Lammas.

Blessed are you Fruitful One, Giver of abundance and plenty,

Giver of resources when stocks are low.

Strengthen me with all I need as I set out this day.

~ A Celtic Prayer

Kellie and I have been talking about making our own pasta for years, but it wasn’t until last week that we finally bought a pasta maker—you know, the big metal contraption that rolls and cuts dough into fettuccini and various shapes. We watched a great video online to get oriented, pulled out flour and eggs, and got started. And although we still have a lot to learn, we were delighted with the results (which you can see above).

The first of August marks the Celtic celebration of Lammas (or Lughnasadh), the beginning of the grain harvest (the earliest of harvests). Lammas comes from the Anglo-Saxon meaning “Loaf-Mass,” or communion bread, or first fruits. You might also recognize an etymological connection with the Lembas bread of Tolkien fame. At Lammastide, the halfway point between summer solstice and autumnal equinox, it was customary to take a loaf of fresh bread made from the new crop to the gathering of the faith community. Personally, I think this would be a brilliant custom to revive!

Here is more of the Celtic prayer above: Praise to you Unseen Love, for you buried deep within me the seed of life and watch me grow from newly green to golden like the fields that turn at this time. Praise for the tenderness of your eye when I survey the first fruits of all that I have harvested this year.

I had a sacred moment this morning pondering the “first fruits” of this season… and I invite you to do the same. What is coming to harvest in your life right now? What feels “abundant and plentiful”? Take a moment and name those gifts with gratitude.

Recognizing the fruitfulness of each season is a crucial spiritual practice: It will reinforce the narrative of your journey, either confirming the abundance that surrounds you or the scarcity you’ve written into your storyline. The human condition is marked by both provision and loss, that’s a given. But then we also learn to interpret our circumstances to match an identity of our own making: We tend to caricature ourselves as unduly picking the short straw… or alternatively, the object of unmerited generosity. Do you recognize either of those postures in your own storyline?

Praise for the new seed from the old that will flourish with the coming year in ways that I cannot imagine. Praise to you.

Since these mindsets become self-fulfilling prophecies, it’s important how we view ourselves, and honestly, I have struggled right at this point at times. Today, however, I feel overwhelmed by the kindness of God and the rich variety of blessings that accompany me in this season. I have known—like you probably—the leanness of “winter seasons'‘; those seasons serve a necessary purpose as well. But here in the harvest it’s good to celebrate! It’s good to gather around the table, raise a glass of thanksgiving, and eat fresh pasta.

growing the soul

Find someone today with whom to name your first fruits.

serving the world

Then share your first fruits with someone else around the table.

takeaway

Name your harvest.