Our readings for today describe two ideal places. Eden and that our misdemeanour had us thrown out and excluded from the tree of life. And heaven and there is the tree of life, and the invitation to Come… Come to the living water. In between is the journey of humanity - For women pangs in childbirth and submission to the husband and the man toil to survive as the land produces thorn and thistles. Life, which should have and could have been easy is now hard because the man and the woman crossed the line.

We need not believe the literal truth of the Adam and Eve story to gain insight from it. The world that we inhabit is a poor imitation of what we should have - heaven however you define it is a better place and God's Word points us to the possibility of something better. Note that the idea of heaven changed from that of a garden to that of a city as the writers were urbanised, but the principle is the same - things have to be better than this.

Perhaps this is the universal quest, the driving force behind humanity the creation of something better. At many times in history a utopia has been promised only to fail because there is an inherent weakness in the humanity trying to establish it. There is a problem because we are to find ourselves facing the same temptations that the woman saw in the tree: something that is good for food, a delight to the eye, or giving the power of God. This was the undoing of Adam and Eve and indeed our own vulnerability. We come unstuck when seek to satisfy the carnal desire, or the aesthetic desire, or the desire to rule and control. It is this recognition of weakness - our propensity to act independently from God - that is starting point of the Christian Faith journey. Our recognition that we are not independent but rather dependent on God.

This is in fact the purpose of this celebration -It is not as in the Pagan fertility rites making sacrifice to any angry God to ensure an abundant harvest, but inviting a loving God into partnership as we work together to produce the harvest. It is easy for us to forget that there is this partnership, particularly when we feel that God is very much the silent partner at the end of a hard day, or when the tractor has bogged for the tenth time and it is getting dark. Nevertheless we need to stop and remind ourselves that the blessing of God is also required for our venture to succeed.

Genesis reminds us that man and woman are made in the image of God. Now as a small child, it was easy to thing that it meant that God look like us, but the meaning is deeper than that. One of the things that being part of a family teaches us is that we are often made in the image of our parents. I remember when we were in college and we set out on a trip, and not wishing to stop and pay for food, we packed a thermos etc.. When we stopped along the road, poured our cup of tea and enjoyed the food we had packed, we had the sudden realisation that we had turned into our parents. To be in God's image means we, like him are endowed with creative power and the ability to love. This image is marred, but not obliterated.

It is natural that we would endeavour to create this utopia, this better place. Humanity has this drive to create, master and control our own destiny. It is easy for us to begin to feel that we are in control. Farming - agriculture are now more science and engineering than faith, We work the land to patterns and practices devised by experts, Till now - plant now - spray now - harvest now. But have we allowed God to be usurped? Are we really vulnerable - at risk?

One of the greatest breakthroughs that we have is the ability to manipulate organisms at the genetic level. This is nothing new. Variation in genetic material has been the engine for progress and evolution. I remember hearing the first move from hunter/gatherer to farmer was the result in the evolution of modern wheat. This new technology gives a different speed to it, but this does not change the actual process. I think a swimmer with size 18 feet is genetically modified, but the nation sees him a hero. GMO is a huge leap forward for humanity.

I need to say at this point, that I believe that technology is ethically neutral but it is either good or evil by the way it is used. I do not object to GM food, but I am suspicious as to how it will be implemented. Having talked with farmers, I understand the immense benefits that these advances can give - perhaps the productivity gains in equivalence with computerisation in industry and commerce but there are danger signs that we must be aware of and concerned with. The bishop of Brazil made the following comment - "When I feed the poor, they call me a saint, but when I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist."

We live in a society that is shaped by market forces, but is it really? Rob Dowling pointed out that the potato contract of $200 per tonne would be sold in McDonalds for $3,000 per tonne and this by children on significantly reduced wages. One processors is seeking a reduction of 15% in the farm gate price or will go elsewhere. Or milk 20c a litre at the farm gate is $1.35 in the shops and now this is to be reduced, but who will bear the brunt? I understand that Bass Strait is an expensive stretch of water, and that goods should cost more here, but no one can explain to me why frozen peas are cheaper in Melbourne, even when they are grown and processed here. That is unless you are to account for greed.

My fear of GMO's is nothing to do with the science, but rather the economics. Globilisation is not designed to benefit consumer or producer but the processor in the middle. Our push into GMO's must be cautious not because of the dangers of genetic modification, but rather the opportunity that this gives to others to control our future.

As Anglicans we are called to tackle the unjust structures of society. Perhaps the most unjust is the economic structures of our nation and the power that a few have to control the destiny of many. Perhaps I am sensitive because of what I know of the possibilities for unscrupulous action.

It is easy for us to criticise the poor African nations like Ghana for economic mismanagement, but the real story is quite different. The economy of the nation was built on the Cocoa industry. Valuable food producing land was converted to plantations by the British, which did not really matter as the value of this crop meant that the nation was able to import food as required. When the nation became independent, the British who controlled the Cocoa market in London quartered the price paid and froze the assets of nation in British Banks and bound them in court for a large number of years. Money for valuable infrastructure and the income to buy food was suddenly not there and the nation became poor.

All attempts to build a heaven on earth will fail for the need is to tackle the failing of humanity - the problem of sin. GMO or any other advance will only be beneficial if it changes the lives of the world, not just the wealth of the rich. As a rural community, we may not be able to have the power to do much, but as Christians we must be conscious of the injustices and strive to change them.

In our last reading Jesus indicated that the kingdom would grow perhaps in a way that we do not understand, but it would grow into the harvest. It is not something that can be constructed. In imagery of this season, we are called to prepare the ground for the seed of the word to come and bring forth an abundant harvest. In our sowing and our reaping let us not forget our calling as God's people. To work in partnership with God in both the field and in the mission field of the hearts that do not know him.