10 Trinity Sq
Toronto, ON
M5G 1B1
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reflections and sermons posted here are the work of individual members of Holy Trinity. Opinions expressed are those of the writer or preacher and do not necessarily reflect an official or even popular opinion within the parish.
Abundance
SARA BOYLES
All week I have been wrestling with Sunday's theme. I know it is harvest thanksgiving and we march along with other faith communities celebrating the bounty and beauty of the universe. This has not been enough however. Finally the word abundance has flown in and settled in my mind and heart. Have you ever wondered why we are so blessed? We need to be giving "on" with thanksgiving.
I think back to earlier days of parish ministry as a clergy spouse in a multi point parish. In the Ottawa Valley harvest thanksgiving was pushed back to accommodate the earlier frosts and nippier days. Gigantic tomatoes, monster beets, zucchini the size of a watermelon and huge squash along with tomatoes, potatoes, onions and corn would splash their brightness in the tiny churches in September. We would lustily sing, "Now thank we all our God" accompanied on the pump organ. Little did I know that first year that all of the produce from all five churches would come home to rest on my back porch. It was a gift to the rector and his family. The illustrations in Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" only suggest the horror I had when trying to figure out how to store, preserve and use all of this overgrown, end of season bounty. And I was 81/2 months pregnant to boot!
Neither did I know that in 30 years I would be in the heart of the city where, if I am not very careful, my tomatoes will come from Mexico and the pears from Chile. Beef is likely to come from Argentina and strange fruits like kiwi will come from California or another exotic destination. To eat locally often means going organic and paying more for produce. Strange isn't it that it costs more to buy locally than to but from a great distance? I see our self reliance around food and manufacturing dwindling away and wonder just where this world is going.
Yet we are still wondrously provided for and the journey is our dwelling place. We usually get another chance to learn that which we fail to learn this time. We are admonished (see the gospel) to rejoice in the goal but to tend to the present. I suggest we feast with love, relish one another and not only be mindful but participate in making the world a humane and caring place. November 30, 1999 |
