Open to the Spirit
Today’s word: Harvest
1) As the leaves begin to turn and the night air gets decidedly cool, our thoughts turn to harvest time and thanksgiving. Thanks for the harvest is a custom that crosses the language, ethnic and cultural boundaries that humans often erect.
In an age of divisive politics, the harvest and thanksgiving might well be one of the very few topics we can all agree on. Although we often take for granted our food, stopping to give thanks for all the bounty that the earth produces is a wonderful practice. These days when I visit the farmer’s market, the spectacular displays of the earth’s abundance greet me and I am filled with gratitude. Whatever worries I have seem to fade away, at least for those few brief moments.
Not the least of the concerns of many are the environmental problems we face today. For many of us it seems overwhelming and discouraging. Let us then take this season of the harvest to allow Mother Nature to recharge our batteries. Take a walk in nature. Visit a farmer’s market. Bring in the harvest from your own garden. Then give thanks. Allow yourself to marvel in the abundance that the earth brings forth every year. What a gift it is to be alive at this time. Then make one small gesture to share your gratitude with others.
It may be sharing something homemade or fresh from the garden. It may be inviting a stranger to share a meal. It may be joining a choir to sing your heart out. When we start from a place of gratitude for the harvest, we can change the world, one mouthful at a time.
2) When I find the word “Harvest” in the Hebrew Scriptures the word “Thanksgiving” comes to mind. The people of Israel were told by the prophets that after the first harvest in the promised land, they should offer thanksgiving. This was a celebration, and a similar festival can be found in most world religions. All the hard work of farming has been rewarded, and gratitude fills every heart.
Many years ago I spent a summer doing student ministry in Saskatchewan. This was part ranch country but also a large wheat farming area. I grew up on a farm, so I helped when I could. (I remember holding the back legs of calves during branding). However, one thing was quite different from our small farm in rural Quebec. In Saskatchewan there was always extreme anxiety about the weather; too dry, too wet, some danger of hailstorms. Farmers depended on the climate for their livelihood, (and still do to this day). This meant that people were hesitant to spend money until there was some guarantee of a good harvest, usually mid-august. I remember one Sunday when many church members arrived for morning worship in brand new pickups. Within a week most of the rest of the congregation also sported new vehicles. Worries were over, the harvest was going to be a good one, so it was time to relax, be thankful, and spend some money.
I imagine that in many developing countries around the world where people depend on crops, the anxiety, and then gratitude is the same. Most of us have moved away from such a strong dependence on the land. We don't have to wait till harvest time to relax. In any case, our gratitude for life's blessings should always be strong. Let's celebrate the harvest.
3) I am often reminded as I read through the Bible how much all of the stories are based around an agricultural life and outlook. Biblical folk were deeply connected with nature, with the cycles of the earth, and more often than not with the farmer’s field. It is there in the life giving soil, in the interplay between seed, water and light, that some of the deepest spiritual teachings can be found.
It is in the farmer’s field that the Bible gives us a wonderful reminder that no matter how hard we have worked on something, no matter how long we have spent and how much our own energy and resources have been given, the final outcome is never truly all for ourselves. The well-known commandment in the book of Leviticus tells us very clearly that when we “reap” the harvest of our fields, we should leave a corner for the poor. On the surface, this is a simple and straightforward commandment, but it has a life-changing message that is far more than a gardening suggestion.
In that moment when we stand proud of all of our hard work, when we are ready to revel in our success and use the product of our harvests, it is also in this moment when we need to be most deeply humbled. No matter how hard we worked, and regardless of our personal commitment to a task, there are also those to whom we can offer a taste of our joy, a hint of our sense of completion. We cannot survive without the help and support of others, and especially when the time comes to celebrate our successes, that is the time when we need to give back.
In the midst of the harvests of work and life that we accomplish every day, we always need to leave some hope, some healing and some substance for others.
4) Fall is my favourite season. Within weeks the green landscape transforms itself with glorious flaming colours of gold, rust, red, and orange. Last Friday we saw the Harvest Moon, and tomorrow is the Autumn Equinox. Each year the cycle continues, the end of the growing season sees us gathering in fruits of the fields, visiting orchards and open-air markets for local produce. Soon we will celebrate with gratitude the abundance of the harvest and feast with family and friends.
But this season I am thinking of the social justice we work so hard to bring to fruition. All our collective efforts to reclaim democracy, eliminate bigotry and oppression, preserve human rights, and transform our world to one that promises a sustainable environment for today's youth and coming generations. Sometimes if feels so futile and we get discouraged, wondering if the seeds we have sown will flourish. Often it seems they've fallen on less than fertile ground. Still we keep planting, knowing that so much of the good we scatter will grow and ripen in a time or place beyond our knowing. And for gratitude - I am thankful for all workers in the fields who sow and gather in the soul's harvest.
The Equinox is about balance. Let us learn from our cosmic context to balance work with rest, consumption with conservation, passion with serenity, discouragement with hope and vision. In the words of Galatians 6:9: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." As I ponder those words this season, I pray that the "we" who will reap the harvest may well be humankind as a whole. For we plant and cultivate not just for ourselves, but to feed the future of our kind.
Let us imagine that bountiful feast where all will be fed. Blessed harvest to us all!
One word, four voices - now it's your turn to ask: What are you harvesting, and for what are you grateful this bountiful season?
Rev. Mead Baldwin pastors the Waterville & North Hatley pastoral charge; Rabbi Boris Dolin leads the Dorshei-emet community in Montreal; Rev. Lee Ann Hogle ministers to the Ayer's Cliff, Magog & Georgeville United Churches; Rev. Carole Martignacco, Unitarian Universalist is retired from ministry with Uuestrie and now resides in St. Andrews bythe-sea NB, but keeps one foot in the Townships by continuing with this column.