Pastoral Letter
Dear Friends,
On one of the Sundays during a holiday in Cornwall we found ourselves talking to the Priest who had celebrated Holy Communion that morning. It turned out that he was a retired farmer who had been called to the ordained ministry later on in life. He told us that the farmers in that area of Cornwall were becoming increasingly organised and efficient, and, such was the productivity of the soil in the Marazion area, that the farmers were getting two crops of potatoes (the major crop in that part of Cornwall) from each field each season. Certainly, if the sheer number of hi-tech tractors that we met on the country lanes was anything to go buy, some of those Cornish farmers had a lot to be grateful for. Our caravan site seemed to constantly reverberate with the coming and going of those huge and powerful tractors each day.
I gather it has not been a good harvest for some farmers this year as the weather has been very much against them. Yet, good year or bad, the miracle of the harvest still takes place each year, and, as farmer and God work hand in hand to bring in the harvest, we should always seek to be grateful for God's loving generosity, and the way that He helps us harness our human skills and knowledge to make the best of the resources He has given to us.
The Christian writer, Jack Exum, on a trip to Canada visited one Christian who operated a large grain farm. His farm included some twenty-five hundred acres. Jack asked him how he planted the seed. He showed Jack a distributor that was some thirty feet wide. "We take that double tandem truck, fill it with certified seed, back it up to the distributor, open the slots, and pour in the seed." He went on to say, "If you're ever going to be cheap, don't be cheap with the seed." One bushel of seed invested yields thirty bushels of grain harvested in a good year. Thirty to one - not a bad return, if you are ready to believe and willing to invest. God says, "Believe Me, trust Me, try My plan, prove My ways, and see the kind of harvest I will give."
Saint Paul guarantees this principle of truth in the Scripture with the promise, "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. " (2 Corinthians 9:8).
All grace, all ways, all sufficiency, all things! There are four promises in one breath. Knowing it is one thing, believing it is quite another. God always wants to give generously to those who trust, love and believe in Him. So, as we celebrate harvest this month, let us always remember those words of St. Paul, and live a life of gratitude and love for all the ways that God blesses us.
At the same time let's remember those who through no fault of their own are suffering from a poor harvest because of bad weather, political strife or disease. God cares about them too, and wants to bless them with hope and strength in their time of need. We should pray for them and do what we can to support them in their difficulty. Remember John Wesley's rule for Christian living:
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever...
You can!
At harvest time we remember God's generosity and love towards us, and that should indeed prompt us to respond with generosity towards those who are not as well off as ourselves. God blesses us not simply for ourselves, but in order that we can be more fruitful towards others in our lives. And remember the words of John Bunyan: 'He who bestows his goods upon the poor, Shall have as much again, and ten times more.'
May God bless you all.