Knightly News

Towards the end of last year and the beginning of summer, a trend went around social media where people would perform a dance from the “Let it Grow” scene of The Lorax.

This song and performance is the climax of the movie. The people of Thneedville went from living in a beautiful, lush oasis to living in a toxic wasteland where their food is synthetic, they have to purchase clean air, and their children have severe birth defects. In the “Let it Grow” scene, they decide that they want to plant trees and revive nature to heal the future of Thneedville.

One particular lyric of the song stuck out to me: “You can’t reap what you don’t sow.” I thought this line felt very familiar, and after a quick Google search, I realized why. Paul the Apostle said the same thing to the people in Galatia in 48 AD.

Now when Paul explained this to the Galatians, he meant it very literally. First century agriculture consisted of laborious planting seasons, working hard to ensure the health of crops and livestock throughout the year, and harvesting and storing the food in order to sustain entire societies. If they wanted to eat, they had to decide early on that they were going to plant those seeds and maintain them. They couldn’t expect to have food in the winter if they never did anything to prepare that result.

He explained to them that similarly to how they were in complete control over their winter food stores, they could also decide who they wanted to be and what they wanted to achieve.

Any senior right now can tell you that if you know you want to go to a particular college or university, you aren’t going to wait until your senior year to work hard in school and get involved. As soon as your freshman year, you’ll join clubs, compete on teams, and you’ll take challenging classes in order to become a well-rounded student that colleges want on their campuses. By achieving the end goal of becoming this person in three short years, you’ll learn empathy through building a house with Habitat for Humanity and unpacking food at the Food Bank. You’ll learn how to healthily challenge yourself and ask for help when you need it by taking difficult classes. You’ll learn what it means to be part of something bigger than yourself and build your work ethic from running cross country. While none of these values were  your end goal, they came with the work you did to achieve it.

Paul tells the Galatians that whether or not they know it, they’re always reaping and sowing. Who they were depended on every choice they had made leading up to that point. That by always choosing themselves and temporary satisfaction, they were setting themselves up to be hateful and bitter people down the road. He told them that in order for them to become more like Christ, they had to choose that path every day. By working towards that goal and watering those seeds every day, they would grow the fruits of the Spirit along the way. They would unintentionally become more selfless, more compassionate, more loving, etc.

I challenge you to look inward. What do you see? Chances are, you see a lot that you like and a lot you wish you could do better. Each thing that makes you who you are in this moment is the result of the seeds you’ve sown. Right now is a fresh start. You get to choose who you want to be and what you want to achieve. You won’t become this person overnight, but you will see that change over time if you plant those seeds right now. It’s going to take time and dedication, but our futures are entirely up to us.

Ramsey Claire Greene is a senior who serves as Beta Club Co-President, National Honor Society Treasurer, a member of the State Board for Model United Nations, a member of Student Vestry, and tutors middle schoolers in the Academic Resource Center. She enjoys competing in Varsity Track & Field, Youth Legislature, Model United Nations, and Mu Alpha Theta, as well as leading the weekly Middle School and High School Bible Studies. Outside of school, she studies Spanish in Mexico and serves as a counselor at Camp Longhorn.

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