There is another drought in southern Ukraine. And it may be even worse than last year.
A significant portion of the sunflower and corn harvest has already been lost due to lack of moisture.
The ground is cracking under their feet – not only literally, but also in the souls of the farmers.
And then I came across a post with a speech by Anthony Hopkins, an 87-year-old actor who addresses the young, desperate:
“I read, I don’t remember where, either in the Old Testament or by Castaneda, about a shaman.
There was a terrible drought – cattle were dying, people were dying.
And the shaman said: “Make ditches. Dig ditches for the rain.“
– ”But there is no rain!“
– ”Dig the ditches – and the rain will come.”
And then he added:
“If you don’t believe, act as if you do. This is power. Absolute power.”
These words hit me right in the heart.
I remembered a photo I took many years ago in our field in Crimea, during the same severe drought.
The photo shows my wife Galina. She is leaning down to the ground and showing a crack so deep that you can put your hand in it.
This is not just a picture. This is the truth of that summer.
We faced the same challenges then. But we did not break.
Because we farmers are always a bit of shamans. We “dug ditches”. We acted even when it did not rain. We sowed in dry soil.
We didn’t know if it would rain. But we believed.
So now I want to say to everyone who feels powerless:
Do not give up.
Leave a cover.
Sow when the time is right – even if the forecasts are not good.
Take care of the soil.
Prepare the field – not for loss, but for rebirth.
Dig ditches – not with a plow, but with faith. In your mind, in your heart, in your determination not to stop.
And one day, the sky will answer.
And it will rain.
Not only from the sky, but from the depths.
Because revival always begins from within.