10/01/2024

As this magazine drops through your letterbox, it is Harvest festival. There are celebrations happening in our village halls, our schools, and our churches. I love them, and I hope that you get the chance to join in at least one. Harvest festival is a great chance to have a good sing with others. I feel nervous singing on my own. But community singing is different. It bonds us together. I sing quite lustily in a crowd. What do you love singing at harvest time? ‘We plough the fields and scatter …’ has a special place in my heart. That said, I will join in any rousing harvest song – from old favourites like ‘All things bright and beautiful’, to ones that I have learnt more recently like ‘Harvest Samba’ and even ‘The Spring chicken Song’. If you haven’t come across the Spring Chicken Song yet, ask a child near you. It’s a laugh. Harvest festival is intended to be enjoyable. As well as singing together, we often eat together. Perhaps you have been to a Harvest lunch or a Harvest supper. What do you remember eating? If you don’t remember going to one, you could ask an older relative or friend. The food is often amazing. But a Harvest mal doesn’t have to be a vast buffet or a three-course meal. Last year I went to a very successful Harvest lunch with just soup and a pudding. The important thing was eating together. Good community meals offer us more than restaurant meals. They make us feel that we belong and that we share the riches of the table. This harvest time let’s pray for our neighbours that they feel a sense of belonging, plenty, and joy. God willing, they will be praying the same. Angela