Now that we are finishing off the rest of the turkeys carcass, lets consider: Thanksgiving was established by newcomers to this land who would have died without the help of the natives, who taught them how to survive, thrive, and prosper. Then those newcomers overran and murdered the natives for land that wasnt theirs to take, but that the natives were more than willing to share. We cannot commemorate this supposed holiday without taking account of the whole story behind it. Many of us (at least those of us who are spiritually or religiously minded) take this season to be thankful to God for this, that, or the other. This is a good thing, because we owe God all the thanks and praise that we can muster. But are we truly thankful? The newcomers were not truly thankful, or they would not have been able to massacre the natives. John teaches us that we cant love God, whom we havent seen, without loving our brothers and sisters whom we see every day. Im wondering if this principle can also be applied to being thankful. I think that, if we cannot be thankful to those who are with us all of the time, we cannot be truly thankful toward the invisible God. Here are some scripture references to help clarify this thought: Hebrews 13:2 -- Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Matthew 25:31-46 -- The Parable of the Goats and Sheep. Though this is a longer text, you need to read it in its entirety. The summary of it is this: If you have come upon a stranger and fed him because he was hungry, or clothed him because he was without clothes, etc., you have done the same to Christ. If you failed to do any of this for the stranger, you have also failed to do this for Christ. Your blessings or the lack thereof will be determined by how you choose when an opportunity to be a blessing to others and to be thankful to them presents itself to you. What do you think?
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 23:20:48 +0000
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