Hard work‚ passion‚ virtue‚ and true grit earmark the American heartland. Anecdotes‚ generation-spanning farm families‚ and crop innovations speak volumes. They are all children of agriculture. Farming teaches faith in God‚ food cultivation‚ animal husbandry‚ the value of love‚ the richness of relationships‚ and the growth of character. Farming offers time for reflection—an Aristotelian balance between nourishing and strengthening the physical body and deepening and improving our souls. From my earliest days‚ the farm was my classroom and nature was my teacher. I learned to treasure my parents‚ a work ethic‚ discipline‚ and sacrifice. A diminishing number of Americans are denied that chance today. Engaging in routine daily farm tasks and providing care for the animals instilled accountability and highlighted the precariousness of life‚ illustrating how it can be either abruptly lost or extinguished over time. It further imparted the importance of nurturing your fate and the necessity of diligence and industry to accomplish your goals. I have never forgotten. The farm also cultivates family togetherness‚ i.e.‚ if we do not all hang together‚ we will all hang separately. My family of 10 has no bad blood. We have been intimate our entire lives‚ and that intimacy grows by the day. Our devotion to God and the lessons we imbibed on the farm unite us. It was under the vast‚ blue vault of heaven that I felt most connected to nature and in harmony with my family. It was an awesome spiritual experience and celebration of family. Numerous references in the Bible establish a nexus between farming and God‚ thereby illustrating the interdependence of the nature of earth and spiritual development. Within the Book of Genesis‚ God positions man in the Garden of Eden with the instruction to tend to and maintain it (Genesis 2:15). Since creation‚ humanity has been saddled with a responsibility to cultivate and maintain the land. 2 Corinthians 9:6 emphasizes the principle that you reap what you sow: “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly‚ and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” This verse speaks to the law of harvest‚ a concept as true in the spiritual realm as it is in the physical world of farming‚ where the investment of effort‚ care‚ and resources dictates the yield. Farming imparts ethics and patience. It has been a privilege to have lived with the knowledge and skills I gained on the farm. It has made me a diligent professional and prosperous entrepreneur who knows how to innovate to overcome complex challenges. After learning how to manage a farm‚ everything else is as easy as pushing water downhill. Daily labor consists of harvesting crops‚ caring for livestock‚ and waking up before the break of dawn. It means working in sweltering heat with no shower breaks. Nothing else compares. Farm work puts life into proper perspective. All troubles are provisionally set aside. You derive solace from the woes of the world and discover tranquility‚ calm‚ and the answers that have long been hidden. When you listen to the farm noises—the cows mooing‚ the dogs barking‚ the cats meowing—epiphanies come. The United States is forgetting the value of agriculture in all its moods and tenses. Processed food diminishes health. Farmland is gobbled up by the Chinese government. The number of American farmers is plunging. America is losing its signature identity. To quote John Donne‚ “No man is an island‚ entire of itself.” Our deliverance is in unity—E pluribus unum. Agriculture teaches the hard truth of necessary interdependence and collaboration with the elements and with others. But division has become America’s watchword at our peril. Turning back to acclaiming agriculture is a necessary first step to alleviating our alarming divisiveness. COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation. The post A Story of the Soil and the Soul appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Women's basketball has burst into the national spotlight‚ thanks to star players such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Both were drafted in the first round of Monday's 2024 WNBA draft‚ and are some of the most exciting prospects the league has seen in its history. But instead of celebrating...

Leftists have developed an uncanny ability to twist words until all their meaning is wrung out. For example‚ they throw around the word &;quot;tolerance&;quot; in the hopes of convincing unsuspecting souls that it is synonymous with mercy. It's not. Mercy does not tolerate sin. In the process‚ Democrats have made...

At some point in the last five years‚ we stopped merely studying history's darkest moments and began experiencing them. For instance‚ in an 11-second viral clip posted Wednesday to the social media platform X‚ a woman identified as Loyola Marymount University graduate student Grace Obi-Azuike effectively re-enacted a scene from...

The contrast between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump continues to be obvious in the lead-up to their showdown in the November election. While Biden is received in public by relatively small and unenthused crowds‚ Trump is met with chanting‚ applause and crowds literally being held back behind...

It is beginning to look like President Trump cannot get a fair trial in New York City (or anywhere‚ for that matter). We’re now up to 2 seated jurors in 24 hours that have been dismissed from the current so-called “Hush Money” case. It’s important to note these are “seated” jurors‚ meaning they were selected and placed on the jury after voir dire only to then be removed.  Which is fairly unusual. Prior to beating seated‚ 48 other prospective jurors have already been dismissed due to their admission they could not be impartial. Here is a quick summary: In the ongoing Trump NYC trial‚ two jurors have been dismissed. The first juror was removed after expressing doubt about her ability to be fair and impartial‚ while concerns arose that some of the answers given by the second New Yorker chosen for the panel may not have been accurate‚ leading to the dismissal of the second juror. As a result‚ only five of the original seven jurors remain seated. The trial requires thirteen jurors before it can proceed. Additionally‚ 48 prospective jurors have been let go because they stated they could not be fair and impartial‚ and nine more were excused for other reasons‚ leaving 39 prospective jurors remaining. These details have been sourced from a combination of external sources‚ including tweets and web snippets‚ as of the latest updates available. The first juror was dismissed after she came clean and admitted she could not be fair and impartial: BREAKING: Trump juror sworn in by Judge Merchon comes clean and admits she will **NOT** be fair and impartial. pic.twitter.com/PCiIpkWNoT — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 18‚ 2024 Wow. Credit for admitting it I guess&;#63; Even if you initially did not&;#63; How many others lied at the early stages and haven’t come clean yet&;#63;  Or will they ever&;#63; The second dismissed juror is even worse: A juror seated in Trump’s trial was just dismissed after it was found out he was arrested for engaging in POLITICAL VANDALISM against the right He lied under oath in order to “get Trump” RIGGED TRIAL pic.twitter.com/AycLYgQTrC — johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) April 18‚ 2024 CBS News has more details: Two people who had been selected to serve on the jury in former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York were excused on Thursday‚ including one woman who expressed concerns about being identified publicly and her ability to remain impartial. The number of seated jurors now stands at five on the third day of proceedings. Juror #2‚ a young woman who was chosen to serve on Tuesday‚ said she “definitely has concerns now” about serving after friends and family asked her if she was a juror‚ based on media reports. “Aspects of my identity have already been out there in public. Yesterday alone‚ I had friends and family push things to me‚” she told the court on Thursday. “I don’t think at this point that I can be fair and unbiased.” The judge‚ Juan Merchan‚ immediately reprimanded the press for reporting what he said was too much information about the jurors. He ordered that questions about potential jurors’ employers would be redacted from the court record moving forward‚ and directed reporters not to mention jurors’ physical appearance. Prosecutors also raised concerns about Juror #4‚ saying they discovered information about someone sharing the person’s name who was arrested and potentially involved in a corruption investigation in the 1990s. The man arrived late to court and was briefly questioned by attorneys in front of the judge‚ out of earshot from the court’s microphones. Merchan ultimately decided to dismiss the man. We will continue to monitor this story and bring you updates as they become available.