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| Garden Potatoes! |
The concept of Thanksgiving has different meaning to folks.
For some, it’s a joyous time to gather with loved ones and feast abundantly!
For some, it’s a time still in the fields, hoping to get the crop off before the snow flies.
For some, it’s a welcome long weekend to get that yardwork done.
For some, it’s not a festival at all, but just another weekend struggling to get by.
In the church, we recognise this as Harvest Thanksgiving – a time to be especially grateful for the harvest. In times gone by, the harvest was essential for supplying the necessities to make it through the winter. With the luxury of grocery stores, canned goods, and freezers, we’ve decreased our reliance on one large harvest.
Yet: it remains. The crops still come off, the stores are filled, and we prepare to hunker down.
My garden this year was not the best producer; yes, I have a bunch of potatoes in the root cellar, the freezer is full, and the canner and dehydrator did their annual duty to preserve what they could.
Yet I know that if the only food I could eat this winter is what I’ve grown, I know I would go hungry.
So I have spent some time considering what else the harvest looks like, and what else I can focus my gratitude on this joyous weekend.
What relationships have I tended to, and reap the benefits from?
What communities am I a part of, that feed my spirit?
What nourishment have I stored in my faith, that it will sustain me year-round?
The harvest can mean many things to us; I invite us to celebrate not only the feast of the weekend (for those of us who will feast!) but also the fulfillment of the harvest in our emotional and spiritual lives. For indeed, God has given us every good thing – and we are blessed to give thanks.
Shadow, my gorgeous fruitbat-on-stilts, is not shy. An adolescent dog, he is certainly not body conscious. He regularly lies down on his back, presenting all his bits to the world; while walking his short hair hides nothing. This dog is undeniably a biological male.
It surprised me a bit this week during one of our walks (we walk a lot!) when a stranger across the street decided to comment on my dogs. He complimented them to start, and then said that he knew they were both girls. When I corrected that they’re one of each, he became adamant. His rationale: “Boy dogs pee on every post. That dog walked right past a post – it’s a girl!” I countered that not every post gets watered, and then we continued down the street at our normally quick pace, ignoring the rest of the gentleman’s fervent assertions.
Whatever was going on with him, he was clearly entrenched in his perspective, and nothing would dissuade him. (At least, not from across the street – and we weren’t going closer to put Shadow’s anatomy on display!) It led to reflection on how we can all become deeply convicted of certain ideas, such that they become unchangeable regardless of any new information.
Any entrenchment may have both positive and negative aspects, and it is helpful to try to be open to hearing various perspectives. It can be helpful to consider what is an anchor for us as opposed to what may adapt to new circumstances and information.
Especially when it comes to our faith, it’s helpful to recognise these both can exist!
We are rooted and grounded in love; that for me is unchangeable. God, the source of perfect love, is at the core of who we are and all we do. We remind ourselves of this as a tenet of our faith to keep us secure from moral compromise or supporting us through doubt.
Sometimes our faith experience adapts, however, with new information: errors in biblical translations can have vast influence (an early edition of the scriptures forgot the “not” in verse 14 of the commandments – “thou shalt commit adultery”; another bible in the beatitudes replaced an E with an L, blessing the “placemakers” as children of God…). While we recognise such examples as amusing typographical errors, other mistranslations can cause broad theological conviction over time. We must always be aware of the evolution of language, of editorial commentary and bias.
Entrenchment can also happen when political alliances may be attached to religious convictions and theologies. The overlapping of political identity with religion can lead to ideological blindspots and difficulty in separating what is of empire and what is divine. Compromise and discourse becomes less likely as opposing views are considered spiritual or moral deficiencies.
And of course, theological rigidity in such convictions can serve to limit (or prohibit) acts of love, grace, and community. A legalistic entrenchment prioritises divisions of right and wrong, us and them, in or out, and thereby misses the nuance of being the people that God has made us to be. This type of entrenchment can lead not only to obstacles in discourse but also in self-reflection.
When we feel the need to be right all the time, we lose the chance to learn and grow. Our own self-justification can prevent us from participating in the gloriousness that is God’s all-present love. So let us hold on to the truths that never change: we are cherished and wanted, recipients of God’s infinite grace… and use that knowledge as the foundation from which we might spread love in the world.
