France: Englishtourist stopped at a caf in a small remote French village and ordered a coupleof scrambled eggs for lunch. Price exorbitantEggs in short supply? Nonmonsieur eggs plentifulTourists in short supply
Reminder of laws of supply demand and that:
1.Viewing the Harvest as consumers we have abundantsupplyas we reflect on the spectacular and diverse display of food that greetsus as we walk in to the supermarket/farm shopthe variety, the colour, thesmells, the freshness, plentiful supply at reasonable pricesis there a riskthat you/me/we may take for granted.
2. If, however we view this years harvest through theeyes of farmers/growers; --what is their verdict? many here know better thanme-the weather/elements have presented extreme challenges over recent months---guessarable farmer better than might have expected yields variable but reasonable,quality good and price ok. Livestock farmer different story-not enough forage(or straw) serious risks of winter shortfalls---perhaps with the farmer--- somuch less risk of taking anything for granted.
I would suggest that Harvest Thanksgiving is acelebration of 2 things:
First is the celebration of Gods Creation, its wonders,splendour and diversity and our total dependence upon it.
Second the celebration of human skill & endeavour,working with the order of creation to bring forth abundance to meet ourmaterial needs.
In terms of the natural world, our intricateecosystemsand whether with the atheist we believe it all to be the consequenceof chance or we believe in a loving creator Godwe can surely all agree that weare totally dependant upon it for our continued existence"Human vanity can best be served by areminder that whatever our accomplishments, our scientific endeavour, ourlevels of sophistication or artistic pretension we owe our very existence to a6 layer of top soil and the fact that it rainsOur materialistic worldneeds reminding of that.
But I am learning albeit too slowly that a truesense of gratitude needs to be nurtured and fosteredit is so easilyquashed in times of plenty--Is it just me or do we sense a prevailing mood of dissatisfaction,is one commentator right when she says negativity has become a nationalcharacteristic. When did we last read an article or hear a broadcast wheregratitude was the centre piece.
War memorial in Canada----Inspired by gratitudeTheimplication being not only should we be thankful, but we should be inspired tothe extent that it impacts how we live our lives. Are we truly inspired throughour gratitude for Creation and the daily bounty that is ours---inspired toharness that creation for the benefit of all, to nurture, to protect and to bequeath.
Cicero A thankful heart is not only the greatestvirtue but the parent of all other virtues
So, Harvest Thanksgiving is about acknowledging andhonouring the creator, but also the extent to which that same Creator workswith us in a divine human partnership.
Scripture makes it clear that it is not ordained thatwe work alone and indeed that neither does God. This principle is vividlyportrayed in the well-known story of the loaves and fishes.
In that familiar story:
Who is to feed the crowd? the disciplesJesus doesntsay Ill feed them, but you feed them.
Whose food is used? The disciples--- Jesus doesntmake fish and bread fall from the sky but takes and uses what they have.
Who is to arrange the people, distribute the food andclean up afterwards-the disciples.
But who does the miracle? Jesus does; He directs thewhole event, blesses the bread and fish and provides the endless supply.
The reality is that we dont work alone but in adivine-human partnershipHis way of working is to take the little we have useit and bless it.
Harvest Thanksgiving should be an acknowledgement ofproverbial loaves and fishes, expressed in the huge collective (God given) talent,husbandry skills, wisdom, ingenuity, innovation, time and energy of all who areinvolved in the food chain from field to plate, and the ongoing miracle of newgrowth and new fruits.
The hard evidence of those fruits is captured in aheadline last week UEAWhy the UK Has Such Cheap Food?
Highlighted that we in UK spend the lowest percentageof our income on food consumed (8.2%) in the home of any country in worldexcept US & Singapore a fact that surprises many (and perhaps an ironygiven the demand on food banks) Prompted comment from a dairy farmer--I am notsure how much cheaper food has to get before it becomes completely unsustainableto produce.
When we look globally and historicallythe scale of the abundance is surely mind blowinga product of that divinehuman partnership
The estimated population of the world atthe time Jesus walked in Galilee was over 250 million peopleit is now over 7.6billion
It took 1800 years to reach 1 billionand another 120 years to reach 2 billion.
In my life span a little over 3 scoreyears and 10 it has tripled.
It is now over 7.65 billion.
Assuming this service takes 1 hour itwill have grown by 10K---ongoing growth and clear majority take all for granted.We grow 17% more food per person per day than 30 years ago even though twice asmany people.
All this even though the planet on whichwe live is broadly the same size, indeed in terms of its food producingcapacity it is significantly smaller but miraculously the world continues togrow enough food to feed these peopleover my lifetime food production has morethan kept pace with population growth.
Environmentally the green revolution ofpast decades that generated this increase has incorporated damage and mistakesin the way technology was and is used. Whilst addressing those mistakes we mustalso recognize the huge achievements in terms of human life
The next and indeed the imminent greenrevolution now emerging must be ecologically sound as we continue to find abalance in ensuring food for a growing population whilst not abusing theeco-systems on which we depend.
We are on the cusp of that second greenrevolution:
- Water & soil sensors, Tracking ofweather, Satellite imaging, Radio Frequency Identification, Vertical Farming,(hydroponics) Minichromosal technology, Mechatronics &automation---collectively mind blowing---basis for optimism.
- Harper Adams University1 Ha wheatwithout humans entering the field either on foot or on tractor40 Ha.
- More speculative article---Its theyear 2038. The word flavour has fallen into disuse. Sugar is the newcigarettes, and we have managed to replace salt with healthy plants. We live ina society in which we eat fruit grown using genetics. We drink synthetic wine,scramble eggs that do not come from chickens, grill meat that was not takenfrom animals, and roast fish that never saw the sea.
Of course, it is very clear that we havebeen so much better at growing enough food than we have been in terms of fairdistribution and alleviation of poverty or even in terms of ensuring justicefor all involved within the food chain itself. Given our human sinfulness ourcontribution to the divine/human partnership has been marred by collectivegreed and apathy resulting in such disparity and deprivation.
Whilst we make progress it is not fast enough,and we still have almost 1 billion people suffering from hunger and(incidentally) another billion obese. More than a food production issue theneed here is to address the causes of poverty and deprivation.
- So, in terms of a philosophy for the young farmers of tomorrow who willneed technical skills, creativity, and wisdom like no generation before I canoffer none better than I first heard from my father almost 100 years ago.
- Live as if you are going to dietomorrow and farm as if you are going to farm for ever.
- This adage reflects his and now my own belief that there is a spiritualside to life that should not be neglectedJesus-- Man does not live by bread alone, a truth I urge you to grasp ifyou have not already done so. A truth that our world needs now more than everbefore. It also reflects my fathers endeavour to leave the farm in betterheart than he found it.
This harvest despite all our worries andanxieties, individual and corporate, despite the reality of an increasinglyscary world and it really is scary we still so much to the thankful for.
For the wonder of creation and itsbounty; for the fruits of the divine human partnership and all its spectacularprovision but also for the truth and assurance of His word with its eternalsecurity.
When you tickle the earth with a hoe itproduces a harvestit is God who provides the earthit is we who do thetickling. This Harvest may we be truly inspired by gratitude.
