Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who participate. Unfortunately, most of us won’t be holding large family gatherings this year. I want to talk about giving thanks for our blessing this year without being sarcastic, snarky, or just annoying. That’s going to be difficult.
Difficult? Because it’s 2020. This is the year that will be the butt of jokes for many years to come.
My frustration isn’t because I don’t have things to be thankful for. I have my beautiful wife, family, friends, a warm home, and a good life. But, it is 2020. Memes on social media make a lot of fun of this year, for good reason.
Where do you start? We had the Pandemic (COVID 19), lockdowns, mask mandates, quarantines, isolation, riots, and the primary elections. And, just when we thought we were out of the woods, we had more lockdowns, mask mandates, quarantines, demonstrations, and the general election.
Small businesses by the hundreds closed down, iconic businesses are declaring bankruptcy, and criminals syphoned millions of dollars from federal unemployment relief leaving laid-off workers in the lurch.
While we face all the challenges of this year, we need to keep in mind that there is a lot to be thankful for. No, we can’t be with all our family around the table as in the past. No, we can’t spend quality time with good friends for holiday gatherings. We can work around these restrictions with our technology. A vaccine for the COVID is coming.
We can be thankful for our capabilities and the vaccine, as well as our families and friends. We can be thankful and hopeful that this is a one-time deal. We can hope we won’t have to go through this again. And, we can give thanks for those things we do have and do enjoy. This is how we, as a people and a country, overcome obstacles and challenges.
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Colossians 3:16-18 NKJV
Keep being thankful and keep writing.
