Let Our Own Light Shine

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”  Marianne Williamson

 This quote was originally penned by Marianne Williamson in her 1992 book A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles. It is often misquoted as being penned by Nelson Mandela at his inaugural address. The fact is Nelson Mandela actually did not write it; nor, did he even quote it. Most recently, it was quoted in the movie Coach Carter. Today, as I was taking a restful Sunday afternoon and watching this movie, I got to thinking, "Could this quote be applied to farmers and agriculture today?".

The average farmer today is becoming older, and that generation has never let their light shine.  Don't get me wrong, they are amazing individuals, and they truly are powerful beyond measure. They lifted the burden of feeding the world's growing population on their shoulders and never once shrugged, faltered, or complained about it; however, they did not tell their story. Their story became lost in the race to keep up with the demands of a exponentially growing world population.  They let the people they were working so hard to provide food, shelter, and clothing for lose sight of how it was being produced. These farmers became so dedicated to the task of feeding the world that the world was no longer involved in the production of their food.

This led to today's problem: Growing discord among the agriculture sector and a negative overall image of agriculture. Agriculture is growing in popularity every day, in the news, the Super Bowl, and even social media. It is great that it is finally getting some publicity, but the message is skewed. Every time you turn around someone has a different view, and a lot of times that view is negative toward someone else involved in agriculture. It is hard for me to stomach the fact that a small scale organic farmer will turn and bad-mouth a large scale industrialized farmer; however, at the same time the large scale farmer refuses to even recognize the small scale farmer as being relevant. The only thing accomplished in the end is that the public does not know who to believe and both farmers look bad.

This is our time to come together in the sector of agriculture. We are standing on the brink and could topple either way. I know the potential is there for us to become powerful beyond belief. I could name hundreds of people out there right now striving to build something for themselves within agriculture. They are smart, talented, skilled, composed, hard-working individuals who have the ability to do whatever they set their minds to. Sadly, they are being overshadowed.  We must come together as a group, as one unit, become powerful beyond measure, and let our light shine.  Failure is not an option. If we fail, people starve.