Sowing seeds for the world to grow together

If the pandemic has taught us anything, surely it has taught us that we can only be saved by our common humanity.

I t’s springtime here in New England, and I understand from a recent article in The Day, with the social distancing necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic, many are choosing to grow their own vegetables — tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, basil, etc. So, local hardware stores have said they have had record sales of seed packets. During this time in which we anticipate the end of the pandemic, now is the time to consider some other kinds of seeds to plant, seeds for a new a better future for our human family.

The Israeli journalist, Gideon Levy, recently wrote an article in Haaretz in which he offered a tribute to Denis Goldberg, a South African Jew who died on Israel’s Independence Day. Goldberg was a friend and ally of Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Govan Mbeke and was imprisoned for 22 years for his role in the struggle against apartheid.

While he died on Independence Day; he lived for interdependence. Throughout his life, Denis Goldberg sowed seeds of truth, integrity, human rights, justice, freedom and courage in the face of a brutal opposition — believing, as Gideon Levy has said, in “one state with equal rights for all.”

The example of Denis Goldberg reminds me of other “sowers” I have known. As a Christian minister, I’ve always found it suggestive that after the resurrection, the women who saw Jesus didn’t recognize him. They mistook him for “the gardener.” Perhaps Jesus can best be seen not among those with celestial garments made of gold thread, but among those who have their shirt sleeves rolled up, ready to go to work.

I think of Clarence Jordan, a white Southern Baptist minister and farmer who started Koinonia Farm in 1942 as a “demonstration plot” for our richly diverse human family. It was a place where whites and blacks lived together in community and shared equally the bounty of the land, planting thousands of pecans and other crops and standing together against the violence perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klan.

I think of another sower, Millard Fuller, who together with Jordan planted the seeds for what would grow to become Habitat for Humanity that would build millions of homes throughout the world, including here in southeastern Connecticut.

I think of my friend, the Rev. Cathy Zall, who upon visiting Koinonia Farm a number of years ago, was inspired to become a “sower” herself, helping to plant the seeds for what would become the New London Homeless Hospitality Center.

I think of a Palestinian farmer by the name of Daoud Nassar. He and his family live a few miles south of Bethlehem on a farm called “Tent of Nations.” To enter his farm, you pass by a large rock that says, “We Refuse to Be Enemies.” When nearby settlers came with guns and knives and tried to force him off the land, disarmingly, Daoud invited them to sit down for a cup of tea.

If the pandemic has taught us anything, surely it has taught us that we can only be saved by our common humanity. To survive and to have God’s beautiful Creation survive, we must overcome the militarism, greed, xenophobia, racism, sexism and nationalism that so divides our human family. Now is the time for planting seeds of interdependence, justice and human rights.

The poet T.S. Eliot observed, “Take no thought of the harvest but only of proper sowing.”

The Rev. David W. Good is minister emeritus of The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme.