The pivotal month in the British calendar

August is a month where the normal rhythm of life is disturbed in a pretty big way; what’s more it’s always been the case. The reason is ultimately to do with food. Following a few months of warmer sunshine, August historically saw the ripening of grains making August a very intense period of manual labour to bring in the harvest.  This is something that would have involved a large proportion of the rural community, young and old.  Schooling therefore was impractical during this period, making August the core month of a longer summer break from lessons.

The closest most of us get to the harvest now is when we’re stuck behind slow farm traffic as we travel the countryside during our summer break. While the harvest still needs to be gathered, today it’s achieved with a fraction of the original workforce.  Instead of August being synonymous with ‘labour’, for most of us it now represents ‘leisure’.

In spite of our modern disconnection from the harvest, let’s be mindful that our creator continues to keep the promise he made to Noah in Genesis that ‘Seed time and Harvest will not fail as long as the world endures’.   It’s amazing how blessed we are with food and a great reason to be thankful to God.

So if we do get stuck behind harvest traffic this month, let’s be patient with those few who work long hours to gather it.  But for their bulky, slow moving farm equipment, August might still be a month of hard labour for us also!

Why not join us for our Harvest Thanksgiving Service on 1st October at 10am?  It’s a chance for us to be thankful to God but also give a little back through collecting food for the great work of the Ashby Food Bank.  Put it in your diary!

Useful Bible passage to look up: Luke 12 vs 22-31.

Photo by Lukas Budimaier on Unsplash