Over the next few weeks I will attend and officiate at several harvest festivals in our local churches.

They are always colourful and good occasions.

The regular pattern is a well attended church service. These services include a theme of thanksgiving to God for yet another year crowned with goodness and the bounty of the earth.

Generally the traditional hymns are sung such as: Come ye thankful people come.

Then follows a good feast in the parish hall or sometimes in the church itself. The old favourite, apple pie is nearly always on the menu.

These are always happy and valued community events.

Parishioners take time to decorate the church. Often there is a bit of competition in the preparations as different folk take responsibility for the flower arrangements, the sheaves of wheat, the harvest loaves and the garden fruits and vegetables that sit in the window ledges. It is similar with the catering for the meal that follows.

Enter a church decorated for a harvest service and you cannot escape the sense of bounty and of the fruits of the earth that are there for all to see.

We live predominately in a rural context and the relevance of bringing in the harvest is one that is not lost on us in a way that it might be in a town or city.

That said, if those living in cities or towns or indeed any of us, stop for a moment and reflect when entering any supermarket we would notice that there is before our eyes a rich bounty.

We can very easily take it for granted and expect it as part of consumer choice.

However these are the fruits of the earth.

Human labour and good husbandry enable the earth to yield plenty.

For those of faith this bounty points to the generosity and goodness we believe to be the character of the creator and upholder of all things. Whatever our views, not taking it all for granted is surely a good thing.

Harvest reminds us that bounty is not an inevitable consequence of the seasons. There are sad examples where mismanagement of fertile land and water supplies has led to dry lakes and deserts.