November 2005 – "A Harvest of our own responses" 

Having sung “Come ye thankful people come” umpteen times it is a relief to move on. We really do need some new harvest hymns! Otherwise, I like harvest as it provides a really good focal point for thanks and the offering of produce of all kinds involves more people in a realistic and easy liturgy. At the same time the gifts become useful symbols for our spiritual life. Furthermore the activities of producing the food itself can be translated into real prayers in much the same way that early monastic orders extolled worship, prayer and handiwork as part of a whole life. Another aspect is that children easily relate to harvest services.

The challenge is to find similar symbolism in other activities so that we can act out the liturgy and have a visual image around which to formulate our prayers. Plough Sunday works well as it includes implements and activities that people know. Rogation Sunday, with the prayers outside for the land and the community, also draws on familiar visual imagery. If Lammas did not get lost in the August holiday season the offering of the bread from the first fruits would add a little more purpose to Worship. These occasions are easy as they draw on the farming cycle, though the plough is now seen in August rather than January. The Gardener’s service also fills a gap in the summer when we expect to enjoy the fruits of our labours in that dimension. So can we find other themes around which to centre our thanks and build up a meaningful image?

Many Sundays get hi-jacked for a variety of themes or such-and-such a day, and it is difficult to keep up. Some can be quite informative, though I must confess that co-ordinated early warning is lacking and many themes, if they do not arrive early enough, are bypassed, as the Calendar has been worked out. Some themes do not work: as much as a Motorist’s Service has appealed to the media, short of getting Jeremy Clarkson to preach we do not get extra congregation. In this case, this is because they are motoring out on a pleasant Sunday, or are attending a car rally or, as lorry drivers, it is their day off and would complicate hours, insurance and "the recorder in the cab "!

However, let us not overlook some of the services we have anyway as one of the names for Holy Communion is The Eucharist, from the Greek word “I give thanks”. This is named from the activity of Jesus at the Last Supper, taking bread and giving thanks and taking wine and giving thanks ... This suggests that much of our Worship is about giving thanks, and the eucharistic prayer itself can often include an impromptu preface, much as the formal prefaces for Christmas and the major festivals do. So, don’t be shy, step forward ... ...