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Viewpoint from Rev Helen Garrard 20/10/2023
 Rev Helen Garrard
Lead Chaplain, Norfolk Community Health and Care
and
Associate Priest in the Rockland Benefice (Bramerton Group)
and
Bishop's Advisor for Healthcare Chaplaincy
Hidden Harvest
Autumn is a time for noticing. We sense the changing season, with beautifully coloured leaves and fruit often enhanced by low sun and morning dew or mist. It’s a season laden with anticipation, connecting us deeply with the cycle of life; creation, recreation, and renewal
 In our Harvest Festivals this year I have handed out two beans and two apples to everyone in our congregations. The conversation which emerged enabled us to look at the difference between beans grown locally in East Anglia and across the globe in Kenya. We compared apples grown in the UK with others imported from New Zealand. We reflected on the year-round availability of produce which we have come to expect in our supermarkets so that we can enjoy soft fruit and salads in midwinter and root vegetables in summer
In many ways, this contributes to a rich and varied diet, but it also prompts us to think deeply abut food production, its impact on the environment and our wider responsibility for the earth we share. Year-round produce can also cause us to think about our own inner lives. Pressures in our lives and the world around us can make us feel that we should attempt to deliver the same year-round growth and produce that fruit and vegetable suppliers offer to us. We work hard, keep busy, meet many demands, face increasing pressures, using technologies that give the illusion that we really can be everywhere all at once
 Another opportunity which can be found within this harvest season is to help us connect with the true cycle of growth- not only in the fields around us but also in our deepest spiritual lives. The production of crops depends upon the seed lying deep within the dark, cold earth- just waiting for the spring; for the earth’s gentle warming, the sunlight’s return, and the right amount of rainfall to bring refreshment and nourishment. Then follows the fragile growth- the bud, the flower, and finally the ripening of fruit or grain; the visible harvest
Healthy spirituality means that we, like the grain, must not be afraid to be in dark places; places of waiting, wondering, and trusting, places perhaps even of depending on others, places of showing compassion when growth is hesitant and fragile, and then celebrating when fruit is borne
If we can embrace this, we can embrace sustainability, not only in our care for the environment but also in our care for each other
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