Thanksgiving Is A Choice

 Someone who knows I do this blog, and who's opinion I value, asked me today if I was planning to write a blog for Thanksgiving. I have been feeling melancholy of late in spite of the fact that I have much to be thankful for, so, I am a real-life example of someone who can be having a personal pity party and still have gratitude. In spite of myself and my personal pity party, I do feel led to write a blog on Thanksgiving, for Thanksgiving. So, here goes.

I believe that thankfulness, gratefulness, faith, and love are congruent with each other as far as being attitudes of choice. Most of these are also part of a grouping of a specific nine aspects considered part of the "fruit of the spirit" as discussed in the book of Galatians in the Bible. What if it is true that Thanksgiving, aka giving thanks is simply a choice.

I tend to vacillate from pondering my many blessings, to feeling sad about certain things. That which saddens me are things like world events, unfulfillment in relationships, things I have not accomplished or the ways I have grieved God or disappointed people in my life. We all have peaks and valleys throughout our lifetime. No one said life would be easy, yet it does not need to be as difficult as some people choose to make it. Life is full of many difficult choices, and if one is to take the moral high ground, the choices can seem even more challenging. That is why I am most thankful that the one and only creator of the universe sent his one and only son to die and pay the penalty for the misdeeds of any and all who believe in Him, and who follow His teachings.

What I am most sad about this Thanksgiving is the attitudes of some people since the most recent United States presidential election. In fact, 'sad' is too soft a word to use for how I, and I am sure, many others feel about the attitudes of certain people these days. Words like, 'appalling', 'unbelievable', ignorant, 'uninformed', 'self-righteous', and 'narcissistic' come to mind.

The people whom I am referring to are those who are boycotting holiday festivities with their family members/friends that voted for President Trump. I am inclined to believe that these people who are even refusing to talk to Trump voters, or who are unfriending them on Facebook, are the same kind of people who want those who could not afford to go to college to pay their student loans for them, And/or the same kind of people who think that killing babies is an okay form of birth control or those who think that boys should be able to go into girls bathrooms, or that men should be able to play in women's sports or need a fainting couch because their liberal agenda got squelched with the most recent election.

So, yes, I choose to be thankful for my family, friends, neighbors, the clerks at stores, etc. whether we agree on spiritual or political matters or not. I am thankful to live in a country that values the freedoms that we do. I am thankful for the life that I have now, which I will not take for granted or assume I deserve. Life is short, so I hope I will always value the time with those I care about, what about you?


Comments

Bill Meiter said…
Life is short... we must cherish the time!
December 4, 2024 at 8:05 AM
A JC Truth Seeker said…
Indeed! Thank you for your response!
December 9, 2024 at 2:51 PM
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