By G. E. Shuman
If you ever celebrate Thanksgiving Day with our family, be prepared. As we sit down to dinner, it has come to be expected that everyone present will be asked to mention something they are thankful for. I¢m sure my wife started this tradition years ago, and I'm also equally sure it was a worthwhile thing to have done. The way this tradition works is that, before eating, we simply go around the dinner table and everyone shares just a sentence or two of how they have been blessed in the past year. If your family has never done this, I suggest you try it. It has a way of bringing all the frantic holiday preparations back into perspective, and helps to focus on what¢s really important to, and appreciated by your family.
This year our family will celebrate Thanksgiving Day at the home of our daughter Chrissy and her family. Unless I¢m mistaken, we will likely follow the Thanksgiving routine there too, with thankful thoughts shared around one more beautiful, bountiful holiday table. It will be a time of expressing thanks for family and friends, and of a big celebration in food. It will be a great day of turkey and tradition and for mentions of thankfulness for treasures and trials.
Yes, I said thankfulness for trials. Either my wife or I will likely be the one to share those words at our great family gathering. Please let me explain. You see, it is easy to be happy, confident, and thankful when life is going your way. It is easy to feel quite comfortable and worry-free, when your income and future seem secure. Regrettably, but in another way, thankfully, this is not the case for many people right now. And, yes, I said thankfully, again. Our country, and, indeed, our world, has suddenly found itself in terribly difficult economic times. I could elaborate here on the fact that the frightening situation we find ourselves in now was not even a worthy news topic just last summer, but that is for another column. What matters now is the fact that many thousands of people, right here in our own land, have lost their jobs. Thousands more are fearful that they soon will. My hope, and the reason I dared to use the word ¡thankfully¢ in describing this situation, is as follows.
You see, this fall has been a very trying time for my own immediate family. It has been a time of testing in some ways, as I lost my employment on September 2nd. But it has also been a time in which we have literally been witness to the meeting of every single one of our needs, many times by extraordinary, if not miraculous means. It has been a time of family members pulling together, showing concern, and sharing their faith. These months have been filled by unnumbered calls, encouraging notes, and coveted prayers by family and friends, none of which would have had reason to occur if we were not in the midst of a few trials. Many readers may not understand, but, in truth, this has been a very blessed time for our family, in thanksgiving for what we have witnessed, and for all that we have.
In this season of Thanksgiving, how could we be anything but thankful? God has supplied all of our needs, exactly, precisely when they are needed. He has shown Himself to us, to be real, and to be really loving. These months have brought Lorna and me closer together and closer to Him. And yes, we are thankful for the trials that have taught us to worry less, to trust God more, and to live by faith, daily.
Skeptics will read this column, and some may decide that I am a few drumsticks shy of a true Thanksgiving dinner. That is okay. If you wish to sign me up for therapy, you need to take a number and get in line. For the rest of you, it is my hope that you will not only recognize all that you have to be thankful for, but come to know The One we all should be thankful to. We at the Shuman home wish you and yours a healthy, happy, and very thankful Thanksgiving.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Promises, Promises
By G. E. Shuman
So, I understand we have elected a new president. It seems like it was only four years ago that we went through this whole national election thing. Now, here we are again, on the other side of the voting booth, and heading toward a January swearing in ceremony.
I would like to say that I wish president-elect Obama well. I truly do. He did not get my vote, but he surely got a lot of others. His policy stances are about as opposite of mine as they could be, and his view of our country may be as close to yours as it is distant from mine. I don’t know. But no matter. Senator Obama will be our next president, and I sincerely hope he accomplishes great things for our country.
For my part, I desire for our next president to be a man true to his word. Pre-election day politicians tend to make a lot of promises, as if you didn’t already know that. Senator Obama was no exception to this fact. He made more promises to the American people than I have room to list here. I hope all Americans watch closely to see if he fulfills those promises. I hope that those who voted for him are not disappointed. I hope that those of us who didn’t vote for him are pleasantly surprised. After all, Mr. Obama said he was different, and wanted change. I, for one, am anxious to have my income taxes reduced, as I make much less than $250,000 a year. I am also excited that he will solve the energy crisis, clean up the atmosphere, stop global warming, quickly find and kill Osama bin Laden, win the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, fix public education, give more scholarships to college kids, help the elderly pay for their prescription medicines, fix Medicare and social security, put Americans back to work, stop illegal immigration, and reduce crime in our cities, as I heard him say that he has plans to do those things. My prayers are with you, president-elect Obama. I would say the same, and list the many promises, if we now had a president-elect McCain. I only have one question. Why in the world do you guys and so many others want that job?
