Introductions and First Thoughts

Salutations,
It is my hope that this blog post is another way for me to show who I am and express certain ideas and thoughts I have that I cannot always express while I am preaching. I hope that this provoke you to thought and perhaps discussion. While some of these posts will be well thought out and researched, some will be more stream of mind. I hope that this will be as beneficial for all who read it as it is for me to write it. Since I am starting my first blog in November I thought it best to talk about Thanksgiving. I know people have talked about this before, however it seems that many time Thanksgiving is one of those Holidays that is more of a burden rather than a blessing. Halloween brings candy, costumes, and carnival rides, and Christmas brings joy, music, presents, and more. What does Thanksgiving bring? Good food yes, but beyond that that there is not much that is to bought or sold when it comes to Thanksgiving, yet one still must deal with family fights, preparing food, and a mountain of dishes to clean after the meal is over. In the US, what has become associated with Thanksgiving is Black Friday.The time when stores have more deals than dogs have flees. It has even gotten to the point that now some companies start Black Friday on Thursday. I think the problem is that Thanksgiving is one holiday that goes against culture in that like it or not we are a consumer culture. We value the free market and can always be looking forward to new and better items to buy. Thanksgiving is a time for us to stop being consumers (except when it comes to food) and be thankful for all that we have, rather than looking to acquire more. I'm sure you have heard this before and yet the point still stands that it is important that we take time to reflect on all that we have. If you are reading this, it means you have a computer, an internet connection and time to read it. These simple things means that you also have so much more, such as eyes to read this with. In the world that we live in there is much suffering and many times when we must face disappointments. With all of this it is good to remember all that we have been given, and all that makes life worth living. For all humans we have the opportunities experience art, laughter, beauty, victory, mercy, love, and so many other aspects of human life. For believers we know what it means to be forgiven and shown true mercy and love from our Holy God. We know the joys of having a relationship with our savior Jesus Christ, and all the fruits of the Spirit we have been given. This Thanksgiving I cannot think of one person that I know who isn't suffering in one way or another, but even with all that we go through, anyone can look back at their life and find something with which to say, "I'm thankful for..."