Missy and I attended a family wedding in Kittery, Maine, over the weekend. New England is one of our favorite places to travel, especially when the fall foliage begins its brilliant metamorphosis into a kaleidoscope of bright colors.
While attending a beautiful wedding on the shores of Kittery, a natural phenomenon also appeared in the deep, dark New England skies. The harvest moon rose across the Atlantic, filling the eastern coastal states with unimaginable light.
According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the harvest moon first appears nearest the autumnal equinox. Due to the angle of the moon’s orbit around the earth, it causes a full moon to rise above the horizon much faster than usual.
The name “harvest moon” came to describe this phenomenon because the moon rises near the hour of sunset, providing harvest workers in the Northern Hemisphere with enough moonlight on several successive evenings to allow them more time to harvest their crops.
Saving time meant saving money, also helping farmers get their crops to buyers more quickly. Clear skies during the harvest moon could mean the difference between a good and poor harvest.
As I waited on Long Shore Beach in York, Maine, for this year’s harvest moon to appear, I kept thinking about Jesus’ words, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Matthew 9:7).
While most Christians think this verse speaks to winning souls, another look at the saying provides an important guide for Good Faith Media’s vision and mission.
Jesus was healing the sick and providing hope for those suffering injustices. Religious leaders opposed such liberating work because it went against their stranglehold on people’s religious practices.
Prior to Jesus’ saying, he healed a paralyzed man, brought a young girl back to life, gave hope to a suffering woman, and provided sight and speech to a blind and mute man.
Jesus saw the world as a dark place needing light. He looked across the dark landscape of religious, political and economic oppression and decided enough was enough. The people needed a shepherd to lead them away from these oppressive systems and toward a new way of being.
At Good Faith Media, we too look out across a dark landscape of critical issues and oppressive injustices. We too are here to declare, “Enough is enough.”
We are committed to providing more light for people to do good work. We believe the harvest remains plentiful and people of good faith must continue to work diligently to bring in a harvest of compassion, goodwill and justice.
In the first sentences of John’s Gospel, the evangelist writes, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5).
(Photo: Missy Randall)
As my feet felt the rising tide of the Atlantic, I watched the harvest moon ascend into the New England sky. It did not happen quickly, but gradually darkness gave way to light. The deep, dark skies over the Atlantic acquiesced to the bright light of the harvest moon.
As the light intensified, the moon kept shining down upon me, engulfing me in a celestial glow. Missy captured the moment. The combination of the warm light and the sound of waves rolling into shore offered an unexplainable peace and hope.
At Good Faith Media, we work tirelessly to shine light into darkness – not for the sake of confrontational partisanship but because we truly think the way of Jesus is a better way. We think that compassion, mercy, grace and justice provide a hope surpassing our human understanding.
Under the harvest moon, walking the shorelines of New England, God reminded me that the harvest remains plentiful but the workers willing to do justice work still remain few.
Good Faith Media is always looking for partners, individuals and organizations ready to work the harvest under the light of Jesus. We would love to join you in your effort and have you join ours.
This moment in time is too crucial and too important for us to fail. We must unite our efforts to shine as much light as possible upon the ideologies and systems attempting to pull us back into darkness. We must look forward together, basking in the light of the harvest moon in order to work together for a better future.