Yesterday my dear wife sensed my frustration in all the political stuff, and, as usual, had words to calm me down. She mentioned how great it is that we live in this wonderful country, and that we have free elections. (I could not argue with that.) We ‘change the guard’ without revolution and violence, unlike most of the world. We, as United States citizens can worship however we want, travel wherever we want, say what we want, (as these words prove,) bear arms, and do many other things unthinkable in much of the world. It is true that on November 4th the political pendulum swung to the left, in my opinion, about as far as it could swing. The good news in this, at least from my viewpoint, is that the pendulum must now, inevitably, begin to swing back.
When George Washington was elected president, the people wanted him to be their king. For this reason the father of our country chose to serve only one term. Did you know that? He knew the potential dangers of one man having limitless time in office. These days, we don’t have to worry about that. In fact, presidential administrations now last only about two years before the next bunch of wanna-be’s start jumping up and posturing to be noticed. Pick me! Pick me! If the executive branch isn’t performing up to expectations, those wanna-be’s will be more than happy to help us kick the bums out. I love that part of the system.
I once had a boss who said this: “To me, you are who you say you are, until I find out you’re not.” I think that was a very wise statement. President-elect Obama, I sure hope you are who you say you are.
What does it take to live a Great Life?
So, I understand we have elected a new president. It seems like it was only four years ago that we went through this whole national election thing. Now, here we are again, on the other side of the voting booth, and heading toward a January swearing in ceremony.
I would like to say that I wish president-elect Obama well. I truly do. He did not get my vote, but he surely got a lot of others. His policy stances are about as opposite of mine as they could be, and his view of our country may be as close to yours as it is distant from mine. I don’t know. But no matter. Senator Obama will be our next president, and I sincerely hope he accomplishes great things for our country.
For my part, I desire for our next president to be a man true to his word. Pre-election day politicians tend to make a lot of promises, as if you didn’t already know that. Senator Obama was no exception to this fact. He made more promises to the American people than I have room to list here. I hope all Americans watch closely to see if he fulfills those promises. I hope that those who voted for him are not disappointed. I hope that those of us who didn’t vote for him are pleasantly surprised. After all, Mr. Obama said he was different, and wanted change. I, for one, am anxious to have my income taxes reduced, as I make much less than $250,000 a year. I am also excited that he will solve the energy crisis, clean up the atmosphere, stop global warming, quickly find and kill Osama bin Laden, win the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, fix public education, give more scholarships to college kids, help the elderly pay for their prescription medicines, fix Medicare and social security, put Americans back to work, stop illegal immigration, and reduce crime in our cities, as I heard him say that he has plans to do those things. My prayers are with you, president-elect Obama. I would say the same, and list the many promises, if we now had a president-elect McCain. I only have one question. Why in the world do you guys and so many others want that job?
Yesterday my dear wife sensed my frustration in all the political stuff, and, as usual, had words to calm me down. She mentioned how great it is that we live in this wonderful country, and that we have free elections. (I could not argue with that.) We ‘change the guard’ without revolution and violence, unlike most of the world. We, as United States citizens can worship however we want, travel wherever we want, say what we want, (as these words prove,) bear arms, and do many other things unthinkable in much of the world. It is true that on November 4th the political pendulum swung to the left, in my opinion, about as far as it could swing. The good news in this, at least from my viewpoint, is that the pendulum must now, inevitably, begin to swing back.
When George Washington was elected president, the people wanted him to be their king. For this reason the father of our country chose to serve only one term. Did you know that? He knew the potential dangers of one man having limitless time in office. These days, we don’t have to worry about that. In fact, presidential administrations now last only about two years before the next bunch of wanna-be’s start jumping up and posturing to be noticed. Pick me! Pick me! If the executive branch isn’t performing up to expectations, those wanna-be’s will be more than happy to help us kick the bums out. I love that part of the system.
I once had a boss who said this: “To me, you are who you say you are, until I find out you’re not.” I think that was a very wise statement. President-elect Obama, I sure hope you are who you say you are.
What does it take to live a Great Life?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)