MINISTERS MUSINGS

October 2007 Musing

GATHERED IN

Despite unseasonable weather we have still been able to sing our harvest hymns with sincerity knowing that all is indeed ‘safely gathered in’. How our harvest services have changed over the years. No longer are our churches bursting with autumn fruits, flowers and sheaves of corn. Instead tins of soups, fish and vegetables, bags of pasta, sugar, rice and the like are piled high in the sanctuary ready to be dispatched to less fortunate parts of the world. Harvests are for sharing, and it is right that we endeavour to meet human need, but let us spare a thought for the British farmer. We owe so much to them. The beauty and glory of the countryside is enhanced by their husbandry. Without the farmer our countryside would be over run by bramble, gorse and scrub.

This year has been a very hard one for farmers. Crops have been rotted or washed away by flood water. There is the ever present threat of disease among cattle. Foot and mouth disease, blue tongue and bovine tuberculosis are not a distant threat but a present reality. Our dairy herds, particularly in the West Country are ravaged by T.B. It is heart breaking to know that so many lovely beasts are slaughtered because of this infection. The debate about culling badgers is an emotive one, but it is a nettle that must be grasped. Add to that the stranglehold of the super markets over the price of milk and farm products and late payments from DEFRA and you wonder how they manage to survive. Some don’t, and our hearts go out to those who have to give up farming after a life time of effort.

So let us thank God for our farmers and support them by purchasing direct from farm shops whenever possible, buying British in the super market, and remembering them in our prayers. Many farmers have a strong faith and here are some words written by John Osborne the Somerset farmer poet:

‘But we must hold on to our faith

And trust Him as He says we should,

For when the whole picture is revealed

God will se that it is good.