On Digging Potatoes

We dug our fall potatoes four days after September 11 this fall. Somehow it was therapeutic to engage in this earthy workwith time to reflect on the horrible events of the week.

I kept thinking, well, if things really get tough this winter, if fighting and war lead to the kind of hardship at home that people experienced during World War II, at least we'll have potatoes. I weighed the possibilities for what lies ahead. I wondered if this heart-rending crime, this devastating loss of life, has the potential to shake some of us out of our tendency to take so many things for granted.

My generation was formed by the stories of World War II suffering, the deprivation of the Great Depression, the Holocaust. We didn't experience those terrible realities, but our parents and grandparents made sure we heard about them more often than we wanted. I learned recently that my husband's aunts remember their mother sometimes saying she had no idea what she could make for supper (and it wasn't because she was just tired of that daily chore. It was because there was no real food in the house).

I hope we grew up appreciating the hardships and sacrifices of our elders. Today's generation, however, who grew up during the "me" generation, may be a little too inclined to take our many advantages, freedoms and wealth for granted. Their idea of hardship is not owning a car, or if their computer is more than two years old. Most have not experienced things like a military draft, or, on the other side, of feeling uncomfortable in standing up for beliefs, sacrificing personal pleasures for a larger cause. Our hope is that this generation can stand up to such challenges once tested.

Certainly the show of persons - including the college kids - wanting to do something to help has been heartening to see: waiting hours in line to give blood, donating liberally to various funds for victims. It is gratifying to see an outpouring of grief, solidarity and profound sympathy for the families of the victims.

Most of us in North America take water, breath, food, health, cars, smooth transportation around the country - all for granted. We took our safety for granted. We take gathering freely in safe places of worship for granted. I think a lot of us found new meaning in the hymns we sang at church services and special community prayer services after the attacks. For instance the words of old familiar songs, such as in "O God Our Help in Ages Past," were sung with new meaning:

"The shelter from the stormy blast...

Be Thou our guard while troubles last,

And our eternal home."

Or from "How Firm a Foundation:"

"When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie...

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake

I'll never, no never, no never forsake."

What a promise, the only promise we have: that no matter what happens, even though we walk through the valley of death, God is always with us. Here is one lesson to be learned, at a terrible, terrible cost: that we may all learn to take less of life for granted.

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Contributed by Melodie Davis from her weekly columnANOTHER WAY (http://www.thirdway.com/aw/).For information on using Another Way in a local newspaper, contact:ANOTHER WAY, 1251 Virginia Ave., Harrisonburg, VA 22801-2497; or call1-800-999-3534; fax at 540-434-5556; or email me at:Melodie@mennomedia.org