Every year,
on Thanksgiving, I like to take a step back and think about all the things I
have to be thankful for. That is, of course, the tradition of Thanksgiving is
it not? Unfortunately, throughout many homes in America, this tradition will be
darkened by political discussions: who should have been president, whether the pilgrims
were actually evil people, whether Thanksgiving should even be a holiday, and
other negative discussions and arguments of the like. Honestly, I’m a little
bit tired of it. What’s done is done. The president is the president that we
have, and this country has the ancestors that it has.
While it is
certainly a good and righteous pursuit to find the truth that history holds, it
is not our place to cast judgment on those who participated in it. Not only is
it a moot point as it does not change what happened, but it is a futile effort.
We were not there, we do not know what happened, nor what the intentions of the
people or the morals of their time were. To say that we should not celebrate
Thanksgiving because the pilgrims were responsible for bringing disease to the
America’s that caused catastrophic death to the Indians is like saying we
shouldn’t celebrate the end of World War II because we used an atomic bomb to
end it, or saying that we should not celebrate the end of the civil war because
the North rampaged the south during the war and burned whole cities.
The point
is, that people do bad things, but that does not mean we should not celebrate the good things
that were brought about because of them. The amazing thing about God is that
through the most evil and decrepit acts, he can bring about good, and to say
that we should not celebrate that good because of the evil is a grave mistake.
Good is good, and in the end, while we must condemn and prevent every evil act,
even those for the sake of good, if God chooses to bring good from an evil
situation, who are we to look down on that good as if it is somehow tainted?
So, when
your well-meaning friend decides to talk about the election, or the moral
decency of celebrating Thanksgiving, just smile at them and say, “I’m just thankful
that we’re able to have these discussions," and least for a day, let your
differences with others fall by the wayside while you dwell on all the reasons that
you have to be thankful.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
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