The celebration of the first-fruits of the Harvest is one the oldest of human festivals, probably dating back to the very beginnings of agriculture in the Middle East about eleven thousand years ago. The domestication of crops like wheat and rye marked a step change in how our ancestors lived and how they organised their societies, and the mystery of how seeds germinated and grew must have been at the very foundation of religion. Wonder at the natural process, the sense of gratitude at the harvest bounty, and the impulse to celebrate the promise of food with which to sustain the community must have given rise to celebration and to worship of the mysterious source of life, as well as consciousness of its fragility when the Harvest was denied by nature’s harsher aspects.
Today we celebrate the first-fruits of the Harvest, a festival far older than the Harvest Festivals we hold in the autumn and one marked in various ways in many faiths and cultures. In the Hebrew tradition, the celebration of the first fruits is required in the Jewish Law, in the biblical books of Exodus and Deuteronomy. Christianity found it there, but found it also in the religions it encountered among the peoples of the lands it spread into. In these Isles, among the Celts, it was the festival of Lugnasad, among the Christian Anglo-Saxons it became Lammas, both celebrated on the First of August. It fell into disfavour among our Puritan forbears because of its Pagan associations, but today we are happy to celebrate Lammas once again – a time to remind us of our utter dependence on the Harvest, a time to give thanks for its promise, and a time to pause in thought and wonder at the natural process that sustains us and of which we are an integral part.
Our Pagan ancestors saw this in terms of the activities of gods and goddesses, our Jewish and Christian ones in terms of One God – as we may still do, seeing God as the Great Mystery, the one Source of all Being, the Divine Unity which pervades, sustains and encompasses all things, from our inmost selves to the farthest galaxy. But whatever the details of faith and belief, what matters is to be humble, grateful and reverent before the life-force that fills us and this wondrous universe that is our home.
1. The sense of wonder at the earth, its beauty and its bounty, and the consciousness that it is the work of a benevolent and generous God, is captured in words from Psalm 65 (vv. 9-13) READING
One Jewish Sabbath, which must have been at harvest-time, Jesus and his disciples were walking through a field. The incident is described in Mark’s gospel (2: 23-27) READING. Not only does this conjure up a delightful pastoral picture, it also contains a valuable spiritual lesson about religion – namely, that human need comes before the rigid requirements of dogma and custom – a lesson very much still needed today It is summed up in those words of Jesus (in verse 27), “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.”
2. The great Roman poet, Virgil, reflects the Pagan sense that the natural world is replete with the activities of gods and goddesses. His knowledge and experience of nature and of the agriculture that is dependent upon it is expressed in his poem, ‘The Georgics’. In particular he invokes the goddess Ceres, patron of farming and in particular of the grain harvest. It is from her name that we get our word ‘cereal’. Virgil sums up the farmer’s work and its dependence on Ceres in these words (Book Two, lines 513-519) READING (p. 93) And Virgil also stresses the necessity of paying due homage to the goddess and her fellow deities, many of whom shared in agricultural matters. And in this next extract, we also encounter an aspect of ancient Pagan religion that sits uneasily today, namely animal sacrifice. (Book One, lines 338-350). READING (pp. 67-68)
3. Ceres and her fellow deities persisted rather longer in poetry than they did in peoples’ real beliefs. In Shakespeare’s play, ‘The Tempest’, we find her putting in an appearance along with Iris, goddess of the rainbow. First, Iris introduces Ceres and her realm of agricultural riches READING. Later Ceres herself speaks, pronouncing her blessing on the earth READING (from,‘The Tempest’, Act IV, scene 1)
4. The natural world isn’t always about bounty and plenty, and the harvest is always vulnerable to both natural and man-made disasters. The Old Testament Book of Joel gives a terrifying vision of a land wrecked by such a disaster. In this particular case it is the result of a plague of locusts, which Joel likens to a marauding army – very appropriately, you might think. We read of this disaster in Joel 1 (9b-12, 17-20) READING. Joel sees this disaster as God’s punishment for sin, which maybe isn’t all that far from seeing many of the disasters of our own day as the result of the human impact on the climate and the natural world. But Joel doesn’t leave it there. God’s forgiveness follows repentance and the earth is restored. Perhaps there is a lesson and a promise for us too READING (Joel 2:21-24).
5. The lesson that agriculture and harvest aren’t always about lush fields and bountiful harvests is also found in the work of a Suffolk-born poet, George Crabbe, who gives a rather different and less sentimental picture in his poem, ‘The Village’ (Book One) READING. (p. 8)
Another English poet, who knew and loved the countryside, and found a peace there which was in contrast to his troubled life was John Clare. His poem,‘Summer Moods’, seems appropriate here READING. (p. 19)
6. William Wordsworth conjures the rather different picture of harvest-time in a lonely Scottish field in his poem, ‘The Solitary Reaper’. Here, in a situation and a setting very different from harvest as a communal enterprise in sunny English fields, a “Highland lass” sings songs of haunting beauty. READING (‘Selected Poetry’ p.167)
7. Our final poem, Mary Oliver’s ‘Little Summer Poem Touching the Subject of Faith’ (‘West Wind’ p. 36), is about the failure to see and appreciate what is around us in the summer countryside and what she calls “the honeycomb of the corn’s beautiful body.” At this Lammastide, let us resolve to open our eyes, our hearts and our spirits to the lessons of harvest time.
(CMR040824)
[Editor note: Public domain image ‘Lammas’ by IrenHorrors
Ipswich Unitarian Meeting House 