Be thankful

I was brought up in the countryside in Northern Ireland and my uncles were farmers. I have many memories of very happy days running about the fields with my siblings but also of helping to work in those fields. This time of year was such an important time when the crops were harvested and 60 years ago there was nowhere near the machinery that is available now. The potato harvest was particularly back-breaking but the shared picnic lunches were simple but so enjoyable. The Sunday Harvest Service was one of my favourites and I can still see the fantastic displays of harvest gifts. As a child I always tried to pick out something which I had brought. “We plough the fields and scatter” was always one of the hymns which we sang.

I’ve just read the following by Iris Hesselden which is so suitable for this time of year:

“We thank you for the harvest, Lord,

The gifts that you bestow:

The springtime sun and summer rain

That help the plants to grow.

We thank you for the fruit and grain

For all of us to share;

Now help us reach out far and wide

And show the world we care.

We thank you for the beauty, Lord,

This special season brings,

And for the bounty and the joy

That help our hopes take wings.

So many blessings all around,

Remind us every day,

And let the harvest touch our lives

And light our future way.”

Heavenly father, help us to share what we have with those who have very little.

Amen.