The secret to being thankful despite circumstances

It appears that the calendar has furnished American Christians with a fortuitous confluence of dates and events which we should seize upon to cultivate a posture and attitude of gratitude.

We have just experienced a midterm election which confirms the fact that we are a deeply and evenly divided nation at the national level, with major strongholds for each party in differing sections of the country. When one looks at a three-dimensional blue (Democrat) and red (Republican) map of the country’s congressional districts, it appears to be a sea of red with blue lakes and several blue super skyscrapers (Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, etc.)

Exit polls reveal that while 75% of voters believe the country is “going in the wrong direction,” the election resulted in a divided government. The Democrats control the Senate by the narrowest of margins (either 51-49 Democrat or 50-50 depending on the runoff results in Georgia in early December). The House is controlled by the GOP by the narrowest of margins (even though they received significantly more votes in House races nationwide). Perhaps this is a tribute to the Democrats having performed better at gerrymandering the House districts prior to the election.

However, given the divisive rhetoric employed by both sides in this election cycle, the results have been received by the populace with impressive acceptance and the American spirit of “we will try to do a better job of making our case to the American people in the next election.”

For that fact, all Americans should be most thankful. There are not many countries in the world where the population has such deeply entrenched trust in their national institutions and their government. That is especially true for nations that are as manifestly diverse and divided in political loyalties as America is at this moment in our history. So, as we approach Thanksgiving week, I am profoundly grateful to the preceding generations of Americans who labored as sacrificially as they did to create, maintain and protect this uniquely robust and enduring system of political and economic liberty…. (Excerpt from The Christian Post)