Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“And the land had rest for forty years.”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, September 4, 2019
by Daniel D. Maurer, Clergy Stuff
In my undergraduate years, I spent two summers working for the Minnesota Historical Society. In Elk River, Minnesota, there is a small quarter section of land (160 acres) set aside for historical interpretation of agriculture in the upper Midwest of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Oliver H. Kelley Farm provides people with a glimpse how farming used to be. It’s more than a journey of nostalgia though. MHS has the goal of showing the role technology had to play in post Civil War agriculture.
As a historical interpreter and employee at that time, I dressed in clothing that farmers did. We spoke with visitors how things were done and raised historical varieties of both farm animals and crops.
Of course, we also practiced setting some of the land to lay fallow.
It’s funny, but setting aside the land to rest has not always been the modus operandi for American agriculture for the longest time. In the late 19th century, crop rotation was only in its infancy.
Nowadays, farmers practice “no-till” agriculture and companion planting. In this way, they allow the land to rest simultaneously with other crops!
No matter what period of history you look at, though, the concept of rest has always played a role. We might perhaps take a cue from this to see the richness God has provided in our lives.
Rest, O Land, in the splendor God has given you. Amen.
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