Telling Buy-Buy, "Bye-bye"

I heard on the news about a few days ago that over 100,000 people in Texas have signed a petition to secede from the United States.  I read a column a week ago that said more than 375,000 people from 47 different states have signed petitions of secession.  These figures tell us with certainty that we are a nation divided (as if the previous week’s election were not enough evidence of that).

In the past few weeks, we have also been bombarded with “Black Friday” promotions from what seems like every retailer on Earth (and perhaps a few from other planets).  And for too many of us, our sorrows will be drowned in excessive retail therapy as we are looking to fill the holes in our hearts with “stuff”.

In the middle of all that, a virtually neglected holiday whispers, “Give thanks.” 

Thanksgiving is so hard to commercialize, so we cover it with overindulgence in food and football.  And then, after a nap and a big belch, we are ready for shopping so we can have all the things that will make us happy.

So, we go buy-buy.  And then we have to tell some of our older stuff—the stuff that failed to make our lives complete—to go bye-bye so we have room for this year’s stuff.

In the middle of all that, there is a whisper, “Give thanks.”

In response to all the uncertainties and frustrations of the days in which we live, will we respond with the paralysis of anxiety?  Or with the self-imposed isolation of secession?  Or with the intoxicating rush of buy-buy?

Many of us grew up going to church singing an old hymn, “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed; when you are discouraged thinking all is lost; count your many blessings, name them one by one; and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”

Can you hear the whisper, “Give thanks.”?

How might our lives be different if we simply sat down in a comfortable chair in our home and began naming one by one the things for which we are thankful?  Maybe we could begin with the actual things we see in the room and the unseen people and blessings that those visible things represent.  From where I am sitting at this moment, I see a family photo, a handcrafted table made by my father-in-law, a grandfather clock that was a gift to our family from a dear friend, an American flag … I could go on and on.  These all remind me of the blessings of God.

Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Our lives matter so much to God that He does not want us to settle for the temporary anesthesia of buy-buy.

Listen carefully.  Can you hear it?  “Give thanks.”