Your Assistant priest writes.
Summer holidays are just reaching their peak as I write this in early August so by the time you read this schools will be preparing to open their doors and you will have had your break away - with the kids if you are a family, hopefully you have had a well earned rest.
St Swithun has done his stuff and we have had rain at some point in the day since early July, usually accompanied with some sun. This has meant that the crops in the fields and gardens have been really good. Soft fruit and melons, tomatoes, beans and carrots have done really well in most gardens this year.
As we return to the race that is today’s life it does us good to look out of the window, whether that is at home, in the car or train or office and recognise the good things that we have been given by God. The skills that we have picked up from parents, teachers and through apprenticeships and colleges have been guided by God – as we say in the Lord’s Prayer “Give us today our daily Bread”. Wouldn’t it be fine to open the door and find a basket of goodies every day? We would get very lazy and lose sight of the benefactor God very quickly if we didn’t have to put in a bit of effort. God gave us skills to employ as we look after our families.
Now that sounds a very trite sentence when someone is made redundant. All of a sudden the income has stopped and when the initial shock dissipates there is a feeling of loss and for the family person, panic sets in. We must remember and pray for folk who are in this situation and give thanks for our good fortune. Harvest will be brought in from the fields soon and the shelves which presently are bursting with English and Scottish fruit will groan under the produce grown locally. We dip into our purses and feed our faces.
That line from the Lord’s Prayer “Give us today our daily Bread” now feels a little uncomfortable, and yet for the less fortunate who believe it carries a huge weight, God does provide and we read that those who seek will receive – however that may be. Could it reflect the giving in love to aid agencies trying to supply basic needs to countries where there is famine, disease, war and natural disaster? It is up to us who have the means to assist in that spiritual uplift and practical help that God gives us in the harvests that we reap, in our families, our work, our retirement or whatever task we find ourselves doing as we pray for those in need. God will strengthen and guide, he does help people to cope and in this time of difficult national finance we need to be aware of those around us as well as the created world which is so green and beautiful.
This time of year which sees so much work on the land as harvests are collected and stored should be treated with joy as God watches over his people and we give thanks for those who work the land just as we give thanks for our skills. We pray for our neighbour and share our love, which God has given us and shows us how to share, with everybody. Next time you are in town buy a “Big Issue” and help someone who is trying to help themselves (it is quite a good read as well). Keep an eye on our housebound or elderly neighbour and be a friend to those in need. God gives us all opportunities to benefit from his strength as we share it with others and we can really recognise that phrase “Give us today our daily Bread” in all that we see and do.
Enjoy the harvest celebrations in our churches as we recognise the harvests of farms, industry and people in our locality.
Derek
September 2010 Parish Magazine