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To the earliest hunters and gatherers, the struggle for survival was often a lonely experience. The mind was occupied with fetishes, charms, and magic in an effort to better the odds in the attempt to insure good luck over bad luck. The agrarian societies were among the first to enjoy true settlements. But they were still dependent, to some extent, on the luck of the draw. The dealer in the latter case was one of the many fertility and sun gods that evolved on each continent.
The farmer’s survival depended upon the success or failure of the harvest. They sought to curry favor with their temperamental pantheon through a variety of bribes we term sacrifices. When Melchizedek, the Sage of Salem, introduced bread and wine as a sacrament at what is now Jerusalem, the practice of sacrificing virgins to the volcano became less important to those competing for the favor of distant deities.
By the time Jesus walked the earth, the quest for understanding the Nature and Attributes of God had advanced to a point where Our Heavenly Father was seldom seen as mercurial or wrathful.
One of the ways we rise to a plateau, where we can truly enjoy what God has provided, is through the communities where neighbors gather for the modern day equivalent of a barn raising or bringing in the harvest. The harvest is a time for gathering, sorting, separating, sifting and sharing. It is traditionally a time when the community comes together to assist neighbors with their harvest. It is usually the most labor intensive activity of the growing season. Nothing of value is lost when the harvest is conducted properly.
For those able to appreciate the inspirational qualities of God’s handiwork, it’s easy to become enraptured by the beauty of the landscape. Ralph Waldo Emerson suggested we should “Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.” Rogers and Hammerstein observed “All the sounds of the earth are like music.” As we gaze upon and listen to the beauty of the countryside, we become more appreciative of and more responsive to the splendor of the stars and the music of the spheres.
All of the de-compacting, rock breaking, row clearing, and soil amending pays off as the objects of our labor come into full fruition. Whether the objects are hearts of lettuce the hearts and minds of humanity, there are similarities in the way we must work to produce results.
Grace is not a matter of luck. It is rather unmerited favor. As the faintest flicker of our faith becomes more serviceable, as our fledgeling loyalties become more dependable, our faithfulness yields increasing certainty as with the trust a child has for a doting parent.
Divinity is the unifying and coordinating quality of Deity. Our loving father is understood through his truth, his beauty, and his goodness. He has arrayed these like pearls on a drawstring that pulls us ever nearer to his heart. We are not coerced into God’s camp. We are instead drawn into the fold through the power of his love for us. We are attracted to his incomparable values, to his quality of coherence, and to his willingness to share even his divine attributes.
He has given us a perfection hunger that venerates all that is proven to be good. We, as an evolving species, have the potential to grow, to become unerringly appreciative of, and responsive to, beauty. And, we are insatiable as truth seekers. As we see the stars moving about some unseen center, and as we pay attention to the higher thoughts that stream through our consciousness, we understand there is much more to this life, than just what meets the eye.
In all of human experience as it relates to the pursuit of happiness, the joy of finding God is, by far, the most real. In the physical world the seedling had to poke through the soil and unfold its leaves as it reached for the warming fire at the center of our solar system. Similarly, our ancestors had to make their way from the slime of the lagoon floor, through a long arduous evolutionary struggle, to stand tall on the mountain tops. Even for them, while the blazing sun was once a focal point, the sun gods were not enough.
For those of us that need help to see past the sometimes blinding rays of the star at the center of our planetary system, God sent his son, that we should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus joined is in our struggle, meeting us on the long journey between the lagoon floor and the Paradise at the center of all creation. Today, he works along side us, doing the heavy lifting while at the same time nurturing.
When the community comes together for the harvest, the most labor intensive activity of the growing season, Jesus is working with us through the Spirit of Truth.