Rectory Ramblings… October 2023
Tuesday, 26 September 2023 18:43
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: … a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)
I feel that each of the four seasons has its own special charm. For me, the season of “mists and mellow fruitfulness” in late summer and early autumn is the season is when I can indulge my fondness for grazing as I walk around the garden. Nothing beats the flavour of fruit eaten just seconds after it has been picked. In most years it is also the season when most of the fruits of my own labours (and nature’s free bounty), in the garden are gathered in, and stored for the months ahead. In previous years, fruit from the trees have joined vegetables from the plot and meat from the pig in a nearly nearly full freezer. And here is the other feature of Autumn that is reflected in our harvest services at church: “All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin”. Sadly, having moved house in the summer, I have not grown much veg nor any meat of my this year. Next year will be different I am sure,
Autumn is not just a time of reaping the harvest. It is also a time of preparation for future lean times. And this is easily forgotten in our modern society. Global transport and modern farming techniques have eliminated seasonal vegetables from our supermarket shelves: so not missing strawberries in the middle of winter takes away some of the joy of eating them in the summer. We have become too divorced from nature. We may still appreciate the autumnal colours as our trees turn to their glorious shades of red and brown, but we have lost their significance as a signal of approaching cold and dark winter days. Wrapped in our centrally heated and electrically lit houses we have beaten back winter. Even those of us who grow our own food have lost our dependence on a good harvest. We just buy from the supermarket what hasn’t grown and that diminishes our pleasure in gathering what has grown.
Of course, in our modern society harvests come in all shapes and sizes, not just agricultural. For some this year is one of giving thanks for successful study and examination results. For others, the fruits of our own labour might be seen in the bank rather than the pantry. Whatever form our own personal harvest may take, it is good to look at the signs of autumn around us and remember that everything has its season. There is a time for work, and a time to rest, a time to take pleasure in what we have achieved with his blessing, and a time to give thanks to God for his blessing in the lean times.
“It is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.” (Ecclesiastes 3:13)
Revd Eddie