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John David Bradshaw September 26, 2000 10:21 PM

Growing Good Corn
 
Dien,

I received this by email today. It made me think of the WE philosophy of SOWPUB. Enjoy...

JDB

(The link below is giving credit to Steve Goodier, the originator of this email. I receive no remuneration from Steve.)

GROWING GOOD CORN

James Bender, in his book, HOW TO TALK WELL (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1994) relates the story of a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon.

One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.

"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.

"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."

He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves.

So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors to live in peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn.
--------------------
From the book, RICHES OF THE HEART, by Steve Goodier.




Books by Steve Goodier

Dien Rice September 27, 2000 12:52 AM

Farmer's wisdom....
 
Hi John,

I believe there's a lot of deep "farmer's wisdom" out there, from the American heart-land....

Thank you for sharing that story from Steve Goodier, his books look like they would be a wonderful investment, giving you inspiration for many years in those times when you need it.... This sort of wisdom never grows stale.... :)

I have my own book collections of stories here, which I dip into when I feel down....

And the world's greatest spiritual and religious works are full of wonderful, inspirational stories....

My father's father was a farmer, their farm was near Coldwater, Michigan.... And while my Dad always worked in the city as an adult, he's a country-boy at heart, so we've almost always lived near the edge of the city, right on the edge of the peaceful country-side....

I'm going to ask him for any inspirational stories he has from growing up on the farm.... I know that growing up on a farm taught him the value of hard work, and kept him down-to-earth. While many city-slickers (including me) may shudder at the thought of waking up at 5 am to shovel manure for several hours, I admire those who have done it and their down-to-earth nature....

Thank you John for taking the time to post some great words of wisdom!

Dien Rice


Books by Steve Goodier....

peter hall September 27, 2000 08:16 AM

Re: Growing Good Corn
 
on the other side of the coin are those farmers and companies who for whatever reason are growing GM crops and contaminating neighbours farms for miles around
just a thought
peter
> Dien,

> I received this by email today. It made me
> think of the WE philosophy of SOWPUB.
> Enjoy...

> JDB

> (The link below is giving credit to Steve
> Goodier, the originator of this email. I
> receive no remuneration from Steve.)

> GROWING GOOD CORN

> James Bender, in his book, HOW TO TALK WELL
> (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1994)
> relates the story of a farmer who grew
> award-winning corn. Each year he entered his
> corn in the state fair where it won a blue
> ribbon.

> One year a newspaper reporter interviewed
> him and learned something interesting about
> how he grew it. The reporter discovered that
> the farmer shared his seed corn with his
> neighbors.

> "How can you afford to share your best
> seed corn with your neighbors when they are
> entering corn in competition with yours each
> year?" the reporter asked.

> "Why sir," said the farmer,
> "didn't you know? The wind picks up
> pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it
> from field to field. If my neighbors grow
> inferior corn, cross-pollination will
> steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If
> I am to grow good corn, I must help my
> neighbors grow good corn."

> He is very much aware of the connectedness
> of life. His corn cannot improve unless his
> neighbor's corn also improves.

> So it is with our lives. Those who choose to
> live in peace must help their neighbors to
> live in peace. Those who choose to live well
> must help others to live well, for the value
> of a life is measured by the lives it
> touches. And those who choose to be happy
> must help others to find happiness, for the
> welfare of each is bound up with the welfare
> of all.

> The lesson for each of us is this: if we are
> to grow good corn, we must help our
> neighbors grow good corn.
> --------------------
> From the book, RICHES OF THE HEART, by Steve
> Goodier.

Dien Rice September 27, 2000 01:54 PM

GM crops....
 
> on the other side of the coin are those
> farmers and companies who for whatever
> reason are growing GM crops and
> contaminating neighbours farms for miles
> around

Yes, I've heard about Genetically Modified (GM) crops contaminating the other crops surrounding them.... It's a problem if you want to avoid food that's Genetically Modified....

I know that this is a big issue in Europe and also for many in Australia, I think by those who are worried about possibly unforeseen health issues....

I'm glad you could share your thoughts, Peter! :)

- Dien


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