My dad used to grow tomatoes and onions and cucumbers, but then he had come from a farming background in the old country. I’ve never really got the bug.
Harvest, for me, really, is something I teach about in annual assemblies, and try and make relevant from a Biblical and cultural perspective.
I am a child of the supermarket era, where harvest has to be imagined.
However, when I was a teenager, my sister, mother and I made our second visit to Poland, where we had two uncles, and their extended families. We just happened to arrive when the Solidarity movement was gaining momentum, and the striking had started.
People in the towns were regularly queuing for hours at the shops for bread, and in general the shelves were empty. These were things we saw, but they didn’t really affect us, as we were staying on a farm, and there were chickens and grain available.
I guess if you lived through the war, this sort of experience you will be no stranger to.
Hervest is one of the means we are humbled, and learn to respect and value the gift of God’s grace. It is ironic that we learn keys lessons through hardship – lessons that we perhaps value more than any others.
I remember well the days of ‘Solidarnosc’, it coincided with my interest in sociology, the miners strike and the problems in Northern Ireland.
Hardship indeed, all in their different ways, but as you rightly point out Stef, we take far too many things for granted these days, and our idea of hardship is very different and in some quarters embarrassing.
I am sure many people will have rejoiced at this news!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/4/newsid_3818000/3818563.stm