Dear friends,
As I write this letter, I am sorting out all the arrangements for the celebration of Harvest Thanksgiving across our churches.
Since Victorian times, the celebration of the Harvest in the Autumn has become part of our annual pattern of events. The Farmers sow, nurture and reep. We then thank God for his gifts.
The harvest, or lack of, has been a major news item over the past few weeks. A combination of the hot weather, lack of rainfall, and other world events such as the war in Ukraine has meant that the world faces a shortage of food, and the inevitable rise in the cost of food for the customers in the shops.
I read in an information leaflet this year that approximately, worldwide, One Third of all the food grown prepared, packaged and cooked for human use is thrown away before it is eaten. And yet there are still millions of people who are starving in this world. This is a disgraceful situation, and something that all of us can do something about, not only by lobbying those who make policy and decisions, but also in the way we manage our own households.
Thanking God for his gifts in Creation does not mean taking them for granted.
This harvest, let us think again of the effort that goes into providing our food, and the real human cost of wasting the earth’s valuable resources.
With love and prayers,
Philip