Giving Thanks for a Great Nation

It’s Thanksgiving here in the US. It is a great American holiday that is important to everyone, even if you don’t know it . . . even if do not live in this great country. 

And I can prove that.

The day commemorates the celebration in gratitude that some of the early settlers were compelled to share. It was a time when our land was still a wild, untamed wilderness, and these migrants to the New World had just endured a terrible time as a communal colony – shortages of food and even worse, of incentive . . . nearly wiped out the new civilization. 

But that quickly changed once they abandoned communal living to establish the private ownership of property. A free market economy and capitalism immediately ascended, followed by incredible production and prosperity for all.

These European ‘pilgrims’ came here to be free. And free people who believe in God do wonderful things when they align with His will. They invent things, they produce and they and build empires. They also defeat evil. 

Despite incredible hardships the settlers did not lose faith in their Creator. Surviving unimaginable difficulties is one thing. Doing it without malice and keeping faith in God is even more. 

The God-inspired, Plymouth colony people did all that. And so they prospered . . . beyond their wildest dreams. 

They thanked God for that prosperity, knowing in their hearts that it was only by His will. And yes, they ate turkey, fish and deer –sharing the festivities with the local Wampanoag whose help in farming and fishing they also accepted. 

That quality of life they were blessed to establish attracted even more to come to this place and a nation was formed . . . under God with liberty and justice for all. We put this tradition onto our national calendar and have come to love it as a people.

We Americans believe that we can and should export what we’ve found and built here to others just as we ensure that the pursuit of this bounty remains available to those who come here and help us continue to grow.

It takes patience, love, getting still and allowing God’s will inside to guide us . . . and with that develops consciousness and vision to direct us toward what to do in each ‘next’ moment . . . no matter what hardship, oppression or evil rises to stop us.

I am telling you this because I know that this blessing can happen elsewhere too. It doesn’t have to be exclusive to we Yanks. All people who love freedom everywhere, who are willing to turn their lives over to their Creator can find a way too.  

It may come from local activism. It may come simply within a home that becomes insulated from evil by the shield of love. It may come with a suitcase and a train ticket. But it will come to all those who love God with all their heart, soul, and mind.