When we think of the vast swathes of wheat and wonderful sunny days, we tend not to think of cold damp Britain, but of the Great Plains of North America. These extend for more than 1,500 miles from Canada to Texas and the lifeblood of this whole region is wheat. Both spring and winter wheat is grown and this area is always seen as the agricultural heartland of the American nation.

There was once a farmer who lived in the mid west state of Kansas, who was very rich and successful and proud of the quality of the wheat that was grown on his land. He had good reason to be proud, as every year he entered a competition at the Annual State Fair and always won first prize. One year, after the competition, a reporter asked him how he always managed to win first prize. The farmer said, “It’s because I always share my best seed corn with my neighbours.” “But how can you afford to do that each year?” asked the reporter. “Well,” said the farmer, “The wind picks up the pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it up from field to field. If all my neighbours had inferior corn, then cross pollination would steadily ruin the quality of my corn. So you see, in order to grow quality wheat and keep winning competitions, I have to help my neighbours to increase the quality of theirs also.

The moral of this little story is surely, in order to live well ourselves, we must help others to live well also. In order to stay happy, we must help others find happiness in their lives.