BY STEVE DUNN
Seven days from now we will gather with loved ones or friends or strangers at the local soup kitchen to share a Thanksgiving meal. Some will have to go over the river and through the woods, others will have to fight their way through airport terminals, some will simply go their church, and some, perhaps the wisest and (most generous?) will rearrange the furniture, bring in some folding chairs, and invite people into their dining room to share in this meal.
I am thankful that I live in a nation that has included in its calendar a day for us as a people to express our thanks for the blessings and bounty that we enjoy. Typically, we have spiced it with a binge of football to go along with the binging we will do at the table. And now we have shortened it with shopping sprees that rival the military operations that overthrow petty dictators. At least we still begin the day with parades.
All joking aside, thankfulness is the mark of a healthy person. So much of the time our activities border on self-serving or self-aggrandizement, it is an important balance to be thankful for what you have and what you have received. And living in America, even those of us without much have a bounty of blessings compared to much of the rest of the world.
Those of us who are Christians recognize that we are not self-made men. All that we have really comes from a God of grace who owns it all because He has created it all. And it is His good pleasure to provide for those He has created and those He has redeemed --those that He loves.
So I hope that this Thanksgiving we will all pause and thank the One that blesses us.
I am thankful that I live in a nation that has included in its calendar a day for us as a people to express our thanks for the blessings and bounty that we enjoy. Typically, we have spiced it with a binge of football to go along with the binging we will do at the table. And now we have shortened it with shopping sprees that rival the military operations that overthrow petty dictators. At least we still begin the day with parades.
All joking aside, thankfulness is the mark of a healthy person. So much of the time our activities border on self-serving or self-aggrandizement, it is an important balance to be thankful for what you have and what you have received. And living in America, even those of us without much have a bounty of blessings compared to much of the rest of the world.
Those of us who are Christians recognize that we are not self-made men. All that we have really comes from a God of grace who owns it all because He has created it all. And it is His good pleasure to provide for those He has created and those He has redeemed --those that He loves.
So I hope that this Thanksgiving we will all pause and thank the One that blesses us.
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