Golden Harvest

By Pastor Ryan Fletcher

How dear to me is your dwelling, O LORD of hosts!

Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest
where she may lay her young, by the side of your altars,
O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.

                                                                                        Psalm 84: 1, 3

In early December, I sat with Pastor Nhiabee Vang in a very full and vibrant fellowship hall for a New Year Celebration at Amazing Grace Hmong Lutheran (one of the three MAS New Ministries). The jingle of thousands of silver coins stitched to vests, blouses, and belts transformed communal energy into audible sound. The bright colors and intricate designs were reminiscent of a field of wildflowers in bloom against the backdrop of the celebration’s theme, Golden Harvest. Children danced. Traditional music was shared. Pastor Nhiabee welcomed community members and invited faith in the abundance of God for the year ahead.

Returning to our table, I leaned closer to Pastor Nhiabee, as he generously explained the significance of New Year in Hmong culture. In a word, he said Hmong New Year is about “homecoming.” It is rooted in the traditional belief that a soul that wanders from home needs to return at least once per year. The golden harvest is a spiritual harvest. It is the ingathering of our wandering spiritual selves that need to be reconnected with family members both living and dead.

In practice, Hmong New Year also gave dispersed people opportunity to share news, to find life partners, and simply enjoy the gifts of community. In symbolic games and dances, these rich traditions live on. And as Pastor Nhiabee explains, beneath these festivities lives a cornerstone of Hmong culture expressed now in Christian faith: the community calls our wandering souls back home.

 

Listening to Pastor Nhiabee speak of a living thing expressed in sights and sounds and smells all around me, I felt the ancient truth that he so clearly proclaimed. The Bible is filled with stories of wandering souls called back home. It is the story of Abraham and Sarah. It is the story of Joseph and his brothers. It is the story of Moses and the whole people of God. It is the story of every prophet. It is the story of Naomi and Ruth. It is the story of Jesus and his disciples. As the psalmist proclaims, “even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest.”

At Amazing Grace, Hmong New Year is an ingathering where weary souls find a home by the altars of the LORD. Members remain faithful to this homecoming despite the disruptions that have forced them to rebuild nearly eight thousand miles away from the place their ancestors called home. As Pastor Nhiabee proclaims, the golden harvest of New Year is abundant. In our connection to community, God provides all that we need for the year ahead.

I am deeply thankful for the witness and wisdom of Amazing Grace Hmong Lutheran, and I invite you to receive the good news that Christ proclaims in and through their community. Our wandering souls must return. In the LORD, even the sparrow has found a home!