THINKING ANEW:THE French writer André Gide describes a lecture room experience he had when he observed a moth being reborn from its chrysalis. He was filled with "wonder, awe, joy at this metamorphosis, this resurrection".
Enthusiastically he showed it to his professor who replied with a note of disapproval “What! Didn’t you know that a chrysalis is the envelope of a butterfly? It’s perfectly natural”. A disillusioned Gide wrote: “Yes, indeed, I knew my natural history as well, perhaps better, than that professor but because it was natural could he not see that it was marvellous”. Gide’s insight took him beyond the language of the immediate to a new level, a spiritual level, to the language of worship – wonder, awe, resurrection.
At this time of year many churches hold harvest festival services. There is something special about country churches where people live and work close to the land and nature. They in particular would appreciate André Gide’s observations. But even in urban parishes harvest festival services have their place “keeping alive the rumour of God” in the secular city where it is so easy to forget our total dependence on the natural order and our responsibility for it.
This year churches in Ireland were encouraged by Eco Congregation Ireland, an organisation which has been developed in co-operation with the Church of Ireland, the Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church and the Roman Catholic Church to celebrate the gift of creation using the theme Our Daily Bread – Food in God’s Creation.
Sr Catherine Brennan SSL, its chairperson, writes: “The food crisis in our world is not a political but a spiritual one, prompted by a breakdown in our relationship with the earth. We live God’s love for the whole of Creation in the way we farm our land, garden, rear our animals, trade, shop, cook and share meals together and deal with our food waste.” Their literature reminds us that while we are well aware of our consumer rights we are less aware of consumer obligations. They go on to suggest a number of ways in which we can live more responsibly.
“The starting point has to be a grateful heart; we must stop taking our daily bread for granted and develop a broad understanding of how it is produced, what it cost and how fortunate we are in terms of availability.” They draw attention to health and diet issues. But the most shocking information they provide is the fact that
almost half of the world’s food is never eaten and that in the developing world one third of food is wasted.
Waste comes from wanting too much and having too much and that has serious implications for the poor everywhere.
In the West we have made a virtue of selfishly extracting the last drop out of every economic enterprise. TalkTalk in Waterford is an example: a hard-working staff and a reportedly profitable operation closed down because those in control wanted to make more money. The workers were expendable – a shocking example of waste.
Bishop John Taylor in his book Enough is Enoughreminds us of our responsibilities for others laid down in scripture when claiming the harvest. The people of Israel were told not to forget their historic dependence on God from slavery through the wilderness experience to the Promised Land. "The Hebrew farmer is not to be mean or over careful. He must not reap to the very edges of his fields nor go back for the odd sheaf that has been left behind on the field. When beating his olives he must not go over the boughs a second time; neither may he strip his vineyard nor gather fallen fruit. 'What is left shall be for the alien, the orphan and the widow. I am the Lord your God'."
Bishop Taylor is telling us that harvest is not only an occasion to celebrate the good things we have; it is also an occasion to be mindful of our duty to care and to share. And that does not mean grudging or condescending hand-outs to the less fortunate; it is about their entitlement and ours to have enough and no more.