Lets Really Give Thanks - A Call To Action

Thanksgiving is coming around the corner, so there is no better time to stop and think about one is thankful for. Giving thanks is important. I am nothing if not thankful for the blessings that have bestowed upon me in my life.

I am thankful for the the wealth of friends I have in my life. There are many poor metaphors I could make here regarding cups or cornucopias and overflowing abundance, but let it simply be said that I have more good friends in my life than any one person should enjoy. Friends who are more than just fun, friends who are supportive and giving. Friends who know when to listen to you, and friends who know when tell me the hard truths. I will not list them all here, but if you are one of those people, I thank you for all that you have done in my life.

However, I am thankful for more than just the people who make up the fabric of my life. Throughout my life, I have received a generous outpouring of the kindness of strangers. There is the woman who I don't know, who I have never met, who gave me $1,000 to cover a shortfall in my tuition. There are the people who helped me fix a flat tire, who gave me pieces of wisdom or insight, who simply let me cut ahead of them in line at the grocery store when I had less items than they did.

My life has been full of random acts of kindness, more than I can describe and likely more than I know. These acts are the work of God in our lives. They are the interconnectedness of us all manifesting itself in real action.

That is the point of this blog, real action. It is one thing to sit around a table with family and friends and talk about things you are thankful for. But how many of us have the means to make someone else thankful?

We waste a lot of money on things we don't need. So I ask you now, can you afford to buy a case of canned goods and drop them off at a food bank? Do you have the time to clear the clutter in your house and donate good items to the Salvation Army or Goodwill?

We all know people less fortunate than ourselves. What can you do to make their lives a little better? Maybe it is something that they desperately need. Even better, maybe it is something they don't know they need that you can provide. Share your blessings.

I gave thanks today. I bought two full hams. I have wonderful friends who ask nothing of me and give the world in return. As a small gesture, I left one ham in the refrigerator of the family with whom I will spend my Thanksgiving, the family I have spent it with for the last 5 years. If I told them I was going to do it, they would have told me not too, so giving and selfless they are. It is nothing compared to what they have done for me, but it is a token none the less, a token of appreciation for the blessing they have been in my life. I owe them more than they can know.

The second ham I took to my local rescue mission as a donation for their Thanksgiving. Again, this was a small token, a drop in the bucket compared to the greater needs of the people there.

I challenge you, dear reader, to do the same. Do not say what you are thankful for this year. Show your thanks. Show your friends, your family, your loved ones your appreciation. this doesn't mean you need to buy them something. I simply lack imagination. Do something unexpected. You know what they need in their lives. Fill a need, and show them you are thankful.

I also challenge you to perform a random act of kindness. Help a stranded motorist fix a flat tire. offer to buy a stranger's meal. take a minute out from your life, close your eyes, and you will know where there is need. Fill that need. Be thankful. Be the blessing.

If you read this, and it motivates you, please, forward it on to others. Make this a rallying cry. Post a comment here, share your blessing. It is a harsh and cold world for all of us when we walk it alone. But when we help one another, when we show our love, we become more. We all benefit, the giver and receiver.

Maybe your random act of kindness will spur someone to their own act of charity. maybe you restore someone's faith in their fellow man. Maybe they will give thanks to you this year. We always ask for blessings. We can be the blessing.

What makes Right... Right?

Morality. Whether consciencely or not, this is something we all deal with. How do I act moral? How do I live morally? How do I live rightly? Why do others do things that are wrong? Why do I do things I know are wrong?

Throughout human history, there have been several moral codes laid down for people to follow. All religions have some sort of moral guideline that it requires its believes to adhere to. Jesus famously laid down the Golden Rule in Matthew 7:12, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." He was referencing an earlier scripture from Leviticus 19:18, "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD."

Christianity is not alone in setting this ethic of reciprocity. From Confucius we get, "Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself."

Hinduism: "That man who regards all creatures as his own self, and behaves towards them as towards his own self, laying aside the rod of chastisement and completely subjugating his wrath, succeeds in attaining to happiness."

The Muslim Qur'an commends, "...those who show their affection to such as came to them for refuge and entertain no desire in their hearts for things given to the (latter), but give them preference over themselves"

From Taoism, "The sage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as his own. He is kind to the kind; he is also kind to the unkind: for Virtue is kind. He is faithful to the faithful; he is also faithful to the unfaithful: for Virtue is faithful."

Ok, so all religions have a general rule for being good, or virtuous, or righteous. But that doesn't answer the question at hand, just why is that right? For Christians, Jews, and Muslims, the answer is as simple as , "Because God said so." On the other hand, Eastern faiths, such as Taoism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, do not have same centralized authority figure, yet they have the same rule. So we still don't have an answer.

Instead of trying to decide why some things are right, maybe we should look at the problem from another point of view. What makes something wrong? For Christians, this might be asked as, what makes something a sin?

God is the ultimate Good in the Universe. God is Love. Being close to God is being connected with Him, with the Universe, with everyone else. When you feel love, you feel close, connected.

