The month of November is just beginning, and Thanksgiving Day is still several weeks away, but I am thinking of Thanksgiving. Giving thanks is one of the healthiest things we can do spiritually, and is recognized in the Bible as a noble Christian response to God.

Jesus’ parable of the wower (in Matthew 13 and in Luke 8) recognizes the blessing of a receptive response to God’s word, as he compares it to a farmer’s work. The farmer sows the seed, anticipates the harvest and rejoices thankfully in its bounty. Our Christian life involves sowing seeds of faith, anticipating a harvest that is a blessing to ourselves and to others and giving thanks to God who makes all blessings possible.

I grew up on a farm, but I have spent much of my life off the farm. Much of the food I eat has come from the grocery store; not directly from the garden or from the farm. Our community of Pea Ridge has changed through the years from being largely a farming community to being principally a bedroom community for folks who are employed off the farm. Today we may witness farming from a distance, as we pass by a cattle pasture, as we notice someone’s flourishing garden plot or as we take note of the few remaining corn fields and grain fields in our area. But to so many of us, the everyday connection to the soil, and the appreciation of our blessings rooted in the soil, is a distant and seldom entertained thought. To an extent, the reappearance and resurgence of local farmers’ markets is a new reminder of that connection which we human beings have with God’s creation through the soil and the growing crops.

It is good for us, as we thank God for our blessings, that we think not only of the blessings of monetary prosperity, or of bountifully supplied stores with goods at manageable prices, but that we think beyond all those to recognize the people through whom God brings us his blessings. It is harvest time. The crops are coming in, if they haven’t already been brought in. I hope we not only recognize the retailer, the shipper, the warehouser, the vendor, who help route the blessings to us; but behind them all, the farmers — who sow the seed, anticipating the harvest and who rejoice to share with God in providing for the needs of people.

One of our old church hymn books has this hymn which I have loved and appreciated, though it is not well known.

“We plough the fields and scatter 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 seedtime and the harvest, Our life, our health, our food.

No gifts have we to offer, for all Thy love imparts,

But that which Thou desirest, Our humble, thankful hearts!

Finally, carrying through on Jesus’ parable, as God has sown seeds of truth and purpose and grace, so may our lives of faith become a harvest of thanks and praise, a harvest of caring and love, a harvest of salvation and hope for all humanity.

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Editor’s note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is a retired Methodist minister with a passion for history. He is vice president of the Pea Ridge Historical Society. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or call 621-1621.

Church, Pages 2 on 11/10/2010