theexpandingshrink

One of the things we give thanks for is our forefathers. This doesn’t mean that we agree with everything they did or said but we respect them for the role that they played in our lives. If we have an allergic reaction to them and reject everything about them, we run the risk of not doing as well as they did.

The present day emphasis on “decolonizing Thanksgiving” is an allergic reaction to our past which rejects everything our forefathers stood for. It fails to discern what was good and to build upon that and to discern what was evil and to avoid that. It leads to personal and cultural blindness.

God‘s plan was that we should honor and respect our fathers and mothers. He desired each generation to go beyond the previous one in their understanding of the things of God; in their faith and in their ability to express His love to the nations. That is why he sent his Holy Spirit to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers. (Malachi 4:6)

So, yes, we honor our Pilgrim forefathers; we honor George Washington; we honor Abraham Lincoln. We give thanks for them and for their faith.

As we give thanks our eyes are opened as to how to avoid their sins and failures and how to build on what they did that was good and right

And as we give thanks, God shows us how to show His love to all people- the indigenous and the colonizers, those in power, those out of power, the oppressed and the oppressors.

As we give thanks our eyes are opened and we see Jesus who gave up His power and privilege and life so that all people could be given life and the privilege and glory of an eternal kingdom.

As we give thanks we see with eager anticipation the wonderful day in which there will be a great multitude before the throne of God in heaven, of all nations and tribes and people and tongues, praising God and giving Him thanks for the Eternal Life we have been given through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rev. 7:9-12)

Thanks be to God. I see it now!