Harvest time is a time for remembering to give thanks:
• for our food – which is more abundant and varied than at perhaps any other time in human history. We never have food shortages – the shelves of the supermarkets are always well stocked. It wasn’t always like this, as those who were alive in the war can no doubt remember.
• For our farmers – both those who produce crops and those whose farms involve livestock. So our thoughts and prayers must continue to be with all those livelihood is precarious, and those who see no alternative but to give up.
• For the modern agricultural system from which we all benefit. Farming in many parts of the world, including much of Africa, still relies very much on large numbers of farm labourers carrying out the tasks by hand. In many developing countries tractors and other forms of agricultural machinery are scarce. Animals are often used for ploughing and hauling loads. The labour-saving machinery which is available to us is certainly not affordable to many of the world’s farmers.
Harvest time is also a time for remembering to use the earth’s resources wisely and sustainably:
• ‘sustainability’ is a word that’s being applied to more and more aspects of life today – including agriculture. It reflects an attempt to make sure that the long-term consequences of today’s actions will not jeopardise the livelihood of generations to come. The idea of sustainability goes back centuries – even though the word itself, in this context, is new. Even as far back as Old Testament times, the ancient Israelites tried to ensure that their agriculture was sustainable; that too much was not taken from the earth without giving it chance to recover. This meant giving the land a rest every seven years, and also every fiftieth, or jubilee year.
• Today we have different ways of ensuring that agriculture is sustainable; but the need to consider future generations is no less important. This may involve getting a better balance between large-scale and small scale farming; more support for those farmers who wish to go organic; and fewer subsidies for those farmers in the US, Canada, Japan and the European Union who produce crops on such a massive scale that vast food surpluses result. These are often sold at below cost price in developing countries, undermining farmers there and contributing to rural poverty.
Harvest time is also a time for remembering to share the fruits of the earth:
• for our food – which is more abundant and varied than at perhaps any other time in human history. We never have food shortages – the shelves of the supermarkets are always well stocked. It wasn’t always like this, as those who were alive in the war can no doubt remember.
• For our farmers – both those who produce crops and those whose farms involve livestock. So our thoughts and prayers must continue to be with all those livelihood is precarious, and those who see no alternative but to give up.
• For the modern agricultural system from which we all benefit. Farming in many parts of the world, including much of Africa, still relies very much on large numbers of farm labourers carrying out the tasks by hand. In many developing countries tractors and other forms of agricultural machinery are scarce. Animals are often used for ploughing and hauling loads. The labour-saving machinery which is available to us is certainly not affordable to many of the world’s farmers.
Harvest time is also a time for remembering to use the earth’s resources wisely and sustainably:
• ‘sustainability’ is a word that’s being applied to more and more aspects of life today – including agriculture. It reflects an attempt to make sure that the long-term consequences of today’s actions will not jeopardise the livelihood of generations to come. The idea of sustainability goes back centuries – even though the word itself, in this context, is new. Even as far back as Old Testament times, the ancient Israelites tried to ensure that their agriculture was sustainable; that too much was not taken from the earth without giving it chance to recover. This meant giving the land a rest every seven years, and also every fiftieth, or jubilee year.
• Today we have different ways of ensuring that agriculture is sustainable; but the need to consider future generations is no less important. This may involve getting a better balance between large-scale and small scale farming; more support for those farmers who wish to go organic; and fewer subsidies for those farmers in the US, Canada, Japan and the European Union who produce crops on such a massive scale that vast food surpluses result. These are often sold at below cost price in developing countries, undermining farmers there and contributing to rural poverty.
Harvest time is also a time for remembering to share the fruits of the earth:
• Jesus often talked about the perils of having too much and keeping for oneself what should be shared with others. He told a parable of the rich man whose crops were so abundant that he planned to build more barns in order to store them. He did not sell or share his harvest; but then he died, and was not able to enjoy the results of his wealth. The parable shows that acquisitiveness and hoarding are not virtues in God’s eyes.
• At harvest time we in the churches do generally think about those in need – especially those organisations which benefit from our harvest gifts, maybe harvest time is an opportunity for trying afresh to get the balance right between providing for oneself and one’s dependents, and building a world which is based on mutual support and help for those in genuine need, rather than on materialism and greed.
Harvest time is, finally, a time for remembering that God sows spiritual seeds in our hearts, and wants them to bear an abundant harvest. I hope we can see that our celebration of God's harvest is just as relevant today as when the idea of the harvest festival was first conceived.
