Every week, the Harborough churches write for the Harborough Mail. This week, it is the turn of Rev. Andy Murphy, Methodist Minister in Market Harborough, Rothwell and Kibworth, and St. Giles’ Church, Desborough.

Many churches and schools have been celebrating harvest festivals in the last few weeks. I’ve been encouraging my churches and youth group to think about a ‘Harvest of Kindness’. It’s all about sowing good seeds in the world around us. Let me explain...

My garden doesn’t need any help growing weeds and wild flowers! Left to their own devices, these things take care of themselves. Of course, this is not a bad thing. Many weeds are essential to the survival of life on earth; wild flowers are vital for the pollinators such as bees, wasps and butterflies. Weeds can also help to add vital nutrients to the soil.

But, when it comes to farming and agriculture, weeds can choke the crops or stop them growing well. So, the Bible often uses weeds as an analogy for some of the negative things in life.

The Bible also talks about ‘reaping what we sow’. And this is not always meant to be a threat! It’s often an encouragement to plant good things instead. The prophet Hosea said, if we plant seeds of righteousness, we’ll reap a harvest of steadfast love (Hosea 10:12). St Paul said, if we sow the things of God’s Spirit, we’ll reap eternal life! (Galatians 6:8).

So, I was thinking about this world we live in today. And, if we keep an eye on the news, politics and the media, it can be easy to lose hope about the direction the world is heading in. What I notice most is how the divisions between different groups of people seem to be getting wider and sharper, without a lot of constructive dialogue in the middle. And leading the charge, there are people with certain vested interests who are persuading us to buy into hatred and division all the more.

In a world where weeds grow naturally, do we really need to buy this stuff? Would you buy a dandelion from a garden centre? Would you buy thistle seeds to scatter on your lawn? Would we deliberately plant brambles among the roses? I don’t think so. So, why do we seem to think that more hatred, division, prejudice and intolerance are worth having? I think we’re better than that! I think we’re capable of so much more.

If we want a better world, it’s up to us to sow seeds of the good things we want to grow: kindness, compassion, encouragement, hope. Smiles to strangers, words of welcome to visitors, unexpected acts of kindness and selfless charitable deeds can lead to a harvest of kindness. Many people are trying to do this already. Let’s together transform the world from this overgrown mess, to something that reflects the beauty, order and peace we know we are capable of.