Harvest Festival

Lesley's Blog

Having come from Britain, the American celebration of Thanksgiving still doesn't quite resonate for me. My ancesters did not buck the system apparently and stayed put.

However, as a child, I remember that in the Autumn the Harvest Festival was celebrated and we gave thanks. The church was decorated with beautiful vegetables and luscious fruits, the very best of the final produce of the harvest. Delicious homemade chutneys and jams and late flowering plants added to the splendor of the display.  

We gave thanks for the abundance of the earth which had provided us with bountiful sustenance and prayed for the harvest in the coming year. I suspect that not everyone, on any given year, was quite on the same page regarding the degree of bountifulness but nonetheless we all acknowledged the miracle of the blessing of food and water from the earth. It was a joyful time but turkey and pumpkin pie were not part of the agenda.

As we give thanks this year for our lives, the lives of our loved ones and the gifts we have received throughout the year, maybe we can also add prayers for the earth. Whether or not you consider global climate changes a belief or a scientific reality, it is clear that humans have had impacts on this beautiful and vulnerable planet we call home, that have produced significant changes, mostly not for the better. According to most scientific research the changes are occuring at a greater pace than originally predicted.

If you are anything like me, I find myself oscillating between despair and denial. I want to do something but often have no idea what to do and where to start. Sometimes, for example when I read about the amazing projects that the Nature Conservancy are involved in, I feel a modicum of hope. So, maybe we can all open our hearts, this Thanksgiving, to how each of us can do our little bit to bring some healing to our precious earth. We owe it to the earth, to ourselves and our children and grandchildren need us to leave for them a better place to live and thrive.