November 2022 Monthly Letter
I am happy to have Sheila Graham share some of the reasons we still have so much to be thankful for.
Jannice and I would like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.
A Time of Challenge and Thankfulness
“Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” Dorothy cried in The Wizard of Oz when she found herself in a strange, unfamiliar land. I’m beginning to relate to Dorothy’s anxious cry. Only I’m crying, “Division and violence and plagues, oh no!” Starting the day with bad news, like hungry wolves attacking from every media source, I feel overwhelmed sometimes. What’s going on in the world? Have we gone nuts?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not longing for what some call the “good old days.” Those days may have been good for the few but they weren’t so good for a lot of others. And, if you’re a student of history you know those days were few and far between. We tend to forget we’ve always had our problems.
But, though life has its challenges, I’m not discouraged. No matter what we’ve been through, I’m thankful to live in this country. In spite of all that’s happened in the last several years, we still have so much to be grateful for. For one biggie, we are free to worship God. We don’t have to sneak around in fear of our lives to meet together or to read the Scriptures. Not everyone in this world can say that. Believers are persecuted as well as martyred in many places in the world.
Even if some of us have little of this world’s material goods we are wealthy compared to most of the world’s population. Is there food in your refrigerator and pantry? Be thankful. Look around you at the supermarket. Most of us are not going hungry! We may be paying more for it, but we have food and clothing and shelter.
Are you relatively healthy, with only minor complaints? Be thankful. If not, we live in a land where medical relief for most of our ailments is a CVS or a 911 away.
I’m optimistic about our young people. Okay, they’re not perfect, but I for one can’t throw any stones. They seem much more at ease with one another and take for granted they can get acquainted and be friends, no matter racial or cultural differences. It wasn’t so long ago that wasn’t the case. They also seem to have a respect for our God-given earth I don’t see in many adults.
We have a day set aside once a year to remember to be thankful. With all the freedoms and material blessings we have, that hardly seems enough. No, I don’t deny the negatives in this world, but gratefulness is an attitude of mind. If we’re not careful we can become fixated on all the bad we see and forget how blessed we are.
On Thanksgiving Day, while we enjoy our traditional meals and get-togethers with friends and family, let’s not forget to be grateful for the positives in our lives. And, every day, not just on Thanksgiving, let’s be thankful.
Sheila Graham has a master’s of arts in religion and a master’s of arts in women’s studies in religion. Among her published writings is The Proverbs 31 Woman and Other Biblical Women, coauthored with Michael Morrison, available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, which also addresses the question of what roles women can play in the church today.