Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is a day set apart for giving thanks.  It is a day steeped in tradition and goes back to the roots of our country.  Who doesn't remember Thanksgiving pageants with Pilgrims and Indians in elementary school?  It is a day for family sharing a meal and spending time together. Most of all it is a day to pause and reflect; to count our blessings.

Unfortunately, Thanksgiving Day is being overshadowed by Christmas - not the Christmas that celebrates "the Word made flesh" but the commercial season of Christmas.  Stores and ads seem to jump from Halloween right to Christmas. Black Friday is now becoming Black Thursday as more and more stores have pushed openings to Thanksgiving.  Sad to see Thanksgiving become just another day of buying and selling in the marketplace.  But we can make choices, and I will choose to honor Thanksgiving by giving thanks.

I am blessed with family, friends, and a church family who are always there and are a constant presence in my life.  I live in a country that does not dictate religious beliefs; I am free to worship and express my beliefs. I am thankful for health and well-being and the ability to experience God's creation.  Most of all, I am thankful for God's mercy and grace through Jesus Christ.  What a blessed assurance!

This Thanksgiving is touched with sadness.  Our church family lost one of its saints this week.  Frank Miller passed on to new life with The Lord.  He will be missed by many, but his suffering is no more. Frank was a gentle man who always looked for ways to help others.  He was a true friend and teacher, and in many ways a father to me since my Dad died in 2004.  I learned a lot about gardening and carpentry from Frank, but most of all I learned from his example.  Frank had a quiet way about him, a steadfast faith, and a generous heart.  If you drive around McDowell County and see a ramp at a home, it is a good bet that Frank and a crew of volunteers built it.   Frank Miller will be missed greatly by his devoted family, his church family, and many friends. We can honor his memory by living thankful lives, loving our neighbors, and practicing generous justice; just as Frank did.

Give a prayer of thanks this day for blessings received.

Happy Thanksgiving!