Wednesday 28 August 2013

When you were little, did you ever used to chant in that sing-song voice which children have that 'the moon is made of cheese' I wonder? I don't suppose many children believe it, even if they do chant it. You might be surprised, though.

A recent survey of 27,500 primary school aged children produced some surprising results. Almost one third of those asked believed that cheese grew on plants and one in five reckoned that the main ingredient of fish fingers was chicken. A significant number also thought that tomatoes grew underground and that bread and pasta were made from meat. Now, I know that some people say you can prove anything with statistics, but even so these figures give cause for concern.

I work in an urban setting. There is not a single farmer in my congregation, and anyone who gardens does so for leisure rather than sustenance. Any animals kept by the people in my congregation are kept for companionship rather than food. Despite all that, though, we shall hold a harvest festival next month, as we do every year. It stands as a reminder to everyone - adults and children alike, that our food does not come from the shop where we buy it but from the people who nurture and grow it. Not only that, but in an era where foodbanks are so common that they are part of our vocabulary - the festival sounds a note of gratitude for everything we have.

The older I get, the more convinced I become that we should take careful note of the rhythms in our lives, rather than ignoring them. Rhythms in life, as in music - provide light and shade, moments of frenetic activity and times of quiet. In the rhythm of the year, Harvest marks the passage of the seasons lest we forget. It provides a moment to say thank you to a God who provides.

Of course some churches, especially in rural areas, provide spectacular displays of fruit, vegetables and flowers. Members of the congregation will spend hours making the display just right.

I'm not sure I can stretch to that. Maybe I'll just get a couple of cheese plants - or would that be confusing?