I Don't Want to be Thankful

[image error]I'm so much better at whining.

The country is in debt, the church isn't growing like I'd like, and JoLynn is only mostly perfect. I've had three mentor/friends die this year – Alice, Steve and Eric. I know they are happier where they are, but I'd be happier if they were here. However it did motivate me.

I had my first physical this year. Walking out I read the Albuquerque Journal newspaper headline which said, "Feds Probe Richardson Campaign." It's amazing how one hour in a doctor's office can change the meaning of a word forever.

So I whine. I whine about probes and death and debt - until somebody illustrates the foolishness of it all.

Half way through the bloodiest conflict in US history, in a war with no end in sight (it would end with over a million US causalities), on 10/03/1863 our un-whining US president said…

"In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude & severity… peace has been preserved w/all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected & obeyed, & harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict… They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God…. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States… to set apart & observe the last Thursday of November, as a day of Thanksgiving & Praise to our Father who dwells in Heaven."

President Lincoln understood it's better to thank God for what you do have than whine about what you don't.