Picture of the Week: #37

[taken during week running from 10/09 to 16/09]

The weather's turned, and we're heading straight into autumn. Although I took this picture during the Indian summer a couple of weeks back (and it was a nice reminder of what summer could have been like, had the weather been up to it), the fields show that it was already coming up to Harvest Festival time.

Harvest, although it's a beautiful festival to witness, does seem like it's rather less applicable nowadays than it used to be. For a start, a much lower proportion of the population are farmers than in pretty much any time before the present, so that "bringing in the harvest" means that much less to most people. Then there's the fact that there's generally something being harvested at all times of the year. And let's not forget that the world is so small nowadays - transport and preservation being what it is - that we get all sorts of produce from all around the world at all times of the year.

Given the fact that Harvest Festivals as we know them have been going on in this country for barely 150 years - a blink of an eye in British historical terms - it would appear that there's a good case for dropping them entirely. There are, though, a few reasons why Harvest maybe should stay. First, it gets people into church. Whether or not they believe what they're being told, they get exposed to Christian teaching - and more people deciding whether to accept that can only be a good thing. Secondly, as with so many traditions, there have been changes - now, there's a major element of charitable giving included in most Harvest festivals, and it would be unfortunate to lose this.

And thirdly, it's a very healthy idea to have a specific time set aside for thankfulness. The Americans have the right idea about this - their Harvest has turned into Thanksgiving, which, despite it being something of a gluttony-fest, promotes thankfulness about all aspects of life. When you think about the emphasis on profit prevalent in today's society, and the concentration on getting all you can, then surely it's an excellent idea to remind ourselves to turn around, stop and remember how we ended up where we are.