Seeds for Tomorrow

Two years ago, on a remote Norwegian island in the Arctic Ocean, a massive underground seed bank opened. The Svalbard Seed Vault serves as a repository of more than 500,000 seeds representing nearly 1/3 of the world's food crops. The bank consists of three secure rooms at the end of the 427-foot tunnel blasted out of the frozen mountain. The seeds are sealed in four-ply foil pouches, and then stored in marked boxes. It’s been called a “Noah’s ark” for plant genetics. At four degrees below zero, it will preserve the thousands of regional and local crop varieties farmers worldwide have bred for thousands of years. The seeds may be viable for 1,000 years. It also preserves "pure strains" of crops before they are naturally or chemically altered. One day, in the event of a Doomsday, the seeds could potentially regenerate our current crops, feeding future world citizens. What am I planting? This bank got me thinking. What kind of seeds am I hiding away for the future? As I store them away -- in my children, in my home, in my workplace -- they will one day germinate. Will they be seeds of righteousness, or seeds of sin? Will they be seeds of hope, or seeds of doubt? A daily reality check reminds me that what I say has meaning and what I do has impact -- often far beyond the present. It’s a scary thought that my words and deeds can play out into the future. I remember having a conversation with a woman who used to work for me. She had recently undergone a tremendous personal and spiritual transformation. She confided that during her darkest days I was "the only Christian she knew," and that I "was a decent man." She saw an example of a life that could be lived above her own darkness and she wanted that same kind of freedom. I'm also reminded of the lives I've impacted for bad because of my stubbornness, my pride and my forceful ways. And then there are seeds planted in my own life. How many of my present troubles are simply harvests of seeds sown years ago, natural consequences of my past? I suspect I’m not alone. There are many, many others who are motivated and ready to join this cooperative, this collective effort for the glory of the Great International Harvester. Photo, by NikonSnapper. Used with permission. Post by David Rupert.