Many thanks to all who came along and made the evening such a success.
The allotment will now be largely left to its own devices until spring, but if anybody would like to help themselves to the last of the onions or celery or any of the flowers, please feel free.
The first year has gone really well. The veg we grew in the allotment were generally better than the ones I grew in my garden in Newton Stewart and the flowers have been glorious. After Harvest Thanksgiving, we were able to give Caroline several bags of vegetables which she turned into delicious soup for us as part of a wonderful buffet which was well up to her usual high standard. The flowers have helped decorate the church for several weeks now.
Allotments are recognised to be very helpful to general well-being and even this miserable summer, we have had lots of fresh air and as much exercise as we wanted. The chocolate cup cakes were less classically healthy but seemed to go down well!
As Eric mentioned at the Quiz, the allotment is a bit of a visual aid. We planted seed or small plants, weeded and kept an eye on them and by some mysterious forces of nature, they were transformed into something strong and useful. The Christian faith tells of a great love and a great search. The same abundant Love that brought the world into being and created us to be beloved children transforms seeds into plants and plants into food, which is more than just a bare necessity but often something really delicious. It’s sometimes harder to see what goes on inside ourselves, but that same power is at work in us. If we let Him, God will, admittedly slowly and painfully, make His love grow inside us to change us to be more like Him. This process is less easy to see but no less real than the miracles of the world of nature that we see day by day.
If you would like to find out more, please don’t be shy about asking any of your church-going friends, including Eric. You might also like to pencil in Sunday 20/12/15 at 7 pm, when we have our Carols and Readings Service in the church with Creetown Silver Band providing the music and mince pies and mulled wine for afters. Please come along to what promises to be a great evening together.