Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life
By Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist
From the Second Degree
During our Degree Day, someone commented that they wished more people could hear the words from the Degree Work. We continue to share them.
“…constantly study the book of Nature.” [Lecturer to the candidates]
These six words are perhaps a concise summary of the lessons learned in the Ritual of the Degrees. The book of nature doesn’t just have value to farmers–that is one reason the ritual remains and the Grange Way of Life still has application. While we think of a book as a set of printed pages those pages represent knowledge. In today’s society, that knowledge is distributed in various forms. Ultimately, a “book” is vehicle for conveying information.
The founders of the Grange saw nature as a book, a vehicle for conveying information. Almost all the “the Ritual” encourages us to learn the many lessons Nature offers. Immediately after encouraging the candidates to “study the book of Nature,” the lecturer explains “Learn from it the truths which may remind us of the immense greatness of God, and our own littleness—of His blessings, and the obligations they impose upon us.” This is one of many places during the Ritual of the Degrees I often long for a pause so we can fully digest the thought. It is unfortunate that candidates are whisked away to the chaplain. But the chaplain makes a gallant attempt to keep the candidates focused by immediately referencing the book of nature. “…the springing seed teaches us to increase in goodness and the growing trees to aspire after higher and broader knowledge.”
From a writer’s perspective, those are two powerful metaphors. Many have heard the two questions sometimes asked that draw on that metaphor. “How many seeds are there in an apple?” illustrates that counting them isn’t too difficult. The second question suggests a much bigger challenge. “How many apples are there in a seed?” If we work these thoughts into the Ritual, the springing seed teaches us to increase in goodness and just as one apple seed may produce endless trees and countless apples, the increase in goodness is likewise unlimited. (Thus sayeth the book of Nature.)
Of the husbandman (we are, of course, Patrons of Husbandry), the chaplain explains, “In no other occupation does a man’s daily labor bring him into such close companionship with the Great Creator as in the cultivation of the soil.” But before you object that you are not a farmer, let’s remember that we are dealing with symbols, metaphors, and the book of Nature. If you’re struggling with that, get a cup of potting soil and plant a seed in it. It’s a simple but powerful way to learn about growth.
I have “edited” the actual Ritual and left out a lot. In practice, we might breeze through these two lessons in five to ten minutes or less. You could rightfully feel cheated because beneath the words there are serious, ponderable concepts and lessons. We’ve only scratched the surface. In spite of that, let’s fast forward to a few minutes later when the master uses the visual aid of a few kernels of corn.
“We are now to teach you how to plant the seed. Behold these inanimate kernels of corn! But the germ has life—the future plant is there. We loosen the soil—we bury (plant) the seed; and in so doing impress upon our minds the truth of the immortality of the soul. There is no object in which, to appearance, life and death border so closely together as in the grains of seed buried in the earth; but when life seems extinct, a fuller and richer existence begins anew. From this little seed we have, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. So with the mind, when duly nourished with Faith and Hope. But be not deceived! Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
It might help if you are, but I don’t think you have to be a farmer to “get” this. The book of Nature is for everyone! It’s not particularly catchy, but we could offer the slogan, “We’re Grangers; we learn from the book of Nature.”
I could challenge lecturers to develop a presentation about “learning from the book of Nature.” Much of the script has already been written. You learned it during the Ritual of the Degrees, right?
Any degree or ritual quotations are from the forty-seventh edition of the 2023 Subordinate Grange Manual or the most recent edition of the Pomona Grange Manual. The views and opinions expressed in “Exploring Traditions” are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official doctrine and policy of the Grange. Information about the book “Exploring Traditions—Celebrating the Grange Way of Life” can be found at http://wboomsma.com, on Mr. Boomsma’s Amazon Author Page, or by contacting the author.
