vez dada á los santos. Judas 1.3

Tive por necessidade escrever-vos, e exortar-vos a batalhar pela fé que uma vez foi dada aos santos. Judas 1:3

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