Heroes

I read a lot of biographies when I was in grade school. Two of my "heroes" were former slaves, who through hard work and education became great men.
Booker T. Washington was an educator, administrator, orator, and author. After college he was hired to head a new school, Tuskegee Institute (later University), leading it for the rest of his life.
George Washington Carver was a scientist, inventor, botanist, educator, and Christian. He discovered new uses and new products for crops grown in the South.
Today these men probably are not considered politically correct because they cooperated with supportive whites to help improve the lives of Blacks rather than be civil rights activists.
The reason I thought of these two men recently was because I ran across a quote from Carver in a farm magazine.

I believe that the great Creator has put ores and oil on this earth to give us a breathing spell. As we exhaust them, we must be prepared to fall back on our farms, which is God's true storehouse and can never be exhausted. We can learn to synthesize material for every human need from things that grow.

George Washington Carver

This seems to be coming true especially in energy production, with ethanol from corn, bio-diesel from soybeans, methane gas collected from manure, and windmills being built across the countryside. The future will indeed be interesting down on the farm!

And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,

Isaiah 14:3