Crosstalk: 'The key to bringing together'
It's been Harvest Festival time, and churches across Shropshire have been filled with produce and the sound of Harvest hymns. For centuries, Harvest Festival has had great significance for those involved with agriculture, whose lives are tied up with the land. But in our modern world, what do those of us who don't work on the land make of it? Writes Mike Hallworth of Belle Vue Methodist Church in Shrewsbury.
One way of making something of Harvest is to see what you can make from it. I like word games, including those where you see how many different words you can make from the letters of a particular word. You can make over a hundred and fifty words from the letters of HARVEST, but lets look at just three.
Iut of HARVEST you can make HAVE, reminding us that it's a time of year to give thanks for all that we have - for what God has given us. From the earliest times in the Bible, the people of God brought the fruits of the land to dedicate to God and say "Thank You".
But you can also make STARVE from the same letters, a reminder of the millions of people in the world who don't get enough to eat, and an acknowledgement of our dependence on others to feed us. This country is far from self-sufficient in food and we rely on so many others across the world to produce, transport, and distribute the food we need to survive.
The third word you can make from HARVEST is SHARE. That's the key to bringing together we who have and those who starve - learning to share the Earth's resources fairly, so that everyone gets enough.
A grace from Argentina runs "God, bless to us our bread, and give food to those who are hungry, and hunger for justice to us who are fed."
Amen to that!
Contributed via D Onions at Churches Together in Shrewsbury
