poor farmer

Monday February 24^th, Leviticus 19:  ⁹ “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰ Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God. ¹¹ “‘Do not steal.   “‘Do not lie.  “‘Do not deceive one another.  ¹² “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. ¹³ “‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.  “‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.  ¹⁴ “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD. ¹⁵ “‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.  ¹⁶ “‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people.  “‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD. My father was not the best farmer.  He always found time to take a short nap before supper.  The fields were not stripped clean and there was always a little left over for the deer, birds and whatever else was part of that web of life.  Sundays were always more about rest and family than about production and profit and as a dairy farm; there was always enough milk to feed the cats and dogs.  The machinery was old and there was always room to make things more efficient, but good enough and time to enjoy the day usually ruled.  In our profit driven world, often times what is driven are the poor and needy, and where they are driven is out.  Pull yourself up by your bootstraps we tell the one with no shoes and we are convinced that somewhere in the Bible it says that god helps those who help themselves.  God calls us to be poor farmers, leaving enough along the path for others and remembering that good enough and time to enjoy the day and one another and God is always better than the death that comes from the striving for more and more followed by a casket surrounded by things.