Pastor's Note

THE BEST TIME OF THE YEAR
August 5th, 2007

This is the time of year when I make frequent stops at fruit and vegetable stands. Once there, I buy sweet corn, home-grown tomatoes, plums, melons, and other fresh produce. It’s my favorite time of year.
I stop so often, first of all, because those fruits and vegetables are just so good. They are fresh and home-grown. We get tomatoes in the supermarket all year round, but this is the only time they taste the way they should. The season doesn’t last long, so we have to eat these wonderful foods while we can.
But there is something more basic about my love for this time of year. These are the days when we can actually see the direct connection between our food and the land that produces it. Throughout the year, we have food produced on farms, but there is often a gap between what is grown and our eating of that food. The food we eat in Ohio can be grown in California.
At this time of year, however, we can re-connect ourselves to the earth. We can see the bounty of our gardens. We can enjoy the harvest and the results of hard work, good earth, and the right weather conditions.
The harvest is good, and we are blessed. It’s also a time for whispering a little prayer of thanks for God’s wonderful goodness to us.