When I was a boy at home, one of the pre-harvest rituals on the farm was that of ‘getting the combine ready’. In the late 1960s and early 1970s machines were very much smaller than those we see now and almost every farm had its own. Farm pest control was not so good in those days either so getting ready often included removing a bird’s nest from the top of the grain tank or the remains of mouse activity from the drum or sieves.
I am writing this on 12th April, one of the trigger dates for reducing COVID restrictions in the UK. The next important dates are in 5 and 10 weeks’ time respectively.
For Churches, businesses, public places and to some extent people themselves there is a need to get ready. It may be much harder than we think to emerge from the shed after a long winter; there will be all sorts of reasons why the bearings and flywheels of life creak a bit for a start.
I am ever an optimist. When harvest began there used to be a hush of expectation as the combine’s many parts started moving again after 11 months off, but within a short time everything was back in routine, the dust flew and next winter’s supply of barley for brewing, oats for porridge and wheat for baking started to flow again. From farms everywhere came the signs of a more certain winter ahead; people and animals would not starve.
We need to allow time for society’s wheels to begin to turn and not to be surprised if there is an occasional breakdown early on which requires an engineering fix. Trust in God though, those glitches will become fewer and further between and slowly life will return.
Harvest in 21st century Britain is very different from that of the post war era but it is still harvest. Perhaps one ay of preparing for life to return is to stop obsessing about change and ‘new normal’ (which is a dreadful phrase), and instead think about life and sunshine in the broadest sense.
A prayer
Lord, we live in daunting times. We have been shut away and it is not so very easy to rush out into the light again. We need to acclimatise but we need your help to give us optimism and vision for the future. As the Cross gave way to the empty tomb, and as Ascension gave way to Pentecost so help us to let go of the comfortable norms of the last year and reach forward into life and light again, guided and empowered by you as the time is right.
Amen