Thoughts for the Day

Thanksgiving for Earth’s Bounty

Praise is due to you,
O God, in Zion...

By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
By your strength you established the mountains;
you are girded with might.
You silence the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

You visit the earth and water it,
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Throughout my life I seem to have inherited some strange, out of control gardens: a garden in Suffolk where the rabbits ate fronds from the willow trees by standing on their back legs, and a huge rhubarb plant that had taken over a flower bed; a garden in Cumbria with two blackcurrant bushes in the middle of a large lawn; and our present garden in Staffordshire that is a massive root ball where no earth exists but somehow beautiful plants still manage to grow.

Today we celebrate Harvest, usually held around this time of the year in our churches. We give thanks to God for all that He makes available to us, for He gives us everything that we need to exist in this world - earth, sun, rain, seas and plants, for example. However, He expects us to manage these resources, and to use them wisely. I know from spending years in rural ministry and for caring for sone renegade gardens how hard this can be. So today we thank God for all that He gives to us, and ask His forgiveness for our mistakes. We also pray for the hard work of so many who bring food to our table.

We pray for all those who:

• farm and cultivate land;
• care for animals;
• manage forests;
• fish the seas;
• facilitate clean water;
• deliver food across sea and land;
• and those who produce or sell food.

May you have a fruitful harvest!

Heavenly Father,
we thank You for all that You give to us;
on land, in the sky, and at sea;
and for those who provide us with our food.
Help us to be better stewards of Your bounty,
and to share with those in need
throughout the year
not just at Harvest time.
Amen.