Gleaning
Sharing The Harvest
Leviticus 23:22
Our down the street neighbors had an extravagant tomato harvest this year. Their garden, planted in the front yard, couldn’t contain it, and it overflowed onto the sidewalk.
What, I wondered, will they ever do with all this abundance, which not only required taking a detour when walking, but looked as if it might interrupt traffic on the adjoining road.
I thought of the Leviticus command that farmers not harvest their entire crop, but leave the edges of the field for gleaning. That is, for those who don’t have fields of crops. They were welcome to come take what they need.
A few days later, as I walked by, the people had harvested the tomatoes, but rather than take them all for themselves, they put them into bowls on the fence for people to take as they walked by.
The symbolism as this cruel administration seeks to make political capital on the backs of hungry people losing their SNAP benefits, was unmistakable.
What would it be like to live under laws that required those of us who can afford more than we need, to share some of our abundance with those who have too little?
What impressed me about the biblical command is that it makes no judgment about those who came to glean. It makes no difference whether they suffer misfortune through no fault of their own, or simply fail to provide for their needs.
So long as there was need, it was incumbent on those with plenty, to set aside a portion of that plenty for those who needed it.
To make a big leap, from gleaning to the NYC mayor’s race being decided today, what to make of Zohran Mamdani, who is projected to be elected, being not only Muslim, but a Democratic Socialist?
No wonder he strikes fear into the hearts of establishment Democrats. Ever since FDR, they have been fending off accusations that their programs for sharing the wealth with everyone, makes them Socialists. The label was once associated wih Mussolini, and even with Russian Communism.
In fact, as the name makes clear, Socialism is about the commonwealth. As in The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The well-being of the commonweal.
If you believe we live in a zero sum world, divided between winners and losers, then of course, setting aside abundance for poor people, diminishes rich people. If you believe the health of our species, is best measured by how well the least among us are doing, then it is in all our interests to see to that.
If the second marks me as a Democratic Socialist, I own up to it.
I didn’t take any of those tomatoes because our two plants provided us with all we needed.
I dream of a world in which no one goes hungry. Or homeless.
There are opportuities all around us every day to share from our hearts, too!! We just have to pay attention .
Another terrific post, Blayney. Keep it up!