Harvest

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.
They will rejoice...as people rejoice at the harvest.

It is harvest time! About 85% of Cambodian people live in rural areas and the excitement of this season has reached the capital too. This is the time when families reap the benefits of all that they have worked for these past months. They have watched and waited for the exact change in colour that signals it is time to harvest the rice. Now they will bring the grain into the storehouses.

In the countryside families are getting up before dawn to begin their walk out to the fields and make the most of the daylight hours. Day-labourers in the provinces will have the chance to work, whether for cash or for grain. Many of Phnom Penh's casual labourers have disappeared. Young men with unskilled jobs or full-time study commitments are looking for ways to take a day or two off in order to head back to their hometown. They want to feel the weight of the harvest tools in their hands again. They don't want to forget the rhythmic actions they have learned since childhood; of cutting, gathering, tying and threshing. These guys want to be with their relatives at this joyful time of year. They say that nothing compares to the taste of rice you have harvested with your own hands.

I'm told that harvesting is easier than planting. Some work quickly and skillfully; others work more slowly. But nearly everyone can harvest.

The harvest season is almost synonymous with the start of the wedding season. It hasn't rained in weeks and the sky is a relatively cool 25-32 degrees. Hundreds of wedding invitations are sent, cooking fires are stoked, brides and grooms come together (even if they don't know each other well!) and guests bring out their best clothing. This is the season for feasting, dancing and flirting...

Unfortunately, this is another period of stress and struggle for some of the most vulnerable people across the country. One of my friends has been unusually quiet and heavy-hearted this week. The reason is that she has one question she cannot answer with certainty: "Who will bring in the harvest this year?" My friend studies full-time in Phnom Penh as does her brother who is closest in age to her. Her dad is locked into a $55 dollar per month job with one day off each fortnight. Her younger brothers study at school and at 11 and 14 years of age are relatively inexperienced and slow harvesters. Her mum is sick. (I asked what kind of sickness her mum has. She said, "She is sick from a lifetime of hard work. She is exhausted from heavy labour. She's sick from working non-stop and never having enough food to eat.") My friend was burdened with questions. Who will bring in the harvest? Can we afford to hire day-labourers? What will happen if we can't harvest the grain we have planted? Will this season's harvest be enough to carry us through the year?

Talking with people about the harvest season has helped me to understand Jesus' teaching. The harvest is ripe. Oh what an opportunity! What joy! This is the time for pre-dawn walks with our tools and for making the most of the daylight hours. This is also the time for weekend weddings and dancing! The workers are few. What a loss! Where are the workers? Don't they know that this is not a work for the specialised few but something that the entire community does together? Pray that workers may be sent out into the harvest. Amen.