The good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered
By God's almighty hand:
He sends the snow in winter,
The warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine,
And soft, refreshing rain.
He only is the maker
Of all things near and far;
He paints the wayside flower,
He lights the evening star;
The winds and waves obey him,
By him the birds are fed;
Much more to us, his children,
He gives our daily bread.
We thank thee then, O Father,
For all things bright and good,
The seed time and the harvest,
Our life, our health, our food.
Accept the gifts we offer
For all thy love imparts,
And what thou most desirest,
Our humble, thankful hearts.
But it is fed and watered
By God's almighty hand:
He sends the snow in winter,
The warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine,
And soft, refreshing rain.
He only is the maker
Of all things near and far;
He paints the wayside flower,
He lights the evening star;
The winds and waves obey him,
By him the birds are fed;
Much more to us, his children,
He gives our daily bread.
We thank thee then, O Father,
For all things bright and good,
The seed time and the harvest,
Our life, our health, our food.
Accept the gifts we offer
For all thy love imparts,
And what thou most desirest,
Our humble, thankful hearts.
All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above;
Then thank the Lord,
O thank the Lord,
For all his love.
Are sent from heaven above;
Then thank the Lord,
O thank the Lord,
For all his love.
The top four photos are of the lovely displays prepared at church by my friends Luise and Alison [such talented ladies]. I particularly love the smiling loaves, the huge rhubarb leaves, and the apple-tree lectern.
Most of the produce is going to The Bus Stop Club, which runs our local foodbank. I confidently expect more goods to arrive during the Morning Service. Anything they cannot take will be sold for charity.
The lower two pictures are of the wonderful autumn foliage I spotted in the Car Park in Ringwood, early on Saturday morning. Such vivid colours, they stopped me in my tracks.
Have you been involved in any sort of Harvest Thanksgiving event - and was it modern or trad? [I am looking forward to next Sunday too, when I shall celebrate Harvest in Norfolk]
Ours was this morning...and didn't look at all like your lovely traditional Harvest. Tins. More tins. But we did sing 'We plough the fields' which was a pleasure.
ReplyDeleteVery nice displays, both the contrived ones and the natural ones. I went to a produce show today and got a first for my onions and for a basket of salad crops. But my heart was set on the heaviest mangelwurzel but I was a poor second.
ReplyDeleteCanadian Thanksgiving is Monday, October 9th so I expect there will be some sort of Thanksgiving service and event on Sunday the 8th. I'm new to this church so not quite sure what their tradition is but they always seem to have something on the go so I;ll look forward to it.
ReplyDeleteThat table of goodies looks wonderful.
Margie, I had forgotten we were so close to the Canadian Thanksgiving. I must find out more about it, we hear more about the USA one in November here in the UK
ReplyDeleteOurs is next week. Am thinking it will be very traditional which I suspect will be a "good thing"
ReplyDeleteHarvest is my favourite celebration in the whole year. I was born in October and generally look forward to the cooling days and autumn colours, so restful.
ReplyDeleteMike and I attended Harvest supper n the village hall on Saturday evening. Beautiful salads, breads and ham followed by apple pies and crumbles. Then dancing (after a fashion) and a veg auction. All ages represented.
Currently I have been practising with our scratch choir for the Harvest service next Sunday. So much to give thanks for and we are so lucky.
We had our Harvest Festival last week and one of our members always makes a beautiful harvest loaf in the shape of a sheaf of wheat with a little mouse on the bottom. We put pictures on our facebook page and a friend from Loughborough commented that their church doesn't do harvest festivals any more. So very sad. Do enjoy yours in Norfolk next week.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I missed our harvest service or not as I was away for two weeks at a Christening and a birthday party-I hope not! We are singing Harvest songs at school. We are singing a modern version of We Plough The Fields which I learnt from a Harvest Supper at my old church 11years ago. It was a Tear Fund resource and it gas a nice syncopated, funky feel!
ReplyDeleteLovely photos! We don't tend to decorate our churches here for harvest quite as much as y'all do there -- it reminds me of the lovely Miss Read books, and how she and the school children decorated the church each harvest time. Our Thanksgiving isn't until late November, so we have quite a while yet. But Autumn is coming ... slowly ... it's really hot today.
ReplyDelete