Years ago I remember first sitting with a simple nugget of wisdom\u2026 it may be a little chicken-and-egg-ish, not quite certain of which one came first. But I remember the profoundness embedded in one of the reasons we sometimes struggle with faith\u2026 we quit acknowledging God; we stop thanking Him; we omit Him increasingly more from the conversation. And the more we omit Him, we become a little more wise in our own eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Evidence of God has always existed. Look up. See the stars and the sky. Look around. See the Earth and the beauty of both the mountains and the sea. Look at others. See the masterful creativity in our diversity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
No, I don\u2019t question whether God exists. While clearly we can\u2019t figure all things out on this planet \u2014 why some things play out the way they do or why the bad stuff happens \u2014 I can\u2019t allow my questions to stifle my belief; there\u2019s just too much I have to ignore to believe that God doesn\u2019t exist. And as noted English writer G.K. Chesterton once penned, \u201cWhen a man stops believing in God, he doesn\u2019t then believe in nothing; he believes anything.\u201d Yeah, with absolutely all due respect, anything and everything simply doesn\u2019t make sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what I also know to be true is that there is great grace in this journey. You and I don\u2019t have to be in the exact same place. It would be silly to expect that be true. The next step for you and for me and for all who be is never to be expected to be exactly the same. That\u2019s why judgment makes zero sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Thanksgiving upon us, I want to pause and be intentional \u2014 encouraging the intentional offering of gratitude. Each of our individual lists vary. So consistent with an Intramuralist practice, allow us to learn from a leader, a former President. It would be only a little more than two weeks after writing this, that Pres. John F. Kennedy would lose his life to an assassin\u2019s bullet on a trip to Dallas, Texas. Here he humbly proclaimed \u201ca day of national thanksgiving\u201d in November of 1963\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026 Today we are a nation of nearly two hundred million souls, stretching from coast to coast, on into the Pacific and north toward the Arctic, a nation enjoying the fruits of an ever-expanding agriculture and industry and achieving standards of living unknown in previous history. We give our humble thanks for this.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, as our power has grown, so has our peril. Today we give our thanks, most of all, for the ideals of honor and faith we inherit from our forefathers\u2013for the decency of purpose, steadfastness of resolve and strength of will, for the courage and the humility, which they possessed and which we must seek every day to emulate. As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let us therefore proclaim our gratitude to Providence for manifold blessings\u2013let us be humbly thankful for inherited ideals\u2013and let us resolve to share those blessings and those ideals with our fellow human beings throughout the world\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026 let us gather in sanctuaries dedicated to worship and in homes blessed by family affection to express our gratitude for the glorious gifts of God; and let us earnestly and humbly pray that He will continue to guide and sustain us in the great unfinished tasks of achieving peace, justice, and understanding among all men and nations and of ending misery and suffering wherever they exist.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n May we be wise. May we be a people known for our intentional thanksgiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Years ago I remember first sitting with a simple nugget of wisdom\u2026 it may be a little chicken-and-egg-ish, not quite certain of which one came first. But I remember the profoundness embedded in one of the reasons we sometimes struggle with faith\u2026 we quit acknowledging God; we stop thanking Him; we omit Him increasingly more … <\/p>\n