Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense. (Proverbs 12:11)
There are a number of articles (like this one from Forbes: Forbes Article ) and videos about the inability of Millennials who can’t function on a practical level. They can text and surf the internet, but don’t ask them to sew on a button, cook a chicken, or check their tire pressure. Those stories may not be true. The article above talks about young Boomers spending time tinkering with their car engines. That’s not exactly a fair comparison, because today’s car engines are so complex, and so sealed up that doing more than checking fluid levels is next to impossible. However, my goal here isn’t to pick on the Millennials about this, because truth told, though I’m a Boomer, I often feel like I can’t function on a practical level. Today’s passage is about working the land. It was written in a time and place where agriculture was the necessary life skill of the majority if the population. Today, for most of us, agriculture involves driving to the grocery store. Why should we need to know about raising crops, fixing an engine, or first aid when help or those things are within a short drive?
Every now and again, I go through a panic about emergency preparedness. We aren’t ready for an emergency. The sad part is, much of emergency preparedness is on the expensive and time-consuming side. But what do you do if there’s no electricity for a week or a month? What do you do if you wake up one morning and there’s no water? That happened to me. Fortunately, it was only for a few hours. Could you function if the Zombie Apocalypse, an enemy’s electro-magnetic-pulse knocked out the electrical grid, or a pandemic swept the land? [1] For me, it’s even a little worse. As a writer of fantasy, I tend to write stories about times and places in which the technology is much closer to what Solomon knew than to what we know. I know how horribly unprepared I am to cope with a crisis that reduces us to that level of basic. I often find myself thinking that I really should learn to be a better gardener. I’m working on that starting this winter. I really should learn to sew. I should learn to cook better than I do and preserve food. I should refresh my knowledge of first aid. I should have a collection of life-skills, camping, orienting, and survival skills books – and study them. I should get to know plants, get a fishing pole, learn to tie knots. I need to exercise and get strong, learn basic carpentry skills (and get the tools with which to use them.) At the very least, I should learn some basic physical skills that will let me find a job. The idea that all of those “low level” skills aren’t needed anymore is a dangerous one. I must say, though that I’m probably not as inept as I think I am.
Right now, I can’t spend a lot of time or money to throw myself into learning all the skills I’d like to have if we’re thrown back to such a time, but I’m working on at least two this winter. I’m studying agriculture basics and I hope to vastly improve my knowledge of sewing. That won’t take much. If I get things planned for next spring I may do some research on nutrition and recipes, and the basics of canning. Is there some skill you think would be useful when/if life gets reduced to basics? Those who know how to work the land, or sew, or can.... will have abundant food.
Every now and again, I go through a panic about emergency preparedness. We aren’t ready for an emergency. The sad part is, much of emergency preparedness is on the expensive and time-consuming side. But what do you do if there’s no electricity for a week or a month? What do you do if you wake up one morning and there’s no water? That happened to me. Fortunately, it was only for a few hours. Could you function if the Zombie Apocalypse, an enemy’s electro-magnetic-pulse knocked out the electrical grid, or a pandemic swept the land? [1] For me, it’s even a little worse. As a writer of fantasy, I tend to write stories about times and places in which the technology is much closer to what Solomon knew than to what we know. I know how horribly unprepared I am to cope with a crisis that reduces us to that level of basic. I often find myself thinking that I really should learn to be a better gardener. I’m working on that starting this winter. I really should learn to sew. I should learn to cook better than I do and preserve food. I should refresh my knowledge of first aid. I should have a collection of life-skills, camping, orienting, and survival skills books – and study them. I should get to know plants, get a fishing pole, learn to tie knots. I need to exercise and get strong, learn basic carpentry skills (and get the tools with which to use them.) At the very least, I should learn some basic physical skills that will let me find a job. The idea that all of those “low level” skills aren’t needed anymore is a dangerous one. I must say, though that I’m probably not as inept as I think I am.
Right now, I can’t spend a lot of time or money to throw myself into learning all the skills I’d like to have if we’re thrown back to such a time, but I’m working on at least two this winter. I’m studying agriculture basics and I hope to vastly improve my knowledge of sewing. That won’t take much. If I get things planned for next spring I may do some research on nutrition and recipes, and the basics of canning. Is there some skill you think would be useful when/if life gets reduced to basics? Those who know how to work the land, or sew, or can.... will have abundant food.
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