“You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy,
The meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.
Psalm 65:9-16
Dear friends,
The nights are cooler now, the leaves are beginning to fall. It’s only a matter of time before the colors of a New England autumn will be all around us. After such a busy summer, I’m looking forward to this coming season of harvest.
In her book, Plain and Simple, Sue Bender writes about her experience among the Amish, “Harvest time for the Amish means pitching in. Gathering crops was one of my favorite jobs, and I remember one late June afternoon when Eli returned from the blacksmith shop and told me that rain had been predicted for the next day. We went from farm to farm helping his neighbors collect hay from the field and then move it into their barns. After a hearty meal at the last farmhouse, we returned home tired but happy. I had witnessed more than an economic give and take; this was a spiritual exchange. They were connected.”
I feel that “spiritual exchange,” the harvest of our connectedness, here at Edwards Church in generous giving in special offerings to meet the needs of others in our community and beyond. I see the harvest of our connectedness in the smiles of new friends around the table at a recent new member gathering. I hear the harvest of our connectedness in reports and deliberation at a congregational meeting and in the excited voices of our children as they re-enter the sanctuary to bring our offerings to the communion table. I know the harvest of our connectedness in the way we come together to extend help and hospitality to the immigrant refugee families who find themselves now in Framingham.
These are our harvest blessings, the “spiritual exchanges” Sue Bender describes. I am especially thankful for our connectedness. My spirit is continually fed by what it can produce! In this harvest season, I invite you to join me in reflecting about how you, too, have been fed by this congregation and the abundance we have among us. In this harvest time, let’s give thanks for the ways we’re connected as part of this community of faith.
Blessings for October, Karen Nell