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Dear Friends
Since
childhood one of my favourite actors has been James Stewart.
Christmas would not be complete without a viewing of ‘It’s a
Wonderful Life’, which is so positively affirming of the
differences one person can make.
Stewart has also played the
leading role in numerous Westerns, including Shenandoah, the
story of a family torn apart by the American Civil War. One
scene from the film shows Charlie Anderson, the character played by
Stewart, sitting at the kitchen table saying grace.
He
prays thus: “Lord, we cleared this land. We ploughed it, sowed
it, and harvested it. We cooked the harvest. It wouldn’t
be here if we hadn’t done it all ourselves. We worked dog-bone
hard for every crumb and morsel, but we thank you Lord just the same
for the food we’re about to eat. Amen.”
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That idea
of self-sufficiency is deeply embedded within us and it is an age-old
attitude. In Deuteronomy, just as the people of Israel enter the
Promised Land, God warns them:
“You
may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have
produced this wealth for
me.’,
but remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives us this ability.”
Such a
self-absorbed attitude leaves little room for gratitude or thanksgiving
and it cultivates the belief that, having been responsible for our good
fortune, we can withhold sharing it with others.
Against
that Harvest comes as a reminder to us that we co-operate with God who
is the source of all good things.
A graphic
illustration of this was given by an agricultural college that estimated
that the production of 100 bushels of corn from one acre of land
(forgive my imperial measures) required, in addition to the farmers’
labour 4,000,000 pounds of water, 6,800 pounds of carbon, 160 pounds of
nitrogen, 125 pounds of potassium, 75 pounds of yellow sulphur and other
elements too numerous to mention. Our contribution? About 8%!
With
best wishes
Ronnie
Nesbitt
Rector of Bangor Abbey |
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