~H.U. Westermeyer~
I had the opprtunity the other night to watch one of the news shows whichn I rarely see anymore. This was by personal choice, for I got tired of the media drones and their nightly anti Trump, anti America rhetoric. Yet, as before, once again I was sucked into their trap. Nothing had changed, but I really hadn't expected much would. On one hand you had a polished looking dude who was bemoaning the very fact that this could have been a most thankful Thanksgiving...if not for Donald trump. As I was reaching for the remote, his female companion claimed that one of the things for which she was thankfull for this year was that the elections were only three years away. Ok, these are political hacks who get paid to spew their one sided opinions, I get it. However, almost everywhere I have looked this Thanksgiving season I see people who have somehow lost sight of how it is we got here. I'm getting to the point where America should have two holidays, the traditional holiday we know as Thanksgiving and another named simply...Thankless. It seems appropriate. I get that people are upset with the direction our nation is going in at times, that's expected in a democracy. But these opinions of discontent have zero to do with why we, as a people, gather with friends and family each year in Thanksgiving. No, we come together to celebrate that which we are truly thankfull for. I personally see these attacks on our traditional holidays as a assault on our culture, but that's just one mans opinion. I would venture to bet that if each of us were to stop a stranger n the street and inquire of them just why it is that we celebrate Thanksgiving that we might receive some very interesting responses. I'm not foolish enough to believe that the majority of Americans are blind to that true meaning of Thanksgiving, but I believe that we are losing sight of it. I recall a morning radio show host recalling how thankfull he was to go shopping on black Friday. Huh? Ok, popular American culture, I get it. To me, this is more about being thankless than that true meaning Thanksgiving.
For each new morning with it's light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson~
One of the reasons that I have a few different things for which I am thankful each day is because of the road by which I have traveled. I have seen struggle, poverty, dissapointments and the tragedy of death. All of these have left their marks on my life. However, it is not these for which I am thankful this Thanksgiving. No, I am not thankfull for them but thankfull that BECAUSE of them that I am the man that I am today. It is that path which we all travel which will have a huge influence on who we ultimately become. I didn't dwell in my poverty and dissapointments, but I did learn from them. I fear that far too many people today have forgotten that struggle which our very first settlers faced. Leaving the only home they had ever known for a uncertain voyage to a unknown continent. Along the way they faced disease, famine and death. What is it that kept them persevering? Hope. The hope of a new home and a new start. The hope that in that new home that they would finally be free to live as they wanted. The hope that they would succeed in their voyage. I venture to ask, what did these pilgrims have if not hope? There have certainly been times where all that I felt that I have had was hope. But where is it that we all too often place our hopes? Far too often, we may place our own hopes in the false belief in ourselves instead of in He who will never disapoint us. I once heard a pastor claim that life would be much easier if God were not so far away. Of course, this is not a belief that I share. We have no need to be closer to God, as He is already closer to us that He will ever be. The apostle Paul assures us of this in Galations 2:20, that it is Christ Jesus who lives through us today. Knowing this, we can be assured that He who never disapoints will always be with us.
What is it that we are thankful for? Prosperity, family and freinds? This is all well and good, but where would we be without hope?
1Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.God.3And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;4and perseverance, ccharacter; and character, hope. 5Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 3: 1 - 5 NKJV
~Scott~
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