Keep Growing

Standing in my grandfather David Kramer's wheat field, 1983


I came across the book Rationality by Steven Pinker. If you need a dose of hope for the future, this could help. Especially now. He shares how the next hundred years could be brighter than we imagine because of how far we’ve come.

 

Yes, a hundred years can bring about good things—my grandfather, David Kramer, showed me this. He was the child of emigrants who had fled atrocities in Russia. (Sound familiar?)


Escaping with a few personal belongings, along with the determination for a better life, they settled in Eastern Washington. A homestead grant gave them acreage to plant their specialty crop—wheat. 

 


When my grandpa was just four years old his father died of diphtheria. David had already lost an older brother to smallpox. Then his younger brother contracted polio. His older sister was bedridden with epilepsy. 


They were still over a half-century from the tremendous medical advancements I’d benefit from.


At thirteen, David quit school and farmed the family’s acreage. Old pictures reveal how incredibly labor intensive it was. As farming techniques improved, he planted additional acreage. 


Advancements led to higher yields through crop rotations, along with new technologies in planting and harvesting. 



David became part of the 1960’s Green Revolution that Pinker talks about in his book—growers increased their yields to help supply a growing world, as well as sending grain to severely impoverished regions desperate for food. 


Indeed, farmers have been credited with saving 2.7 billion lives. Quite an accomplishment.


 

The only certainty we have in our world is the certainty of change. 


David lived through a global pandemic, the aftermath of two world wars, the Great Depression, and he watched as my newlywed father left to serve overseas in the aftermath of the Korean War. Hard things can also lead to incredible innovations. 


My grandfather benefited from many of them over his lifetime— medical advancements, agriculture equipment development, and the technology that reshaped his world while helping him help others. 


While the headlines can be grim, we have even newer capabilities enabling us to accomplish good changes and keep growing. 



Knowing how vulnerable the Ukrainians are against Russian forces, it’s easy to lose hope for the Ukrainians and for our world. But we have been a nation that thrives in challenges, and helping those in crisis. 


Our children and grandchildren deserve our strength and courage. And they also need our faith in what we hope for and cannot yet see. Keep growing.


“Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1










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