“May the earth yield its produce.” (67:7)

Earlier in my life I loved planting gardens. I was fascinated by sprouting things and amazed at the tiny seeds which produce tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. Sometimes I was disappointed when I planted a seed and saw nothing grow but weeds, as in the oath Job took on the land, “If my land cries out against me, or … if I ate its yield without paying, … instead of wheat let thistles grow, instead of barley, weeds.” (Job 38:40) Most of the time, however, the earth gladly yielded what I sowed, and for that, I was thankful.