The wise theologian Howard Thurman left us treasures of deep insight and wisdom. His words continue to nurture and challenge me. In his book, “Deep is the Hunger” he speaks of the “Harvest of the Heart.”

“This is the season of gathering in, the season of the harvest in nature. Many things that were started in the spring and early summer have grown to fruition and are now ready for reaping. Great and significant as is the harvest in nature, the most pertinent kind of ingathering for the human spirit is what I call “the harvest of the heart.

Long ago, Jesus said that (people) should not lay up for themselves treasures on earth, where moths corrupt and thieves break in and steal, but that (they) should lay up for themselves treasures in heaven. This insight suggests that life consists of planting and harvesting, of sowing and reaping.

We are always in the midst of the harvest and always in the midst of the planting. The words that we use in communication, the profound stirring of the mind out of which thoughts and ideas arise, the ebb and flow of desires out of which the simple or complex deed develops, are all caught in the process of reaping and sowing, of planting and harvesting.

There are no anonymous deeds, no casual processes. Living is a shared process. Even as I am conscious of things growing in me planted by others, which things are always ripening, so others are conscious of things growing in them planted by me, which are always ripening. Inasmuch as I do not live or die unto myself, it is of the essence of wisdom for me conscientiously to live and die in the profound awareness of other people.

The statement, “Know thyself,’ has been taken mystically from the statement, “Thou hast seen thy brother (or sister), thou hast seen thy God.”    

                  Howard Thurman “Deep is the Hunger”