Richard's Reflections (October 2025

We are certainly in the season of Harvest at the moment. This time of year means something particularly to the farming community, especially if they grow crops of any sort. It is now that they gather together what has been grown, and see if it has been a “good” year, in terms of the amount gathered. That is very much dependent upon the weather, and we have had our fair share of both hot sunshine and rain over the past few months.

It is also an opportunity for all of us to be thankful for what we have. As we are reminded in Scripture; “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.” James 1 v 17. In other words, the One who has put all the stars and planets in space is the One who provides everything that we need. And it is to him that we are to be grateful.

We also think of those who do not have enough. We will be giving our Harvest gifts from the church to the local Foodbank, who do a superb job in distributing to those in need in our community. We also look further afield at those places in the world where there is a real shortage of food. And we are so grateful to organisations such as Christian Aid who work hard at supporting people in many parts of the world.

And for ourselves, we are to be thankful and appreciative of all that we do have. This is not only our physical needs, but spiritual ones too. God has provided all that we need for a relationship with him through all that Jesus has done in his life, death and resurrection. So as we are grateful for the physical gifts we have received, let’s also be extremely thankful for all that is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I can do no better than sum this up in the words of a well-known Harvest hymn:

All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above.

Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord

For all his love.

Matthias Claudius tr. Jane Montgmery Campbell

Love in Jesus, Richard