The Creator-God gives us a harvest every year, as he promised after the world-wide flood: "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease." (Genesis 8:22)

In Old Testament times the Lord God established a feast of harvest for those who wanted to live by his laws. We read about it in the Bible: "Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field." (Exodus 23:16) After the completion of the harvest the Isrealites thanked God for the abundant crop. At that time they gave a part of the harvest for the needs of the temple and for charity.

Today Christians of various denominations observe this festival, offering thankful prayers for the abundance that God has given.

In the Orthodox tradition, thanks for the harvest are given during a celebration that falls between August 1 and October 1, when the main agricultural work is completed (honey harvest, apple harvest, grain harvest, and others). Christians in the United States prepare a baked turkey for Thanksgiving as a remembrance of the fact that this bird, a gift from the local indians, helped the colonists to survive the difficult period before their first harvest, when they were in great need of provisions.

Our church offered grateful prayers to the Lord during the celebratory service on September 25. We gave thanks for everything: from the rains (offered by the children of the Sunday School) and harvest, to the surprising spiritual riches that we have received in Jesus Christ.

The regional elder Oleg Ivanovich Ovsiy used the inspired words of the Holy Bible to remind all of us of the reality of the harvest in the lives of each of us and called on each of us to search our hearts for any sign of the rot of evil.

In keeping with the tradition we have established, the celebration concluded with a "feast for all the world". No one was neglected or left hungry. Everyone who came to the church for the harvest celebration had the chance to sample both salty and sweet dishes, prepared carefully by the staff of the church kitchen, as well as by all the members of small groups of Salvation Church.

The harvest celebration is a useful opportunity to recognize God's mercy and provision in each of our lives. Perhaps most Christians give too little thanks for the plenty that the Lord provides them. Sometimes we become so accustomed to God's blessings in our lives that we take them for granted and we completely forget to say "thank you" to God. At the end of our celebratory service Radislav Tsurkan reminded all of us of the parable of the ten lepers whom Jesus healed. May the call to turn to the Lord with sincere words of gratitude cause us to fill our prayers with hymns of praise to our loving and caring Father.

Tatyana Varyanitsa