Heavy

Come to me, all you who labour & are heavy laden, & I will give you rest.

St Matthew 11:28

So last night I was watching this 77 year old Japanese dude on TV climb his fruit trees to harvest fruit. This does not seem like a decent retirement plan. On the one hand, we could be thankful that God has given him the great health that enables him to perform these impressive feats. Credit to the man too for probably avoiding many excesses that kill younger folk. On the other, it does show just how desperate things are in rural Japan. This was a tiny island south of Honshu. The population ages, & the youth have mostly gone to Tokyo. Rural Japan is still deeply Shinto, more than the secularised urban centres, so I can't help but feel they have partly brought this upon themselves. With food security becoming an issue, even here in suburbia I watch as over the last 20 years fields disappear to become car parks or light industry. This is not sustainable in the long term. Do I need to state the obvious? If no one grows food we can't eat it.