theBythams
the
church : revd jo's letter : september 2007 added 21/08/07 The hottest summer on record - 30o + every day - or so the weather forecasters predicted earlier this year? They seem to have gone remarkably quiet on the subject lately. For gardeners, it's been another strange growing season. Although I entered seven classes in the Little Bytham show, I had a real job to find anything worth exhibiting. My spinach disappeared without trace, my first two sowings of carrots failed; one never germinated and snails ate the second. The third produced a handful that was scarcely worth lifting. My squashes have yet to flower, and I have had three marrows off four plants. My beans have gone rapidly to seed and my tomatoes have blossom end rot. Only the garlic has flourished. And while this is frustrating, it's nothing compared with the anxiety of our farmers. Potato crops rotting in the floods, cereal crops flattened beyond recall, fields too wet to get machinery onto them, and now a movement restriction on livestock because of Foot and Mouth. With livelihoods disintegrating, years of effort counting for nothing, it is small wonder that levels of stress and depression in the farming community are at record levels. The Rural Stress network does much to help those who feel isolated and helpless, but it is important that we should support the farming community with our prayers as well as practical support. Buying local produce is the best way of showing support. I like Tesco's innovation of printing photographs and biographical details of their producers on the packaging of fruit and vegetables. I Bought Boston carrots, Spalding potatoes and Deeping broccoli this week, and know exactly where they were grown, and by whom. Perhaps it is just a marketing gimmick, but it gives me the means to buy local produce rather than items which have been flown in from all corners of the globe. And all this leads me to thoughts of Harvest Festival. This year it will be at Little Bytham on Friday 28th September at 7.00, followed bya Harvest Supper in Little Bytham Village Hall. You will all be very welcome. Are you a cyclist or walker? If so, Saturday September 8th is the annual historic churches `Ride and Stride'. The object is to gain sponsorship for visiting as many churches as you can between 10 and 4. Half the money raised goes to the Lincolnshire Historic Churches Trust, the other half to the church you nominate. Or why not just take the opportunity to visit some of our lovely old churches and take some exercise at the same time? If you would like to take part and find sponsors, forms are available from Marjorie Bradshaw (Careby), Sheila Robinson (Castle Bytham), Anne Garbutt (Creeton) or Hillary Lewthwaite (Little Bytham.) The next few weeks bring stress for other members of our community - those who have taken important exams. Some will be embarking on life away from home for the first time, others will be moving on to sixth form studies, some to the workplace. It's easy to forget how frightening and intimidating this can be. For some, the results bring only an overwhelming sense of failure and disappointment. It is hard in this situation to see that there can still be a bright future. Self-confidence is lost, and can be rebuilt only slowly. We remember all of them in our prayers, knowing that they are all precious in God's sight: Have no fear, for I have redeemed you; I call you by name, you are mine. (Isaiah 43.) With every good wish Jo |
 |