Thoughts for the Day

Thanksgiving for Earth’s Bounty
To the leader. A Psalm of David. A Song.

Praise is due to you,
O God, in Zion;
and to you shall vows be performed,
O you who answer prayer!
To you all flesh shall come....

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

Today we complete a season we started celebrating on May 26th with Rogation and which comes to an end in our Lectionary of readings today at Harvest. The same glorious words from Psalm 65 were used. In May when we asked God's blessings on the new crops, and now in October the same psalm is used to thank God for our harvest of animals and crops. Many churches will not have included Rogation in their service pattern, but the word comes from the Latin 'rogare' meaning "to ask", and even though we are now so accustomed to eating tomatoes and apples all year round there was a time when these were only eaten in late summer and autumn, and we are still totally dependent on weather and disease patterns. So it's important to dedicate some time to asking God's blessing on all things connected to our food.

But it's just as important to thank God at this time of the year - for His hand in all our work to feed a hungry world - and to pray for those involved in farming and in the fishing industry. We should also remember those who work to keep our water clean; for efforts to stop global warming; for those who are starving around the world; for those who struggle with rising food costs; and for all who work in local food banks. The fact that we are now so far removed from the food on our table shouldn't mean we forget the need to thank God and also those who help produce what we eat and drink.

An appropriate quote for today while we're thinking about planting crops and harvesting them, and which has many implications might be this, made by Robert Louis Stevenson::

• "Do not measure success by today's harvest. Measure success by the seeds you plant today.

Harvest Collect:

Eternal God,
you crown the year with your goodness
and you give us the fruits of the earth in their season:
grant that we may use them to your glory,
for the relief of those in need and for our own well-being;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, now and for ever.
Amen.