I know the generation right above mine--of which my eldest brother is a part of--is known as the "real" generation. Everything has to be genuine and real to be worthwhile. If you want to say it, say it. If you feel it, feel it. Because then at least you are being real. Although there is a huge positive to being truthful and genuine, there is also something to striving for endurance and exercising self-control. There is something to being courteous and to being kind even when we don't feel like it. Even when our situation doesn't grant it as the "authentic" answer.
But I ask you, when Jesus said on the cross, "I forgive you, for you know not what you do," was that a clear reflection of the pain he was enduring? Or was it a choice he made while dying? I know Jesus, being God and perfect, is hard to emulate. I know that He went to the cross willingly with our best in mind and truly must have felt the forgiveness that he was offering. Whereas, I'm not so sure my feelings would have been so pure.
But forgiveness is a choice.
A lot of our life is a choice.
Even when we smile during sadness, it is a choice. It is choosing to be light, love, and bring happiness to this dark world. It is deciding there is too much cynicism, hatred, and bitterness. It is a refusal to be a part of what makes this world a worse place to live in.
The Bible says to be thankful in everything. It doesn't say for everything. It says in. Because if we're really honest, there are just some really terrible bad things in this world. Evil does exist. But we are to be thankful in everything which means that there is always a reason to be thankful. For our salvation if nothing else.
I promise you, if you dwell on the beauty and magnificence of your salvation and what Jesus did for you on the cross for very long, a soft flow of joy and thankfulness will begin to take over your spirit. When you focus on all the beautiful things in the world--sunrises, first kisses, the moon glittering over the ocean, puppy licks, caterpillars turning into butterflies, marriages restored, babies born, and forgiveness offered...hope begins to rise, doesn't it?
Because God is good. Even in a bad world.
And we can be thankful for that. And His special graces to get through each day.
His mercies are new every morning."
Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
You know what I just realized after posting that verse? In the middle of lamentations, the author pauses to praise the Lord and talk about his mercies and faithfulness.
Perhaps that is what we should do too.
Happy Thanksgiving. May we all make this world a better place, one thankful choice at a time--one genuine, even with clenched teeth, "Thanks a Lot."
~ Prayer of St. Francis
"Lord make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life."
~ Prayer of St. Francis
"Lord make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life."
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