Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. It's not the football - although I like football. It's not the awesome meal - although I don't turn down too many good meals. It's not hanging out with family and friends, although I certainly do love hanging out with family and friends. These are all great and wonderful things, but they are not the reason I love Thanksgiving.

I love Thanksgiving for its simplicity and pureness. Think about it for second. All other holidays have been commercialized beyond comprehension. Christmas, New Years, Halloween, Valentines day, even 4th of July have all be commercialized. They are about buying stuff that you need for “perfect” holiday. Presents, cards, candy, fireworks, etc. etc. We’ve lost the reason for these holidays; they are just commercials for big companies to make some big money. Certainly Christmas is the worst, but the other holidays are catching up quickly. There’s no pressure for any of this on Thanksgiving. Sure we all probably spend a little more time making a bigger meal. We spend a little more food, maybe a little more gas to drive to someone’s house and certainly the turkey industry has a great season. But Thanksgiving isn’t about how much you spend, or what you get, or sending cards, it’s simply about being thankful.

Part of Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation of Thanksgiving reads

“The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God… They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”

I like that. Spend time giving thanks. In our society we seem to spend a lot more time complaining than we do giving thanks. I wonder what our relationships with our family members would be like if we more thankful for that fact that they are in our lives. I wonder if we’d be happier on the job if we were thankful for the work and paycheck. I wonder if we’d be involved with our government (ie, we’d vote at election time) if we if we were thankful that we live in a republic that practices democracy. I wonder if we’d be more content with our house or car, if we were more thankful that we have a place to live and we don’t have to walk. I believe having a spirit of thankfulness would have a huge impact on our daily lives.

I hope you take just a moment or two this holiday and give thanks, it’s important.

LineRider

If you haven't played this little gem, you need to. It's simple and fairly addictive too. :-)

www.linerider.com

Are you ready?

That phrase can have a somewhat negative connotation to it. It’s almost like, “I’m ready, but I’m not so sure about you.” But it’s a question that we are asked and that we ask ourselves fairly often. Especially when we are wondering about something that we aren’t sure we are ready to undertake. Maybe you are learning to play an instrument and you try to play a piece of music above your skill level. Maybe you are learning to play a sport and you try to do something that is more advanced than your skill set. Maybe you are in a relationship and you push too soon, too fast and the other person isn’t ready for that level of commitment yet. Possibly you are trying to get into shape and you want to go run the LA Marathon long before you are ready to attempt such a physical undertaking. We experience, and watch our friends experience, things like this all the time. It seems like we are always hearing about stories like this. We try to do something we aren’t ready to do – and usually with poor results.

On the other hand, it seems that we need to try to do new things all the time to continue our growth. If I am playing the guitar, I just can’t play the same entry level songs all the time. At some point I need to try a more difficult song. I need to advance, to learn something new. The same thing is true with sports, getting fit and even relationships. We need to get better, or have a deeper/fuller relationship. It’s generally not healthy to just stay at the same spot or level all the time.

This presents an interesting conundrum. We need to advance, to learn, to move forward, but only when we are ready. How do we know when we are ready? How do we know if we are moving too slowly or too quickly? How do we maintain balance and keep moving forward and growing, but at the appropriate pace?

Schools have done a reasonable job at this. Students have certain levels that they should maintain and then they can move forward to the next level (class). But even the with all the years and effort that have been put into the educational system, it’s not perfect. Not every student performs well under that system. Some bloom early, some bloom late. Some students are great at memorization, some do better at application of principles, some are creative, and some are logical. We are all just a little different. So I’m not sure there is one answer to question of “am I ready for the next step?”. I think each of us is going to move through life slightly differently.

While there is no one answer that works for every situation, I think there are some principles we can apply.

1. Honest evaluation. Often times we aren’t honest with ourselves. When evaluating whether you are ready or not, don’t answer with what you’d like or wish to hear, but with reality. If you know you’ve only been playing the guitar for 2 months, then you know that you aren’t ready to play Eddie Van Halen’s toughest licks. Also some things are just going to take a while. If you are trying to recover from the loss of a loved one, or you are in recovery for an addiction, or you’re trying to recover from a life time of physical, emotional or sexual abuse – please realize that this is going to take a while. Be honest with your evaluation of where you are in that process.

2. Get the opinion of a trusted person. You’re best friend might not be your best option for this. They may not be as honest with you because they don’t want to hurt your feelings. But get the opinion of someone who you know will be honest. See if their evaluation of your progress matches with your evaluation.

3. Be prepared for growth bursts and defining moments. Things rarely grow linearly. They grow, then plateau, then grow again. My kids have huge growth burst now and again. All of the sudden they are inches taller than they were. Be prepared for God ordained growth bursts. I’m sure Noah didn’t think he was ready to build an ark. I wonder if Benaiah realized that the snowy day he went down into the pit with the lion and killed it was going to be recorded in history for everyone to read (reference 2 Samuel 23:20). There are moments when we grow and we are ready.

Now let’s ask the same question we asked at the beginning, this time with a positive connotation. Are you ready? Are you ready for what God wants to do in your life?

It's been quiet...

Yea, I know it's been a little quiet here. Sorry.

I've got a couple of things brewing in the back of my head that I need to ponder about a bit more before I am ready to write something. But something is coming.

I also have a new toy that I've been playing with (for the church). New toys are always fun! This one is fun because it gives us a lot more capability at church - but it's also more work. Nothing is free, eh? Come to church this week and you'll see the new toy in action. More later...