God wants us to Love Him. Because one cannot truly love anything unless they have a choice, God has granted us Free Will. Therefore, we have a choice; we can choose Love by choosing God, or we can choose to not accept God.

Therein lies a problem. When we decide to choose against God, we lose the power of that connection, the power of the Love that He is. We replace Him with our own desire. Our desires are inherently selfish. When we make a decision with only ourselves in mind, we are wrong. We sin. We do not only commit a wrong against the victim of our selfishness, but also against all people, and God.

When we disconnect from God, it leaves a hole in our lives. How do we fill that hole? We try to fill it with our desires. Food. Sex. Sports. Gadgets. Hobbies.

But where does that leave us? Do we still feel empty and unfulfilled? Yes. Only God's Love can make us feel complete.

So, how does this come back to "doing unto others?" When we start to frame our decisions, our lives even, in the context of serving others, we connect with them, and we connect with God. It leads to a higher plane, and a higher path. When we connect with that Love, suddenly we can find ourselves not being concerned if things are right or wrong, because by doing unto others, and therefore doing unto God, we will be doing the right thing.

God Speaks To Us in Mysterious Ways

I am slowly coming back into my church life, a life I abandoned over a decade ago. One of the things I am trying to begin again is a daily devotional. In the past, I was an undisciplined reader of the Bible. I would go days or weeks without reading on my own, then suddenly rip through a few books over the course of an afternoon. There was often no reason behind choosing what I read other than satisfying my own curiosity.

As a fledgling Christian in a new church, I am again opening my Bible to read. this time I am going by a set reading plan used by the church, a daily guide to reading the bible that will allow thentire tet to be read in a years time. Today was my first reading.

God works in mysterious ways. The driving force behind my leaving the church so long ago was the death of my twin sister. I wanted to challenge God. I wanted Him to explain Himself, to justify to me why he had allowed her death. I was arrogant and childish.

The passage selected for my reading today from the Old Testament was Job, chapters 39 and 40. It is God's answers to Job's challenge to Him. Job wanted a chance to prove his innocence before Him, to argue his case against what had befallen him. I will jump right into Job 40:1-8

¹ The LORD said to Job:

² "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!"

³ Then Job answered the LORD:

⁴ "I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.

⁵ I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more."

⁶ Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm:

⁷ "Prepare to defend yourself;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.

⁸ "Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?

This was written thousands of years ago. However, it is God speaking to me. It is God answering my challenge. Is it coincidence that on my first day of devotional reading I am directed to exactly what I need to read? Directed by a bookmark that simply has dates and assigned reading for that day? This reading plan was set long before I rededicated my life. However, that plan does have one verse on it:

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11.

God is always ready to speak to us, we simply need to listen.

Beautiful Day

Going with a cliche today, but sometimes cliches are what they are because they are true. Today is a beautiful, as was yesterday and so too will be tomorrow. We are soaked in Love, in the Love of our Creator, the love of family, the love of friends, the love of even strangers.

There are those who feel destitute, those who see each new day as another day of suffering. Suffer no longer! The answer is before you. God. The Divine. That is Love, the most amazing and complete Love there is. Seek the Divine.

I follow the path of Christ. However, any path that takes you into the arms of the Divine is Blessed. Humble yourself to the power of Love that surrounds us, and each day you live will be beautiful.

Even in Our Deepest Sorrows, We are Never Alone

When we are feeling loved, when things go our way, we love to share it with the world. At weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, births. We hug, we shout, we cry tears of joy for all to see. But what do we do when we do not feel so high? What is on the other end of the spectrum, opposite feelings of great love and togetherness?

The feeling of loneliness, the feeling of abandonment. When relationships fail. When friendships end. When a loved one passes. These are the times when we feel love has left us. We feel pangs of grief, pangs of sorrow, the hurt of loss.

Love is the Ultimate Answer, Love is all around us, Love is what guides towards good, Love is what connects us. But what happens when we lose that Love? What happens when we feel absolutely, soul wrenchingly alone? When we feel alone, even in crowds, even amongst those who care for us the most.

It is an enormous feeling. It feels as if a hole has been torn in your soul. I know the feeling all too well. I know because I carried that feeling with me for a decade. I searched everywhere to find ways to fill it. I tried sex. I indulged in food. Nothing could ease the pain, nothing could heal the rift.

On an evening not long ago, I found my answer. I needed to reconnect to the Love. I needed to be humble. I needed to simply accept the Love that was always with me. The Love that I had turned away, the Love that I had hardened my heart to on a cool October night when I was told my twin sister had died.

So I let go of the last of my anger. I fully embraced God. I fully embraced my Calling. I fully embraced the Love. For the first time in a decade, i felt whole. I felt I no longer had to find an answer. I had felt abandoned, abandoned to my misery by the world, when the answer had been with me all along. it was Love. it was God.

Are you ready to embrace the Love? To be embraced?