May our early Thanksgiving remind us to stop and give thanks.
Thanksgiving is early this year. The latest it can be is November 28th and the earliest is November 22nd. I don’t know what makes it fluctuate, but since I am someone who looks for God’s fingerprints in the world around me, I suspect this year’s early arrival was Divine intervention.
This year’s little midterm elections which are usually a blip on the screen, were particularly ugly and contentious with an extra helping of accusations of cheating from both sides of the aisle. There are several states who have people in key races who have refused to concede, including my own, and once again, the state of Florida has some major voting issues, leaving the country in limbo.
We are clearly divided as a nation, yet there are some things that tend to bring us together. Thanksgiving is one of them.
It’s a uniquely American holiday that calls on us to stop what we are doing; this means working for most of us, but maybe specifically this year, fighting with each other, come together, and give thanks for all we have and let’s face it, we have a lot.
The vast majority of us have electricity, roofs over our heads, clean water and plenty to eat. Even our poorest, have more than those in other parts of the world. Sure, we can absolutely do better and we should definitely strive to do so, but we have no doubt, been blessed.
We have the goal of educating every child in this country, regardless of their sex, race or religion. The American dream is still a shining beacon to those who seek to work for it.
We are free to worship in the way that we see fit here, something that we tend to take for granted. It’s easy to forget that Christians in some parts of the world are killed or tortured everyday for acknowledging their belief in Jesus.
Division has often been a part of American life. From our nation’s birth, with the Loyalists and the Patriots, to the North verses the South, to the Civil Rights Movement that rocked us, but eventually made us stronger, we have always disagreed with each other.
But, in the end, we have always come back together. May this early Thanksgiving remind us how much we actually have in common and Who we have to thank for it, because in the end, acknowledging the Who, can unite us all.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