Before long, many young people in Aroostook County will rise before dawn, put on their boots and jackets, and set out for a long day’s work in the potato field. As they ride through the darkness of the pre-dawn hours, many will doze off again, only to be awakened by an occasional loud bump or a puff of frosty air against their cheeks. Soon after the sun rises, they begin their work, scrambling up and down row after row of potatoes, until their jeans and gloves are caked with mud, and the September sun, shining down from the clear blue Maine sky, invites them to take off the sweaters they donned to protect them from the cold.  

The long rainy days we had this spring, and which we thought would never end, have at long last produced a fair harvest of crops in Maine. Hard work and adversity are like days of endless rain, which often seem bitter and unendurable. Yet we persist; and in the end, we gain comfort from knowing that it is the common lot of all men to toil for their existence, and to struggle against adversity. We Christians have the added advantage of knowing that “All things work together for the glory of those that love God.” All things of course includes suffering, adversity, and hard labor.  The writer of those words knew that if we bear all patiently, with a grateful heart, the load we are called on to bear becomes much lighter; and if we have the faith to endure, we will certainly reap good fruit in due season.