"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness" Autumn has always been my favourite season; laden hedgerows, leaves beginning to turn – russet reds, flame orange and yellow, stubble fields bathed in low sun and huge harvest moons. The harvest of my garden has been later than usual. It is late September and I have just gathered the largest number of ripe tomatoes this year. The internet is still down after last night’s thunder and lightning and I am enjoying some blissful peace, undisturbed by the bleep of incoming mail!
I wonder what Harvest means for you? As we celebrate this ancient festival in all the churches of our rural Benefice, I am always pleased to see farmers among the congregation. It reminds us of their long hours of daily labour to keep food on our supermarket shelves, although the link is so much less obvious to the average shopper at the till (or behind their computer screen). Farmers still battle with the vagaries of the weather and despite all our scientific advances – nature and the Creator have a major part to play.
Very early in the Bible we find the story of Noah and the great flood, after which God established a covenant with humanity that he would never again cover the surface of the earth with water:
“As long as the earth endures,seedtime and harvest,cold and heat,summer and winter,day and nightwill never cease.” (Genesis 8 v.22)
As a reminder of this promise – he placed the rainbow in the sky – a sign of promise and hope which was adopted in the recent COVID Pandemic. Natural disasters; floods and famines, plagues and pandemics are a feature of human existence around the globe, but they do not have the last word. Creation and humanity, working together, have an amazing capacity for restoration, life and growth. For people of faith, this is a sign of God’s blessing and generosity. Harvest is an opportunity to give thanks and to be generous, sharing our surplus with those who have little or have lost their harvest. Last year we remembered those suffering poverty abroad, giving to Tearfund. This year our harvest collections will be donated locally to the Foodbank and to Shropshire Rural Support. As Jesus taught in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, our neighbour is anyone we encounter in need of help on the road of life.
I pray that whether you are able to join us to celebrate harvest or not, you are able to feel thankful and practice generosity this Harvest time.
Rev Becky
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