Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Pre-Thanksgiving



November 23. 2016.



The day before Thanksgiving. Arguably the largest family gathering and the most complicated meal of the year.

The easy part of this is a checklist meal. You know what I mean by checklist, a) Turkey 2) Stuffing etc etc etc

The hard part is to actually reflect on yourself over the past year. I would think that the Jewish equivalent to Thanksgiving would be Rosh Hashanah. However, we Gentiles simply have evolved (or devolved depending on your point of view) to the point of gorging ourselves on Turkey, pie and football.

Our families Thanksgiving celebration is nothing compared to what it used to be. My parents have recently passed away, and with that, the glue which held our clan together. My elder children are living on the Left coast, along with my grand children...so its our family of four...and memories.

Can we get back our spiritual connection with Thanksgiving? Can we make room for our Creator?

I have a confession to make. Two years ago, we started attending a church, Calvary Chapel of Baltimore. This church is down to earth, and is not concerned in the least with building projects, luncheons or cruises to the Promised Land. In some regards its a boring church, however quite a few of us are damaged goods, and this church is all we can handle. I thank God for this church. 

I was challenged a couple of years ago, by our Assistant Pastor Josh Plantoff, to do a daily reading of the Bible. A methodical reading through the ENTIRE  Book.

So I started to do just that. I had to mix it up and not get bogged down with the Begot this or Begot that...so I broke the Bibles 66 books into categories.

Historical
Prophetic
Gospel
Epistles
Other

I listed each book and basically read 1 to 2 chapters each morning, before any news comes on or even the TV gets turned on. To be honest my morning coffee and Bible reading has become the most important part of my day. Not that I've become a Bible scholar, but I have become centered, and not so focused on the daily political offerings or the beating of the war drum.

So here we are, day before Thanksgiving. Im making a apple pie and brining the turkey...yeah,, and giving Thanks.





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