On the wall across the room from my desk is a lithograph by John Nash. It depicts the corn harvest and dates from the 1940s, when a series of pictures called “The School Prints” was commissioned. I’m familiar with many of the series – they still hang in my parents’ house.
“Harvesters” shows a cornfield mid-harvest. A horse-drawn auto-scythe with its characteristic big paddlewheel is working its way around the shrinking stand of wheat in the centre of the field, leaving a trail of sheaves behind. Men are collecting the sheaves and stooking them up. Others are chasing rabbits flushed from the standing corn, as are several dogs. One has a shotgun, and is shooting at a fleeing rabbit. Altogether eight men are gathered to bring in the harvest from one small field.
This scene is much what I saw in my early childhood, though tractors were just starting to replace horses. My memories are of whole families gathered to collect and stook the sheaves, returning after a few days to stack the sheaves on a trailer using pitchforks to throw them up to the boys working atop the growing pile of corn. Long summer school holidays originated from the need for whole families to work together at harvest time. The school year started when harvest was complete. It still does.
Nowadays we see much bigger fields harvested by a single person with a huge combine harvester. Far fewer people are needed to work the land. Whole families no longer gather together for harvest.
For the Christian, the harvest that is a focus of the Gospels is still a labour-intensive business. Whole families are involved, but it isn’t a once-a-year concern, filling the summer holiday; it’s a life-long all-year-round interaction with our communities. It’s a concern for people, an involvement in the life of others. It’s loving your neighbour, not just at harvest time, but all year round.
Bless you
Jon