EDITOR'S NOTE: Since becoming the clergy leader at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn., in November 2017, I've written a monthly column for our church newsletter. This column originally published in the June 2019 FLC Newsletter.
It seems you can’t turn on the news these days without seeing another dire report for America’s farmers. Pick your favorite news source, and I’ll guarantee you that there has been a story there during this past week regarding how the ongoing trade war with China is negatively impacting this country’s farmers.
In one story on the NBC News website, it states that in 2018 alone, the national net farm income dropped by more than $9 billion, or 12 percent of farmers’ overall income. Mind you, that was a loss all in one year!
Furthermore, the same story reported that based on data from the USDA Agriculture Census that was released in April more than 160,000 farmers in the U.S. gave up farming from 2007 to 2017.
Those are staggering numbers. … Numbers that begin to match what America’s farmers lived through during the 1980s. And I’m sure that many in our congregation remember those devastating days.
So, as your pastor, where am I going with this? … Well, it’s no secret that Faith Lutheran resides in the middle of farm country, and it’s no secret that our farmers are facing hard times. And, so as a community of faith -- as a faith family -- even if we don’t directly farm ourselves, we share in that emotional burden with which our’s and the nation’s farm families are living.
First, as Jesus’s hands and feet here on this earth, it is incumbent of us to reach out to our farm families and make sure that they are doing OK. I don’t just mean financially, but are they doing OK emotionally as well. Do any amount of research and you learn very quickly how the downturn of the agricultural economy impacted farmers and thus their entire communities in the 1980s. It was a bleak time.
But as an extended faith family we don’t have to let that be the case. Part of the commandment to love one another is to ensure that we each are being cared for. And that includes ensuring our neighbors’ mental and emotional health as well.
Might I suggest during this difficult time for the farmers that surround us, that you reach out to your neighbors. Tell them that you are thinking about them. Tell them that you care about them, and that you understand their significance to our community, and frankly to the nation. Let’s not let it go unsaid. Sometimes, a little validation is all someone needs to make it through a rough patch.
And second, if this message speaks to you and hits home hard. If you are someone who is being impacted by the difficult agricultural economy, and you are struggling with the burden of this, I encourage you to reach out to someone. Reach out to a trusted friend. Reach out to a neighbor. Reach out to me. Or reach out to a trained counselor or other professional resource. The key is just to reach out. When we suffer in silence, we hurt not only ourselves, but those around us as well.
Lastly, and this is where being your pastor comes into play. Remember, that despite the tough financial times, that your worth does not come from your labor efforts. What you do is a noble profession. Farmers helped forge this country, and we are grateful for your dedication and hard work. But, at the end of the day, regardless of how the farm economy is doing, your worth is found in the fact that you are a blessed child of God. … Let me reiterate that: Your worth is not in the work that you perform, but instead in your relationship with Jesus.
As your faith family, we will continue to pray that these difficult times for our nation’s farmers will soon pass, and meanwhile, we are here to support you in any way that we can. We care about you; we value you; and we know what your work means to the country. Blessings to you as you begin the spring planting season. The God watch over you, bless you with good planting whether, even better growing weather and give those in positions of authority the insight and courage they need to work us through these difficult times. .. Amen.
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