Thought for Today
Nehemiah 12:46 For in the days of David and Asaph long ago there was a leader of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.
Psalm 50:23 Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God."
2 Corinthians 4:15 Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
“In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the Thanksgiving holiday to the next to last Thursday of November In late 1941 . . . Congress approved and Roosevelt signed a proclamation officially designating Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday in November.” (en.wikipedia.org)
Irrespective of which historical account you prefer for the origins of our national day of Thanksgiving, irrespective of your ethnicity, your religion or lack thereof, your national or regional heritage, irrespective of whether you live in a blue state or a red state, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Today is not intended to be a day of celebration of anything more than the fact that we live in a nation graced with abundant natural resources, vast land and relatively safe borders. Ours is a nation providing freedoms and safety to all who legitimately dwell here. We may not even yet fully embody the ideals of our Founding Fathers, we remain a ‘work in progress,’ but we are still trying to meet those lofty goals.
I often remark that there is no better holiday to enjoy than one dedicated to food and football. Of course, neither food nor football is the rationale for today. Neither is this really meant to designate the official prelude to Black Friday. Today is not about where we came from, what we plan to buy tomorrow, not about who our ancestors were, not about whether or where we will worship. Today is about offering thanks to whatever deity we do worship. Whether God or Allah, even whether you sadly worship economics, today is about offering thanks.
Today should be about family and/or friends gathering around a table, sharing food and fellowship and being thankful for whatever we have. Some of us will have a traditional Thanksgiving meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and whatever other family traditional dishes we prefer. Others will celebrate with other foods. Today is not about the tryptophan-induced post-meal foggy haze many will enter before or after watching ‘the big game’ on television.
It matters not whether you are a Packer fan, a Bears fan, or a fan of any of the other teams who participate in our modern, American gladiatorial games. Today, it is all about the fact that we are citizens of this nation. We are citizens of ‘the home of free and the brave.’
No matter where or how we offer our thanksgiving, no matter to whom we offer that thanksgiving, maybe today should also be a day we take special note of the words in our Pledge of Allegiance, “One nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.”
Are we there yet? I do not believe so. I do believe we have struggled to get there since the beginning and continue to struggle to get there today. We may disagree on the details of just what it means to be “One nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.” We may disagree on just exactly how we will ever become “One nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.”
Today, our disagreements are not the issue. Today is all about being a celebration of thanksgiving that we can be part of the journey to get there. Enjoy this day!
Stay safe, be thankful, trust God,
Pastor Ray