The Hardest Part of Being a Farmer...

Embracing the End

The hardest part of being a farmer. The most life changing part. The part which can hurt the most. The part which turns life on its head. The part and the path which leads to a new way of thinking about something so important. Life & of course Death.

Becoming a farmer changes your life in so many ways, but I want to mention the biggest way.

You care for something, you pour your heart and soul and effort into it. You love it. You nurture it. You watch it grow and flourish.

And then in an instant it’s gone. You hold its lifeless body in your arms, you feel its last breath, you see its eyes become empty, the warm life leaving its body and soul.

You’re hurt inside, you curse life, how could this life do this to you? Even after you put in so much effort and care. You loved so much.

It happens so many times again and again you become one with it. You stare death & defeat in its eyes so many times it becomes second nature. It still bothers you but you stop shedding tears. You become angry, you become disappointed, you hold a grudge, you hold back from giving so much next time around.

Then it starts over again. You think of how many ways you can do better next time. It is the circle of life.

So many in modern times live their whole lives never experiencing death. Never living with death. Never praying for life to continue, never hoping it will end quickly. They buy food, they consume things, but they never ask questions. They never see the price which was paid to nourish it’s fibers and soul.

Eventually you become one with death. You experience it new each season as the icey end of the morning dew precedes such a glorious new warm summer dawn. Death is a part of life, death is a part of the rebirth. Death is a part of being a farmer. It makes you religious inside.

Those who live in this world without ever seeing something you loved for and cared for so much pass in your arms are missing out on something.

They fear its icy grip. They fear the end of their own life. They fear the death of a loved one. They fear to live, for appreciating the glory of death gives life new meaning.

Becoming a farmer, you experience death in a whole new way. And you begin to believe. You cannot separate your belief in God from being a farmer.