A recent conversation turned to Mennonite Action and its organizing for a cease-fire in Gaza. (You can read about it on page 18.) The question was raised, “What good does protesting even do?”

Now, there are many reasons one might ask this. We might be jaded from witnessing or experiencing injustice and seeing little progress. We might be exhausted from everyday life. Perhaps we already stood up to injustice and were pushed out of the way.

I think that since many of us come from a tradition of being the quiet in the land, we were not taught to show up in moments calling for demonstration or protest. 

This makes it even more significant that so many sisters and brothers have been mobilizing through the Mennonite Action network’s initiatives.

What good does it do? I’ve been thinking about a quote from Frederick Douglass.

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress,” he said in 1857. “Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation are men who want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the roar of its mighty waters.”

I’m particularly drawn to Douglass’ warning about expecting a crop without plowing the ground.

Many of us know what it is to work the ground so that it will produce bounty and beauty. Both only come with toil, sweat and getting our hands in the dirt.

It is hard and messy work. It isn’t for everyone. But those who do it know there isn’t much that compares to the satisfaction of partaking in a harvest after all the time and care we’ve given.

I’m proud that our sisters and brothers are plowing the ground — using their voices and their bodies to call for peace and a cease-fire in Gaza. Mennonite Action has rallied people to action in a way that our communities haven’t seen in quite some time.

As you read about Mennonite Action in this issue, I hope that you, too, might feel inspired to join in their work or to stand up for a cause you feel passionate about.

May the harvest come.