Dear Friends,
I love the changing of the seasons, and there is something particularly special about the turning of summer into autumn. After what has been a remarkably hot summer for us all, the days are beginning to shorten, the evenings have a cooler feel, and the first signs of autumn are appearing all around us. The fields that have been golden with corn earlier in the summer are now being ploughed over; the hedgerows that were heavy with fruit are all being boiled up for jam or left for our wildlife to consume. Nature seems to be reminding us that there is a time for growing and a time for gathering in.
Across the Old Hills Malvern churches, we shall have one Harvest Service this year – it will take place at St Peter’s Church in Powick on 18th October at 11am. As we gather together, we will have the opportunity to give thanks for all that God has provided and for those whose hard work enables food to reach our tables.
I came across a lovely poem that praise should set to music and sung – I think it puts Harvest in context beautifully:
We sing the harvest of the fields, The harvest of the seas, The harvest of the mines and wells, God’s goodness gives all these.
I particularly like the breadth of those words. Harvest is not simply about the crops that are gathered from our fields. It is about recognising all the many gifts upon which our lives depend – the food we eat, the water we drink, the energy we use, the work of farmers and fishermen, those who produce and transport our food, and so many others whose efforts we may never see.
For our farmers, this year’s weather has brought its own particular challenges. The hot, dry summer may have made for glorious days and beautiful evenings, but the weather that we enjoy can bring very different circumstances for those working the land. Harvest is therefore also a time to remember the uncertainty and hard work that lie behind the food we so easily take for granted. When the harvest is safely gathered in, there is much for which to give thanks. But Harvest also asks us to look beyond ourselves. The final verse of the poem says:
May people who receive these gifts Accept our love as well.
Those words seem especially appropriate this year. Our Harvest offering will be given to the Malvern Hills Foodbank and Pickersleigh Community Larder: both help to provide practical support for people in our local communities who may be finding things difficult. As we give thanks for the abundance that we enjoy, we are reminded that God’s gifts are not simply for us to keep, but to share and that might include advice and guidance too to support those that are challenged in order that they may prosper too.
There is something deeply Christian about that movement from gratitude to generosity. We receive, we give thanks, and then we look for ways in which that we have received can become a blessing to someone else. That is one of the reasons why I love Harvest so much. It gives us a chance to stop and notice. To look at the food on our tables, the beauty of creation around us, the work of human hands and the goodness of God, and simply to say thank you.
And perhaps Harvest can encourage us to carry that spirit of gratitude into the rest of the year. We do not need to wait until October to notice God’s goodness. There are blessings to be found in the ordinary things of every day – a meal shared with friends, a warm home, a beautiful morning, a kind word, a helping hand. Gratitude changes the way we see the world, and generosity changes the lives of others.
So, as we gather at Powick on 18th October, may our Harvest celebration be a joyful opportunity to give thanks for the fruits of the earth, for those who work to provide them, and above all for the generous love of God. As we bring our Harvest gifts, may we remember those who will receive them, praying that our small offerings might be a practical expression of God’s love and our care for one another.
With grateful hearts we raise our voices in praise – and with generous hearts, may we share what we have received.
With every blessing, Rev Gary Crellin