As a farmer, I see rain as a funny thing. I'm rarely happy about the amount, it's timing, whether it arrives in a hard or soft fashion, or whether we even need it at the moment....because I'm apparently a self-designated genius about how, when, where, and how much rain is needed at any given time.
I have no control over the rain, regardless of how much I want to, so I do my best as a steward of the land that has been entrusted to me to plant the right seeds, use the right amount of fertilizer, keep the weeds out, and grow the best crop I know how with the resources I have. This has been a tough spring. The saying goes,..."Rain makes Grain"...which is true, if you get the rain in July and August, when you really need it. If so much of it comes in April, May, and half of June that you can barely find 6 days out of those 70 or so days to do field work it makes me think, "Rain doesn't make grain....it makes grumpy farmers." I will confess my selfish prayers. The latter part of May, I was praying to God for the rain to stop. I knew He could do that, but I also knew He was probably looking at a larger picture my little Ryan brain couldn't get wrapped around, and I was OK with that.....mostly. But He was faithful. He did stop the rain (hopefully not for good) long enough for us to get everything planted the first and second time. The point I'm attempting to make is God's timing often doesn't line up with my ideal mental plan. As concerned as I get about rain or no rain, I have no control over it. God tells us to be faithful with what He entrusts to us, which I attempt to do, and He'll take care of the rest. Nothing I do in the field would be fruitful if God didn't take part in it.
The same could be said for another kind of seed. There are people I pray for everyday, people I would like to have know about the salvation that Jesus has offered us. I can pray for them, talk to them, be a friend to them, go out of my way to care for them, but ultimately, I can only plant a seed in that person. God is the one who controls the rain to make that seed grow too. We have to trust that he will bring the physical rain for the crops in my fields, and the spiritual rain to grow the seeds we've planted in the people we love.
"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." 1 Cor. 3:6-7
So Ryan and I have taken to watching our public television stations when nothing else good is on. Really, it's often on in the background while we do other things.
But tonight I was captivated.
Bitter Seeds, which aired on our WQEC station tonight, told the compelling story of rural Indian farmers in a cycle of debt because of biotechnology which, from my estimation, does not seem suited to their environmental and financial circumstances.
Farmers are charged a premium for BT Cotton (this is all farmers - Indian, American, German, etc). For those of you, who like me, are wondering, What's BT cotton? It's cotton that's been genetically modified to prevent infestation of boll weevils, theoretically improving the plant and yields. In India, the beginning of the problematic cycle starts with BT cotton being the only option for seed these rural farmers are given. Conventional seed (i.e. non-GMO seed) is not available. While BT Cotton seed is supposed to be low-maintenance, these farmers are forced to borrow money in order to buy the necessary fertilizer in addition to the cost of the seed. And because of harsh growing conditions, particularly low rainfall, the costly seed often does not yield as it should. They are so poor they could never dream of the luxury of irrigation for their modest 2 acre farm...they are too strapped trying to scrape together a dowry for their daughters.
This broken system in India is producing farmers who are so indebted, so despondent, they are committing suicide. By the thousands. The rate of suicide among these rural farmers is four times...FOUR TIMES the rate of suicide in urban areas of India.
Since watching the program tonight, I've had an internal struggle about where the problem really exists. My emotional pendulum swung from blaming Monsanto for not being a responsible distributor to vulnerable populations, to blaming the Indian seed dealers who are likely taking advantage of kick-backs they receive for selling high-royalty seed. But to place blame so hastily would be wrong. Like so many things, I believe it is a systemic problem. A dysfunctional cycle which is self-maintaining. My heart breaks for the fathers who struggle to provide but can't. For the wives who can only watch helplessly as their husbands' toil leads only to further dejection. For the children who no longer have fathers; Who, as the program so poignantly notes, are victimized twice - once, when losing their father's protection, and twice, when losing their childhood.
I am reminded of how fortunate we are in America. I have no easy solutions to the problems presented in Bitter Seeds. Many of the technologies developed by Monsanto are very good, very helpful to American farmers. But are they more suited to larger-scale farms? Perhaps to those farms which have more capital to purchase fertilizers and irrigation, if necessary? I don't have the answers. Just a lot of questions.
While I pray for a resolution to the farmers' dilemma, ultimately my prayer is for these farmers, and for everyone, to know the One who is Life...to have God's Word planted in their hearts, producing eternal life and the love of Christ. Then it could be said of them, "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy." (Psalm 126:5).
