SolaScriptura
Puritanboard Brimstone
Folks - In light of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday I wrote this and submitted it to be published and then distributed to every Soldier in my battalion next week. Enjoy!
Soldiers and Officers of 3-1 AHB -
Earlier this week as we were doing PT, I was talking with the battalion staff about how I'm going to take advantage of the forecasted good weather and put up my Christmas lights this coming weekend before it gets cold and icy. The XO got agitated and said, "We haven't even paused for Thanksgiving yet! No one takes time to be thankful!"
He brought up a good point, and it is the subject of this - my first pastoral letter to you: Are you a thankful person?
Many of us can remember when, after Halloween, stores and schools would adorn their halls and aisles with pictures of turkeys, pilgrims, Indians, and various other Thanksgiving themed décor. Yet that has changed. In our present time stores and schools frequently go straight from Halloween to Christmas - often transitioning to the latter before the former has even occurred!
Is it possible that this transition is not simply a shrewd business strategy to encourage spending and thereby increase profits? Is it possible that instead this change is a reflection of a larger cultural shift? A shift away from having any real sense of gratitude or sense of thankfulness? I believe it is. I think it is entirely possible that Thanksgiving is all but forgotten because far too many of us simply don't believe we need to be thankful.
Thanksgiving as a national holiday, indeed thankfulness in general, has at its core the idea that we have received something we didn't deserve and/or that the one who gave it to us was not obligated to give.
But in our day we as a society have become rights-focused, entitlement-minded, and narcissistically-oriented. We are conditioned to think that we are owed every opportunity, every good thing, every benefit, every happiness. And if we think that it is our right to have every good thing that we have - then we implicitly believe that it is the obligation of those around us to give us those things.
The change in mindset becomes visible in how we perceive ourselves in relation to others. Consider: We do not consider ourselves blessed when someone does something good for us. No, we're victims when they don't! We're not fortunate when someone gives us a "lucky break," we're wronged when they don't. I could go on. The language we use in our culture is illuminating.
But all of this "I deserve every good thing that does (or should) happen to me" mentality militates against being thankful or wanting to take a whole day to reflect upon thankfulness. After all, if I'm owed it, why should I be thankful for it?
So I ask you, as we approach this time of year where we take time to be thankful... are you thankful? Do you truly appreciate the good things others have done to or for you, the support and love they've shown you, the material possessions you have obtained, the position you have attained? Or do you simply think you're owed everything?
I for one am incredibly thankful. My family can tell you that I am not always pleasant. And yet my family has been gracious and forgiving of me all these many years. I'm thankful to have been given the opportunities professionally that I have been given that have set me up for long-term success. While I have worked hard, I didn't and don't control the disposition of my superiors towards me. So I am thankful. I am thankful for health, for financial stability and security, I'm thankful for the hard work of my parents to instill within me the values that I possess. But mostly, I'm thankful because I believe that ultimately every good thing that I - or you - have received comes from the hand of a loving and gracious God who has given abundantly even though we routinely ignore Him or think of Him like nothing more than a good luck charm. I'm thankful that in spite of me continually spitting in his face, God loved me and sent His Son to pay for my disobedience so that I might know and experience the forgiveness and blessing of God.
So I ask: Are you a thankful person? Or do you believe that you truly are so awesome that you deserve every smile, every act of courtesy, every bit of material wealth, every ounce of success, every minute of health... everything? I want to encourage you to pause and reflect upon just how much of what you have has been given out of someone else's graciousness. And be thankful.
Your Servant,
CH D
