To state the obvious--tomorrow is Thanksgiving, the one day devoted just to family and friends--or at least it was until the Christmas shopping season began Thanksgiving evening. Regardless, I think it is probably my favorite holiday of the year--and not just because I love stuffing.

Thanksgiving is a time to remember all that we are thankful for. For most of us, those thoughts go to the big ticket items: family, friends, home, health. Unfortunately, at this time of year, it is also a very real reminder for many that one or more of the big four are missing. For some, a loved one has passed away or family members are estranged. Others have been plagued by health issues. Perhaps friends have moved away or just fallen away, or the economy has forced someone from his or her home. in these cases, giving thanks this year may be more difficult than in years past.

Ann Voskamp became famous with her book One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. In it she shares her life, her pain, but more importantly she shares the ordinary things in life that she is thankful for: a sunrise or "windmills lazying in twilight's last breeze." As she writes, she is "working, one-by-one, up to a thousand gifts. Not of gifts I want. But of gifts I have . . . ." She looks at the gifts God has given her "just as they happen, as they arrive, as they are unwrapped . . . the daily graces that He gives in an infinite number of ways, that stir me."

This Thanksgiving may we look for, appreciate, and share those everyday gifts and graces that God has given us.   Happy Thanksgiving.

(All quotes for Ann Voskamp taken from her webpage  A Holy Experience.)

I spent last Saturday with about twenty local authors at the Northern California Authors Fair, all of us hoping to gain a few new readers. I was struck by the variety of books available, even in this small venue: general fiction, children’s, fantasy, non-fiction, secular, religious. As always, I am amazed by the power of language, how letters on a page formed into words then arranged into sentences can make us laugh or cry, can uplift us or scare the bejabbers out of us. Little black squiggles on a white page.

The discussion of the power of writing leads naturally to the question of what makes something literature, those works that become the staples of a society and then the world in general--those poems, stories, essays, or books, which last through time and touch multiple cultures.

Robert Penn Warren, the first Poet Laureates of the United States (the nation’s official poet), said that fiction should not be an “escape from life but to life.” Pearl Buck (author of The Good Earth) wrote something very similar in her essay “Literature and Life” when she said, “literature does offer the only real escape--but deeper into the world and not away from it.” She came to this conclusion because she also believed that literature should attempt to answer the basic questions of the human heart. Those questions a person asks himself . . .

“. . . when he is alone--hours which he may hate and dread and from which he seeks all sorts of escapes, but which nevertheless, exist--those hours when he asks, who am I and why was I born and what is all this for? Who are these others and what have they to do with me and what have I to do with them? . . . to answer them, one way or another, is the essence of literature.”

Hmmm. Interesting, isn’t it? Through the years, many of us have followed the ideas of writers looking for the answers to those very questions, and have always found the answers lacking. They were either empty or incomplete. It seems in light of the tragedy in France this past Friday, that the perpetrators deemed their answer to these questions was “to kill.”

I find it extremely comforting that the Bible’s entire purpose is to answer these very questions that humanity feels compelled to try and answer. I apologize in advance for my incomplete answers, but here goes. Please feel free to add to these answers. So how does God answer these same questions through His Word?

Who am I?   Answer: I am a unique creation of God, formed in His image.
Why was I born?   Answer: To be in relationship with God and to glorify Him and bring glory to Him.
What is all this for?   Answer: The earth and the heavens declare the power and glory of God and through them God’s love for us is manifest. He has given us this beautiful creation to enjoy.
Who are these others and what have they to do with me and what have I to do with them?  Answer: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:38)
    

     Today is Veteran’s Day . . . and I know where my brother will be. For breakfast he will probably go to IHOP, then perhaps Applebee’s for lunch, Texas Roadhouse for dinner, with a stop at Starbuck’s for a coffee, and if he needs a haircut, and there is one near him, he might pop into Great Cuts. Why? Because today, Veterans Day, these restaurants and businesses, along with many others, offer meals, coffees, and services free to veterans.
     So does my brother go just to collect his freebees? No. Though he does enjoy his food (Trust me . . . I know this), he isn’t that hungry. He goes (with whatever papers he needs in order to verify that he is a veteran of the US Air Force and the Viet Nam War) to show his appreciation of these businesses who go out of their way to show their appreciation to him and the other men and women of the armed services. They are wanting the veterans to come in. They are waiting to honor them.
     I know we all wish war wasn’t a reality, but in a fallen world, soldiers are necessary. Today we, as a country, honor those individuals who have given up a portion of their life to serve their country.
     God honors them as well. In fact, some of the greatest men and women in the Bible were soldiers or individuals who led troops into combat.
     For instance . . .
     The only man ever to be called “a man after God’s own heart” was the warrior king--David.
     The man who would time and time again demonstrate his trust in God and lead Israel into the promised land-- the spy turned military leader--Joshua.
     Then there was the great man of faith who obeyed God despite the culture or the odds-- the “mighty warrior”--Gideon.
     The Judge Deborah was asked by Barak (the military commander) to go into battle with him against Sisera and his army. She did and the enemy was defeated.
     Then in the New Testament, two centurions are given special recognition.
     The first is the one who recognized Christ’s authority when he asked Jesus to heal his servant, for not only did he acknowledge his own unworthiness by telling Jesus not  to come to his home, but he also recognized Jesus’s authority when he verbalized that Jesus’s word and not his physical presence was all that was needed to heal his servant (Matt. 8:5-13)
     The second was the centurion at Christ’s crucifixion who recognized Jesus’s divinity when, after he had witnessed all that had happened, said, “Truly this was the son of God” (Matt. 27:54).
     We often think of soldiers only in terms of courage, bravery, and sacrifice. However, as demonstrated in the Bible, soldiers also demonstrate faith, trust, humility, and a love for and devotion to God.
     Finally, remember, as Christians, we are also soldiers . . . serving in God’s army . . . defending our faith and fighting against a very powerful enemy. And may we, like the soldiers of the Bible demonstrate not only courage, but also humility, faith, trust, a love and devotion to God, and a willingness to sacrifice our own will to our true Commander in Chief.

Two weeks ago I had one of the most discouraging weeks of my the school year. This last week, all of the planets were aligned--literally and figuratively.

The literal version, of course, refers to Venus, Jupiter, and Mars, all in what is called “planetary conjunction,” where because of their orbits they are brilliantly visible and clustered around each other. Absolutely beautiful.

Figuratively, each year I have one particular week that is very stressful. I must grade one of the longest and most technical writing assignments and return it to the students within one week so that they have enough time to complete the final part of the assignment. It is a bear to grade--a big bear--a grizzly! This past week was that week; however, the stress never materialized because I had not only the necessary time and energy to get the work completed, but also extra time to relax and rejuvenate. All aspects of my world seemed to be perfectly aligned.

However, there have been other times when the skies featured beautiful astronomical sights: meteor showers, eclipses, harvest or blue moons, yet I wasn’t able to see them because in my part of the world, the skies were cloudy, obscuring the sight from view. But that didn’t mean they weren’t there. I just couldn’t see them.

Likewise, sometimes our own worlds get “clouded” by concerns and problems, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t there, or that He isn’t working. Sometimes we just have to trust what we can’t see.

When the skies come alive with the beauty of God’s creation, it is a reminder and a reflection of the majesty of God Himself. Romans 1:20 reminds us: “For since creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead . . . .”