Preview

Timothy Egan piqued my interest a couple of years ago when he wrote the National Book Award Winner, “The Worst Hard Time.”  It’s a book about how the American government recruited settlers to claim their 320 acres on the Great Plains in the early 1900’s. 

The government wrote and circulated a brochure that explained the new concept and success of “dry farming.” The “nesters” came in droves, and with the new invention of the tractor, plowed up millions of acres.  

Severe droughts hit and as the “wind came sweeping or’e the plain,” dust that originated in the panhandle of Oklahoma ended up on ships in the Atlantic Ocean 300 miles off the east coast!  More dirt was removed from the great plains on “Black Sunday” April 14, 1935 than was dug to create the Panama Canal.  The canal took 7 years to dig, the dust storm lasted one afternoon and hoisted 300,000 tons of topsoil into the air. 

Twelve million tons of dirt fell in Chicago.  

Cattle went blind and suffocated and when farmers cut them open they found their lungs and stomachs filled with dirt.  

Children died of dust pneumonia.  

It has been labeled the United States of America’s worst prolonged environmental disaster of history.  

All because of a brochure!  Words on paper.  Ideas that had never been tested.

Be careful who you listen to, their words may have tremendous consequences.

As we continue in our series, 

“The Journey: what’s your next destination.”  Paul has some crucial words of advice for the inhabitants of the church of Jesus Christ: Eliminate Divisions.  The importance of healthy and harmonious relationships is vital.  Building relationships with time tested spiritual principles from the pages of the New Testament is crucial.  It can be the difference between a relationship living or dying.