A Note To Non-Refugees

Why can we not suspend commercialism in America, even for 24 hours, in order to focus on the blessings we already have? What has happened to Thanksgiving? How we have strayed from the original meaning of this holiday. It does not portend well for this nation that we are so focused on getting that we cannot sit still and be grateful for what we already have. Especially in a time when many in other lands have lost their homes and even their homeland. They have lost loved ones. They have lost careers. They are displaced and in danger and need so much. How grateful those people would be to sit in a well furnished home, enjoying an abundance of culinary delights with their family? Would they rush to leave that table and run to a store? I think not. Perhaps we should not either!

We Need Peacemakers….Not Peacekeepers

A long time ago I learned that there was a big difference between a peacekeeper and a peacemaker. They can look similar, but they are in fact very different entities.

 
PEACEKEEPERS are people who love peace…. perhaps too much. They have a distaste for conflict that will cause them to tolerate all manner of wrongdoing and injustice. Often they are willing to do whatever it takes to avoid a disagreement or fight. Peace is the ultimate goal, not righteousness. Not fairness. Not justice. They are often willing to ignore or tolerate evil, feeling that maintaining order is more important.

PEACEMAKERS also love peace, but realize that lasting peace cannot coexist with evil. There are times when some disruption or conflict is necessary to set things right. There are times when you have to fight for what is right. Peace is not worth any price. Peace will not last unless it is resting on a foundation of fairness and justice. It must be built on a foundation of righteousness. That is why “giving in” to something or someone who is doing something wrong, though it may delay a conflict, will usually in the end make that conflict worse. Tolerating evil and injustice is short sighted. Fighting against these elements, in the short run, can be very uncomfortable, but in the end will lead to a more lasting peace.

The principles of PEACEKEEPING vs PEACEMAKING apply both to our own individual lives and also to the lives of nations. America needs to stand for righteousness if she wants to be a peacemaker. Tolerance of everything may gain an illusion of peace for a short time, but the day will come when both the peace we have enjoyed and our freedoms will crumble. Worse yet, I fear, is that we will no longer have the the moral stamina or fortitude to fight for what is right and true. We will be another example that “if you stand for nothing you will fall for anything.”

What we desperately need are peacemakers, not peacekeepers. Evil is real in this world. Only by standing for what is right…for righteousness…will we be able to look forward to lasting peace. The battles are everywhere. We were victims on 9/11 of a real evil. France was a victim of real evil a few days ago. There is real evil on our campuses, on our streets, and in our own hearts. Individually, and as a nation, we must decide on which side we will stand. I do not believe that we will be able to stay neutral. We can stay quiet and try to keep the peace, but in the end, if we do not fight for what is right, the evil will come. Peacekeeping does not work. You must make peace by fighting for what is right! In the book of Matthew, Jesus says “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” Where, oh where, are the sons of God in America?

COLORBLIND

Singerl twins

The picture in this post shows siblings. They are ‘black and white’ fraternal twins. Same parents!! The truth shown in this photograph says more than all of the divisive rhetoric swirling around us of late. There is one race…the human race. I am SO TIRED of all the talk about skin color. I do not know why everyone else is not exhausted by it too. Or maybe they are, but afraid to say so.

My eyes are green. My hair is brown (well, ok…gray colored brown) My nails are painted pink. My skin is…….does it matter? Do you want to know the color of my skin? Is it more important than the color of my eyes? The eyes are the window of the soul! The color of my skin is just not that important.

So how can we move forward? We desperately need to move beyond the superficial judging of people. I am all for celebrating one’s ancestry and heritage. It is fun to know from whence you came. But there are saints and scoundrels in all of our pasts. There is saint and scoundrel in each of us! And in America we are a melting pot….we just are not melting together too well lately. Our differences are crystallizing us into separate little islands of discontent. We have so much to be thankful for together in this country….enough of the negativity already! I am an American, descended from immigrants from a foreign land where there skin color was…..mostly similar to mine.

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THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving  such a WONDERFUL holiday! But the giving of thanks itself, I realize, is something I need to practice. It does not come naturally to me or most adult people. I am more likely to focus on the one thing that is wrong and take for granted what is right. Taking my blessings for granted is not something I am proud of. It is just who I am, but I am trying to become more intentional about being grateful. How does Paul put it in Phillipians 4? Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication WITH THANKSGIVING make your requests known to God……I tend to be thankful for nothing but in everything be anxious! In fact how many times have I wanted something and then forgotten to even say thank you when I received it?

So listing my blessings may help! Let’s begin with born in America! There are many other beautiful locations on this globe and I am grateful for the freedom to visit them. But living here where I can write an uncensored blog? Well, I am grateful……

Then there is that two edged blessing of FOOD EVERYWHERE! In so many homes, finding enough to eat is a struggle. I know this occurs even in this land of plenty. But for most of us, we fight against obesity rather than starvation. That is a wonder. While sometimes I wish I had more willpower to not eat everything I see, the fact that I see so much food every day is something for which I am very grateful….

I am thankful for a warm home, and I would willingly kiss the feet of those responsible for hot showers!! Microwaves and cellphones, planes and satellites, good books and the ability to read, music and the ability to hear my loved one’s voices. Actually years ago, I read that it would help to list 5 things each day that I am grateful for and daily add to that list. That is how I found out that my list is actually endless. That was a surprising exercise…..

I also discovered that the smallest things can give the greatest pleasure. If you want to feel like a kid again, look at things anew! In a child’s eye everything is WOW! Look at those stars! Look at that bug! Feel that breeze! It’s SNOWING!!!!! There is something about a child-like outlook that keeps you feeling young. I don’t want to be childish….but I do want to have that child-like sense of wonder. As I said in my first blog, the world is a beautiful place and I want to slow down and enjoy it.

So …….Happy Giving of Thanks!!!