‘Harvest is not harvest without singing we plough the fields and scatter’ said a member of our congregation. Quite right! The traditions are important, especially at this time of year. We are reminded that (state of the art farm equipment and globalisation aside) harvest is still a time to say thank you to the people all around us who feed us and the nation.
THANK YOU!
At St Mary’s, we had a great time welcoming new faces, those with two legs and those with four. The church looked amazing and our brunch afterwards was delicious. But we were also reminded, not just in our gospel reading (often called the parable of the rich fool, Luke 12:13-21) but by talking about foodbanks and food poverty, that many are not celebrating. Many are going hungry as bills remain high and folk choose between heating and eating.
We might not think much about any sort of hardship as we walk or drive around Alderley. It’s not exactly a poor neighbourhood. But there are people, families struggling to make ends meet, trying to figure out how to pay the bills or buy their kids the new shoes they need for school. Poverty is often well hidden.
Harvest is a reminder, sometimes an uncomfortable one, of the gap between rich and poor, the haves and the have-nots. It a time to perhaps look at what we value, or as the parable says, ‘where our treasure lies’.
It is also a time to ask ‘who is our neighbour’, who really needs our help?
For poverty is not only about food and heating, or indeed the lack of it. You can be poor in other ways.
Poor in joy, laughter, ambition, love and friendship.
The more time I spend here I see many who are successful, with all the trappings of a professional well-paid career. But I also see the lonely, self-contained, living in smart-phone bubbles, working hard to pay bills but isolated, lacking a sense of real community and family; the modern epidemic.
At St Mary’s, we are community.
Rather than build bigger barns, as in the story of Jesus, we are sharing our resources and opening our doors wider.
There are plans afoot which involve using our building and land for projects with Nether Alderley School, reaching out to our younger and older residents and providing open spaces to enjoy nature.
We are retaining the traditional in our services whilst also using new forms of worship and engagement.
The seasons change, but much remains the same.
So, I’d like to wish you a ‘Happy Harvest’ from all of us down the lane. Keep an eye out for our future services and events. I look forward to seeing you soon!
The Revd Canon Nathan Jarvis
Rector of Alderley
