REFLECTION
57
Before the harvest is here, many months before we can reap, there has to be a letting go. The ground may or may not be fully prepared, and the timing doesn’ t always feel right, but there has to be, at some point, a letting go.
And this process of letting go can be hard, with fingers clenched and nails biting into the palms, fists tight with sudden tension, we hold on to our seeds, symbolising what we know, what we love, all we are comfortable with and all we pride ourselves as ours.
WHEN YOU ARE HARVESTING IN YOUR FIELD AND YOU OVERLOOK A SHEAF, DO NOT GO BACK TO GET IT. LEAVE IT FOR THE FOREIGNER, THE FATHERLESS AND THE WIDOW, SO THAT THE LORD YOUR GOD MAY BLESS YOU IN ALL THE WORK OF YOUR HANDS.
Deuteronomy 24:19
Letting go can feel dangerous. We lose control, saying goodbye to the hold we have over our lives, our circumstances, our work, in order to set it free and trust it to the wind. We never know where it will land, this dream of ours, this idea, that painting, that opportunity, but without the letting go there will be no harvest. Seeds have to be sown by throwing our arms wide, opening our hands and letting the seeds fall where they will.
This analogy can be taken so much further. Living today is so often about control, getting the right price for the right goods, keeping to the rules, protecting what we see as fair, holding on to all that is ours. There is little encouragement to give our ideas away, to share what we have with whoever wants to take it up and run with it as theirs. Ideas, thoughts, finances, it’ s a dangerous idea but it’ s not a new one. The most ancient of writings we have encourage us, whether metaphorically or physically, to not reap to the edges of our field, to leave the gleanings for the alien, the orphan and the widow. And if we forget a sheaf, not go back for it but to leave it for the stranger and the needy.
This is what letting go means. To hold things more lightly, to not mistake fear for what is unfamiliar, and to be unendingly generous, or as one translation says, give outrageously.
Give with joy, give without measure, give with only the recipient in mind – open handed and expecting nothing in return.
And for all that we give, God has a habit of giving back to us. Maybe not in kind, replacing like for like, but certainly in joy. We will harvest in other ways. God has a way of surprising us with his divine generosity.
So as we prepare to let go, to open our hands, to take a risk, let’ s pause and give thanks for what we have. The harvest will come. The sheaves will be gathered and shared and there will be plenty for all, especially‘ the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow’.
Jenny Hawke
Jenny Hawke is a London-based water colour artist and author. She uses her paintings to convey a sense of faith, peace and beauty. She also posts a thought for the day and a recent painting regularly on her Facebook page( bit. ly / JennyHawke). Jenny’ s website is creativegrace. co. uk.