Rogation Days
This coming Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are Rogation Days, though you don't hear much about Rogation Days anymore. The word rogation comes from the latin word "rogare," which means "to ask." So Rogation Days were when Christians would ask God to bless their seeds and fields as they planted the crops that would (hopefully) feed their families and villages.
Rogation Days used to be a big deal, because so many more people were involved with farming and agriculture. Churches would be filled with people who knew they needed God's blessing upon their lives and labor in order to produce a bountiful harvest. Services on these days traditionally involved processions around the church, which the poet George Herbert interpreted as a means of asking God's blessing on the land, preserving boundaries, encouraging fellowship between neighbors who had become estranged, and charitable giving to the poor.
We won't have any services on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, but there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't rogare (ask) God's blessing upon all those farmers, ranchers, fishermen and everyone else who produces the food we so often take for granted. In the past 50 years or so, American food production has advanced so far that very few of us are required to produce all the food to feed everyone. But the loss of direct connection with our food growers and producers has come at a great cost: environmental degradation, animal cruelty, pollution in rivers and waterways, empty agricultural towns, and overfished seas.
It's time to get back in touch with the good earth God gave into our care and asked us to "tend and keep" (Gen 2: 15). St. Peter's has recently begun a partnership with St. Augustine's in Kingston to grow food for our hungry neighbors. I hope you'll consider helping out--planting, weeding, harvesting, or just asking for God's blessing upon all this wonderful, home-grown food we'll produce. If you can help, get in touch with Susan Raesner (489-0949), who will be glad to tell you more. It's a great ministry, with so many wonderful aspects. I hope to see you out there.
