Fertility and its produce are at the very core of much that defines humankind.
In many ways, our very survival is dependent on our ability to exploit that fertility, and to ensure it is sustainable and growing in the face of ever-increasing needs.
But are we doing enough?
The spectre of pollution in its myriad forms has taken on a potentially devastating form in many parts of the world.
The plight of critically important bees is dire, and in a growing number of food-producing areas, soil fertility is deteriorating at an alarming rate.
Early calls to heed the warning signs came from two prominent C20th leaders from vastly different parts of the world:
“The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.” – Franklin D Roosevelt
“To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” – Mahatma Gandhi. Of course, the concept of ‘fertile ground’ has powerful significance on many other levels too.
Extreme emotions are fertile ground for deep and evocative writing … tortured souls and those riding the waves of ecstasy find relief in literary expression.
In our country, in the current milieu of rampant corruption at all levels, devastating deterioration of state entities, alarming unemployment rates, unprecedented crime and discontented youth, the fertile ground for extremism and self-destruction is a very real concern.
History will reveal how the emotions of these times are feeding and producing powerful poetry and prose that will define this disturbing era. The political morass that prevails will be a central pillar of this literature.
On a more personal level, there is little doubt that relationships are central to most of what we accomplish in life.
Ben Stein put it that all advancement, success and achievement in life are born from the fertile soil of healthy personal relationships … food for thought!
Of course, the role of the mind should never be underestimated:
“Our minds work like a garden. It is fertile ground that accepts any and everything we plant. Good or evil, constructive or destructive, our lives will bear the fruit of the seeds we plant in our minds.” – Iyanla Vanzant
The observations of David Gemmell are a sobering reminder of the shortcomings of man and the considerable obstacles we face as a human race if we are to succeed and flourish:
“Yours is a race whose imagination is limited to its own small appetites. Greed, lust, envy – these are the motivating forces of humankind. What redeems you is that in every man and woman there is a seed that can grow to encompass love, joy and compassion. But this seed is never allowed to prosper in fertile ground. It struggles for life among the rocks of your human soul.”
How to grow and prosper that promising seed by defeating our rocks in pursuit of redemption? That is our challenge.
