Words of Light and Hope from Tony Fottit

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Foottit.
Wheat – 31st August – Aidan.
Aidan was an Irishman who helped to evangelise Northern Britain
from his headquarters on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. Celtic
spirituality is increasingly appreciated with its celebration of the
natural world. Wheat provides a good proportion of our food in
bread and cereals. A large proportion of our needs are met by
plants and trees. Wheat shares certain characteristics with all
flowering plants. All have roots, stalks, leaves, flowers and fruits. We
obtain a lot of food directly from roots, such as carrots and
parsnips, beetroot and radishes, potatoes and artichokes and from
many products of roots such as sugar, horseradish, ginger and
chicory. Every plant depends on its roots to live and flourish.
Unseen roots draw water and minerals from the soil. You and I have
roots too, parents, ancestors, history and experience. But our
taproot is God himself who gives us life and love and grace. In the
story of the sower, the seeds with no roots withered and died. So
we give thanks for roots, the ones we eat, but also our own roots,
which makes us the people we are and most of all for God himself
who is the source of our life……..
The whole purpose of roots and stalks and leaves and flowers is to
produce fruits and seeds. As well as grain for bread and grapes for
wine, we enjoy apples and plums, strawberries and raspberries,
tomatoes and marrows, peas and beans, exotic avocados and
humble blackberries. But the fruits of the harvest are not equally
shared. It is so easy to break the 8th Commandment, Thou shalt not
steal. We break it whenever we overcharge for what we sell, or
underpay for what we buy. Roots stalks, leaves, flowers, and
fruits – we could not live without them. Holy Communion is a
continuing drama of the sharing of all good gifts. In this great
sacrament Christ enters our very lives in the bread and wine which
are themselves products of seeds and fruit. Aidan died on 31st                                                                                                                                         August 651.It is good to realise that we are united with him in the
communion of saints. (From a Calendar of Wild Flowers – part.)