We often hear about the "Christian Right," or "Conservative Christians." Yet, if you think about it, Jesus was the original liberal.  He cared about motives more than the deeds themselves (Matthew 23:5 & Mark 12:41-43) and more about compassion than adhering to rules (Luke 6:1-11 & Luke 13:10-17). This blog will reflect liberal Christian values of compassion, tolerance, mercy, charity, a thirst for knowledge & understanding, and, above all, love.

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Giving Thanks

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"Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song." ~ Psalm 95:1-2

Thanksgiving - noun, is defined by DICTIONARY.COM as
[ thanks-giv-ing ]

  1. the act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors, especially to God.
  2. an expression of thanks, especially to God.
  3. a public celebration in acknowledgment of divine favor or kindness.
  4. a day set apart for giving thanks to God
I look forward to Thanksgiving every year, but not for the reasons one might think.  It's true I'm a foodie, and always welcome a chance to feast on a variety of culinary delights.  Yet, what I REALLY look forward to is the opportunity to thank the amazing people in my life, for all they do for me all year 'round.

There's not a day that goes by that I'm not floored by the extraordinarily high caliber of people who are in my life.  I thank God, daily, for these precious gifts of family and friends.  Yet, we live in a society in which spontaneous gestures of affection and gratitude can be seen as creepy and off-putting.

When Sarah Josepha Hale pestered President Lincoln to declare a national day of Thanksgiving, she was trying to unite a broken nation via a common honoring of the harvest.   Yet, it can also be a superb opportunity to thank the people in our lives for the roles they play.   I actually find it baffling that Hallmark hasn't turned it into a mega card holiday by now.