Sunday 6 April 2014

Tudor Farm by Susan L.

  I've been following a show on TVO called Tudor Farm. It is being done by a group of three people who have also done other series about historical farming methods right through to WWII. They have also done shows about the history of pharmacies. It fascinates me.
  What has struck me about this one is how much faith is woven into every aspect of Tudor lives. As an example, when they eat their noonday meal, everyone who works on the farm sits down together. The linen covered table is laid only on one side. It's meant to mirror the Last Supper. Everything they do has a connection to faith, God and the church.
  Their pea crop was struggling. Wild animals had been nibbling at the tender green shoots. One of the practices was to break up a piece of the Host, communion bread smuggled out from the church, and sprinkle it over the field for protection and I suppose a blessing. I smiled to myself as a non-believer re-enacted that strategy with the comment, "It can't hurt." He had done this without anyone but the camera man knowing. They ended up having a bumper crop. I wasn't surprised. I know he was but even so put the emphasis of the success on this act of faith.
   This show is a learning opportunity that drove home the necessity faith becoming a thread woven through every aspect of my life. It helped me realize that ritual can be a powerful tool in order to connect with the Lord. I could take the mundane and make it something holy like drinking my glass of milk from a goblet. Every glass could become a reminder of the Cup of Christ containing the joys and the sorrows of life..
  It's easy to forget to do this sort of thing in the busyness of our lives. It's easy to get derailed by unexpected events. It isn't so easy to remember that God is with us in every single aspect of our lives.
  "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to (offer?) salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."" Rom 1:16-17
 

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