There are many wonderful things about celebrating a Harvest Festival. We do this each year at St. Peter’s Glenthompson and all are invited. Folk bring their produce and we gather together to celebrate that when so many have so little, we have so much to share and celebrate. The bounty is then auctioned off and there is wine, mirth, joy, giggles and food.
I look forward to this annual event for many reasons, not least of all because it gives me an opportunity to engage with people in an informal setting.
But there are other reasons.
In an era where we have succumbed to the false gods of data, fear and division, we have this refreshing expression of collegially. We learn again that we have more in common than what separates us. We are better than the deep divisions of suspicion that sometimes make us grumpy and irritable and which turned the humble loo roll into a deity to bow down to and fight over.
So we gather and give thanks. We come to be nourished not just from the generous bounty of the earth and produce of the kitchen and juice of the grape and the delectable things that emerge from the oven. But we are nourished most effectively from the jocularity and engagement one with another.
We do not worship the God of data and death. Instead we look into each other’s eyes. We hear the unprovoked and uninhibited laughter. These are our ‘hymns’. We join in with and celebrate with, the God of the party. The God of abundance. The God who calls us to look not only at what we generously have on our table, but also to reach out to those who have never known any of these things.