By the sweat of your brow...

In Genesis 3:17-19...it says, 'It will produce thorns and thistles for you,and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food.'

Well, it always seemed so unreal to me...to have to 'sweat' and 'toil' for my food...especially in S'pore. Today, I finally had to do that. Think I did it once when I was on a mission trip in Thailand...actually had the opportunity to do some rice planting in the padi field...super hard work since one has to bend to do the planting...and soak one's feet in water that's knee-deep. Tough man. Tiring just to do that for 20 minutes I think...could have been shorter...but it felt like 20 minutes. At least it felt like I was contributing directly to the 'food' part...

Yesterday (Tuesday), we went to school where they set aside a plot of land for the kids to learn some farming...plant vegetables, flowers, herbs, fruits and stuff...that's like our training ground as well. Mainly, what I did was to just get rid of weeds for at least an hour...the rest of the time we did other stuff, like harvesting some veg and washing them... Weeding was tough. I took a little spade and fought the weeds...it was tough to uproot them...these 'weeds' have roots that are very fine and run pretty deep in the soil. I ended up with a little blister on my palm which HURTS...and another wound on my finger. Today, I could feel the back of my thighs aching from squatting so much. One thing about farming is you constantly have to squat and bend...and get your hands really dirty and muddy.

It was just a fraction of what farmers really do I guess....just a taste, a glimpse of what this 'TOIL' really is like.

Well, this course really got me thinking... Imagine...when God made man...Adam didn't really have to work on the land...until the Fall. Fruit trees, flowers and vegetables sprouting without having to WORK and SWEAT....fwah...quite shiok eh?

Verse 19 says, 'By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken;for dust you are and to dust you will return.' ... we are taken from the ground...the very thing soil is made of...that's what WE are made of. Dead vegetables...waste...dead animals...fruit peels...stuff that dies...farmers use them to fertilize the soil... Wow...so did God meant for us to be buried when we die?...but the fancy stuff we do these days...really taking up precious land and space eh? wonder who came up with the idea to put gravestones to remember the dead...or to put the dead in coffin before burying them? Well...all of us will have to return to dust one day...materially, physically...it'll be one complete cycle...

Class yesterday...(BS)...talked about how when we get 'birthed' twice (born again), we'll only have to die once (physical death)...and when one only gets 'birthed' once, one will have to die twice (physical and spiritual)...what an equation eh? Maths...God's way.

Anyway, enough about all this morbid talk. Actually, brain's a lil fuzzy at this moment...can't really remember what I wanted to say...

Oh...working with the soil and with plants...really quite a learning experience...one that most Singaporeans and urban ppl are deprived of. Yes...I used the word 'deprived'...I really think toiling on the land and getting one's 'fruits of labour'...eating what one has worked hard for...realizing that the growth of any plant...the fact that ANYONE can have food...is through God's grace and provision...THAT is really so much more rewarding than sitting in an office...and getting seeing that bank account topped up every month... I think many would beg to differ though.

more to come i hope...realy super sleepy now.

haven't been bloggin much cos
1) too tired....(especially after the 'toiling'...even if it's just a wee bit)
2) keep wanting to revamp my blog...

gotta get up at 6 tmr to go for my agricultural course...my bed beckons!