Today I have a double dose of harvest festivals - or 'harvest vegetables' as they are known in my family because of what a five year-old Catriona allegedly said when she came home from school (can't recall it myself...).

This morning is GB 'parade' at D+2 where we are taking tins to give to the local 'food bank'.  In my role as 'Miss' I visited a supermarket to buy up large quantities of cheapy-creepy tins for the girls to give.  Many of our girls are from fairly poor families, if they come to church they won't have any tins to offer because their families need to put food on their own tables.  Part of me feels mean buying the budget brand stuff (though I lived on it for four years whilst I was in Manchester) because it seems to say to the recipients 'this is all you're worth'; on the other hand it does mean that each girl who turns up can offer at least one tin to the collection, giving her a bit of self worth.  It's a tricky one!

This afternoon at Dibley, I am giving every member of the church a plate of food and a leaflet with the 'stone soup' story to take away to make a simple meal for themselves and then inviting them to give to the BMS appeal what they might otherwise have spent.  Recent posts will make it clear that I, not the church, paid for these items - to give away church money, heaven forbid!  When I arrived here, we had the meagre harvest displays that so many churches muster by raiding their cupboards for short dated tins and bringing a few apples from the supermarket; after the service these were juggled round into gifts to our own 'over 60's' (so most people).  I was not sad when, after our building closed, this tradition died.  This afternoon we will sit 'cafe style' with no display apart from some Indonesian artefacts and be invited to consider our giving to help those whose lives are blighted by natural disasters.

I do find myself wondering about harvest these days.  When I read the OT accounts I wonder how we ended up with the tokenism that blights our worship these days.  Wouldn't it be great to bring a whole month's groceries and hand them over to the food bank, take up a large offering for BMS and then cook ourselves a good meal, share fellowship and laughter in God's presence and be aware of the inter-relatedness of all people -in Dibley or Indonesia?

"To give, and give, and give again, what God has given thee" - a line from an old hymn I learned as a child.  If we really did give like that this harvest, if I really did give like that, what a difference it would make.