What Are We Spreading?
A manure spreader doesn’t make for a real appealing photo subject to most folks. I realize this – even if it’s horse-drawn, and found on an Amish farm.
I lived in the country when I was growing up. Whenever one of the neighbors was spreading manure on their fields, Mom would sometimes ask my sister and me if we could “smell that fresh country air”. To a former farm girl, I suppose that she figured that there weren’t many things more “fresh” smelling than newly-spread manure. Perhaps, that was one of the reasons why she didn’t mind not having to farm as an adult!
We realize that manure is a natural fertilizer. It provides valuable nutrients for the soil. In addition, for farmers with livestock, spreading it on fields is a cost-effective manner of removing the livestock-generated waste material.
There’s another aspect of manure that many probably overlook: how corrosive it can be. I saw this firsthand recently, when I saw a farmer pulling a liquid manure spreader. A large portion of the tank’s top had rusted away – likely from years of hauling waste, exposing the inside of the spreader.
Images of farmers spreading manure provide us with a couple of powerful lessons.
As manure helps crops grow, our words and actions can also have a positive effect on others – helping to encourage them.
However, we must be cautious. Our words can take root like a random kernel of grain or a weed seed that may be found in manure. Whether intentional or not, just like a manure spreader throwing its contents over a field, what we say and do can be thrown around in such a way as to inflict pain on others.
A manure spreader is a powerful reminder that we must be careful with our words and actions. We can spread something that encourages growth – or, that is corrosive.
Let’s be sure that what we say doesn’t hurt and poison others. Rather, may our lives and actions be lived out in a way that will promote and nurture kindness and grace to all who we may encounter.
Have a great day!
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up…” – 1 Thessalonians 5:11a (NIV)
(This was first published at theroadreport.wordpress.com.)
