"This is what the LORD says: "Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool.
What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?"
(Isaiah 66:1)
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While driving one day, I passed a worn-out farm. Deep gullies were cut
through the fields where dirt had been washed away by the rains. The creek
had been allowed to change its course in the bottom of the field and had cut
out a new channel, ruining the land in its way. Tall weeds and brambles were
taking more strength from the soil already so poor that grass would scarcely grow.
A Stranger's Opinion
. With me as I viewed the place was a friend from Switzerland, and as he
looked over the neglected farm, he exclaimed, "Oh, it is a crime! It is a
crime to treat good land like that!"
The more I think about it, the more sure I am that he used the exact word
to suit the case. It is a crime to wear out and ruin a farm, and the farmer
who does so is a thief stealing from posterity.
We are the heirs of the ages; but the estate is entailed, as large estates frequently are,
so that while we inherit the earth, the great round world which is God's footstool, we
have only the use of it while we live and must pass it on to those who come after us.
We hold the property in trust and have no right to injure it or to lessen its value.
To do so is dishonest, stealing from our heirs their inheritance.
The world is a beautiful estate of the human family passing down from generation
to generation, marked by each holder while in his possession according to his character.
Do you ever think how a bit of land shows the character of the owner? A dishonest greed
is shown by robbing the soil; the traits of a spendthrift are shown in wasting the resources
of the farm by destroying its woods and waters, while carelessness and laziness are
plainly seen in deep scars on the hillsides and washes in the lower fields.
It should be a matter of pride to keep our own farm, that little bit of the earth's surface
for which we are responsible, in good condition, passing it on to our successor better
than we found it. Trees should be growing where otherwise would be waste places,
with water protected as much as possible from the hot sun and drying winds,
with fields free from gullies and the soil fertile.
(1867-1957)
American writer
Author of the "Little House" book series
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"Heir Of The Ages"
(November 1923 )
By Laura Ingalls Wilder
From the book, "Little House In The Ozarks"
A Laura Ingalls Wilder Sampler
The Rediscovered Writings
By Laura Ingalls Wilder
Edited by Stephen W. Hines
c.1991 Guideposts Edition
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