These past weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about big and little, large and small and things deemed successful or not, particularly in relation to the matter of their importance. As a member of our local Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors I’m definitely “the little one”. Sitting next to owners of multi million dollar companies, my successful but tiny home-based business might appear to them as insignificant and yet to me and to the hundreds of other small and home based businesses, we’re far from that. It was a recent visit to my family on the prairies that prompted these reflections.
I admit that nostalgia was my primary emotion while flying back and forth across three provinces. Both coming and going, skies were clear of clouds and my view of the ground was spectacular: thousands of acres of land, clearly marked by last years furrows, spoke of the investment men and women put into providing food for our nation and, indeed, for the world.
My views from the plane and later, from the car, included farm yards boasting long rows of grain bins; other fields seemingly groaned under the vast array of tractors, seeders and a myriad of assorted but essential equipment. Wherever I looked, everything was big!
There was no way I could not compare those operations with the tiny farms in the area where I live but I have nothing but admiration for our local farmers who work small tracts of land. Whether ten or ten thousand acres, one thing remains constant: the purpose of it all is to feed people.
“Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” 1 Corinthians 4:2
Whether it’s sowing seed, inputting data, canning this year’s crop of berries, or digging trenches, be sure to include integrity and faithfulness in defining true success. Amen.
