It is quite likely that a church near you will be celebrating Harvest Thanksgiving sometime in late September or early October. Despite the all-year-round nature of harvest the traditional celebration is fixed following the end of the cereal harvest. Raspberries, potatoes, fish and fuel are all very well but the place of bread in the Christian tradition brings together the earthly and the heavenly. Bread for energy of body and soul.
In Framlingham, when we sang ‘ere the winter storms begin’ in 2023 we did not foresee the fury of the storm that would affect the lives of the people of our town as happened in mid-October. There was something final about the flooded buildings and fields, made worse by the following months of wetter weather than usual. Much has been written about the effect of winter 23-24 up and down the country.
As we look back now how are we to react? Do we withhold our praises this year or tone down our thanksgiving? Harvests have been smaller in 2024, and farmers and growers will feel the pinch, but it always has been necessary to look at crop performance based on rolling averages. Do that and things appear better; reflect on whether anyone in our community has gone hungry through famine (as opposed to poverty) and however churlish we may feel, we cannot but admit that ‘God, our maker, has provided for our wants to be supplied.’
A Prayer
As we thank you, Lord, for the food we eat and the homes we live in, we pray for those who are elsewhere in the world where famine is a daily reality. We thank you for the mutuality of caring that helped us weather the storms of winters past and think of those who face massive natural disasters that really are life changing.
Here in our country, all is safely gathered in, again, and we are thankful for it. Amen.