Thanksgiving shouldn't just be an annual holiday that has been nearly forgotten. Instead, it should be a state of mind. We have a lot to be grateful for! Unfortunately, most Americans (you know like 99% of us) get distracted by our wish lists and to-do lists and never take the time to recognize our obnoxious abundance.
A few weeks ago we were blessed to have a special guest visit our church. Stanley Gitari came from Kenya to let us know what his ministry is doing with the children in his village. While he is a native to Maua, Kenya, he went to college in the US and has experienced our culture. He can attest to the statistic that if you live in America, you are in the top 10% of the world. Our homeless can go to a shelter and take a shower that will assuredly be pumping out clean water and most likely its also hot. I would never want to live what our homeless do, but to think that they are living higher than 90% of the world is astonishing.
The things we take for granted, are things that are luxuries for so many other! That is why I love this video by a church in Charlotte, because it allows us to see even what we have at the most basic level, is a gift!
Two weekends ago I was in Monterey, at the Organic Outreach Conference. This amazing event equips Christian leaders with tools to help love the world around us because God is love! As I wrote down copious notes at the conference, I was more than inspired! There was one thing that hit me between the eyes as I listened to the various speakers and that was the statistics surrounding the state of the American church today.
You see all Christians are called to share the love of God with the world (Matthew 28:18-20) and statistics show that a majority of Christians strongly agree (55%) with the fact that we all have a personal responsibility to share our faith, and 43% of people said they felt comfortable doing so, yet in contrast, 61% of those same people said they haven't shared Jesus with anyone in the last six months. Why? Why aren't we sharing the love of Jesus? The reality is we just don't care.
We have lost our compassion for the world around us. Another study quoted showed that while 21% of Christians claim to pray to win the lottery only 20% said they prayed for friends of other faiths or no-faiths. Really? I'd say we've lost some perspective. According to one speaker, Adam T Barr, Christianity is the fastest growing religion in the world, just not in America. We are fat, dumb and happy and quite frankly, its unacceptable.
Consumerism is our God and we will continue to bow at the alter of our own needs as a culture. So what is the solution? I'm not suggesting you sell all you have and animate impoverished lives to understand the plight of the world. We live the latte life and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
Gratitude. Gratitude is the answer. As a Christian, I have received the greatest gift. I believe that I need Jesus and I believe he is God. I accepted his free gift that gives grace to all I've done wrong. The sacrifice of his life, as the act of love needed to forgive all I've done, is the greatest gift. It means that my life is more than the 90 years I live on earth. I will spend eternity with him and I must live for that and not the few years in comparison, I have on this planet. I know God has the best planned for me (Jeremiah 29:11) and while I can't always see it, I can be grateful in that knowledge because I have no idea what God has planned to do with even the worst of circumstances, but I know he won't let it go to waste. My part is to be grateful.
As we say goodbye to loved ones, I am grateful for the years I had.
As I suffer with sickness, I am grateful for my normal health.
As I turn on lights in my house, I am grateful that I have electricity.
As I take a shower or open a bottle of water, I am grateful for clean water or hot water.
As I put on my shoes, I am grateful to have them.
As I hug my husband, I am grateful for the force he is in my life, both to encourage me and challenge me to be a better woman.
This list goes on, and on and on.
I am grateful for my years of infertility because of the compassion its given me for women who face that plight.
I am grateful for a mom who would go hungry so my sister and I could eat because I was given the best example of how to mother my kids - sacrificially.
I am grateful for the moments that sucked and had me raising a white flag because they strengthened me.
This list goes on and on and on.
Don't just let gratitude reside in a prescribed day of the year (or even month) but sew it into your life. Make it a response you have to whatever comes your way. Let it transform you so that you have compassion for those around you and love them like it's your job...because - it is!!!!
Happy Thanksgiving! Today and every day after...
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