Happy Thanksgiving

Matthias Claudius (1740–1815)

I thank thee, God, and like a child
Rejoice as for a Christmas gift,
That I am living—just alive—
Just for this human face I wear,
That I can see the sun, the sea,
The hills and grass and leafy trees,
And walk beneath the host of stars
And watch the lovely moon above.

T

hanksgiving is the holiday intended for me. I tend to build up momentum, rushing from here to there and back again. Busy with work. Busy with personal chores. Busy, busy, busy. All that busy-ness tends to distract my mind from the things I need so much to focus on.

I begin to pay more attention to the things that get in the way of my efforts at accomplishment. I pay attention to the traffic, the weather, the little aches and pains of life. I pay attention to the difficulties with getting personal affairs in order and I pay attention to the struggles of work and dealing with others. And I forget to pay attention to the wonderful blessings of our God, who shows his great love to us every single day.

Paul Stromberg Rees

If thankfulness arises through prosperity, well and good. But what are you going to do when the prosperity fails? If thankfulness springs up through health, well and good. But what will you do when disease makes you bedridden? Must you then become glum or bitter? But now, supposing it is through our dear Lord Christ that you cultivate the fine art of thanksgiving, then what? Then money in the bank, however useful, does not have me at its mercy: if I lose it, I can still offer thanks.

When the Puritans brought their unique culture to the shores of early America, they brought attitudes and philosophies that would be a great benefit to us all if we were to grasp a hold on them again. Humility was a characteristic of those early Puritans. Humility and dependence on God for their lot in life formed the foundation of the Puritan's thought processes and way of living.

The touted “Puritan work ethic” spread through early America and allowed our nation to build into a strong and independent force that eventually worked its way to the top of the heap, becoming the world’s “superpower.” And as the Puritans worked hard each day, dealt honestly with their neighbors and with their customers, and kept honesty and openness at the forefront of their business dealings, God prospered our nation.

John Henry Jowett

Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road.

Although they recognized the benefits of their labors and their way of business, they did not take personal credit for the products of their labors. After long and hard hours and realizing the fruits of their labors, they turned to God in thankfulness. This was their way because they recognized that they could do nothing without God’s favor.

This Puritan thankfulness for God’s blessing eventually worked its way into a national holiday. Yes, they were grateful to the natives of this land who helped them through long cold hard winters. They were grateful to the Indians for teaching them about corn. But their primary thankfulness was not directed to the Indians any more than it was directed to themselves for their hard work and honest labor. Those early Americans recognized God’s hand in all of the blessings around them. Their thankfulness was to God and it was intended to make the statement to their children and to their newfound native friends that they recognized their reliance on God’s providence.

Erwin W. Lutzer

It’s only when we choose to give praise for the rough spots in life that we will begin to see them from God’s perspective. If we don’t give thanks in all things, we are living in unbelief, for we are assuming that our circumstances are not controlled by a God who loves us! I’m not saying that you should give thanks for sin, but you can thank God for how he will use that sin to teach, to rebuke, or to challenge you.

Today our nation celebrates Thanksgiving. It is the one holiday that is directed to God’s bounty. It doesn’t typically involve parties (well, maybe football parties in the afternoon) or revelry. It typically involves families and friends gathering around the table spread with God’s bounty. Many of those families will begin their meal with something they don’t do the rest of the year. They will turn to God in a prayer of thankfulness.

Today I thank God for his blessings. Today I thank God for his care. Today I thank God for his protection and provision.

Today I thank God for Thanksgiving.

Just the word thanksgiving prompts the spirit of humility. Genuine gratitude to God for his mercy, his abundance, his protection, his smile of favor. Life simplifies itself.
—Charles Swindoll

 

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d dy of October, A.D. 1789.

(signed) G. Washington

 

I love Front Royal

W

hen I was a child, my family had a yearly tradition that involved touring the Luray Caverns, driving Skyline Drive, and then stopping on the way home at an apple orchard to pick a few bushels of apples. I loved those times. The caverns were impressive, the apples were delicious and fun to pick, and the incredible display of color in the leaves along Skyline Drive was intense and awe-inspiring.

Little did I know back in those days that we would one day live in Front Royal, just about two miles from the entrance to Skyline Drive. So this past Saturday we took advantage of our proximity and decided to drive a little ways along Skyline Drive to get some pictures—even though it is now heading into winter and the leaves are almost all gone.

It was gorgeous—as I imagine it is any time of the year.

When we got back home, Kim flipped through some of our Virginia Living magazines and found an article about Skyline Drive. I wanted to share it with you.

75 Years Ago

Skyline Drive

It was a one-two knockout punch: First, the Great Depression hit in 1929, then 1930 began the worst drought in Virginia history.

The combined crisis left Appalachian-area apple pickers desperate for jobs, and in January of 1931 the federal government sent help from the Federal Drought Relief Appropriation. The money was to employ laborers and contractors in a large construction project. It would keep them busy for the next six years and literally put Virginia on the map.

The idea had been first floated seven years earlier, in a report from the Southern Appalachian National Park Commission. The group recommended establishing a national park in the Shenandoah area, but the report also included an ambitious footnote:

“The greatest single feature, however, is a possible skyline drive along the mountain top, following a continuous ridge and looking westerly on the Shenandoah Valley, from 2,500 to 3,500 feet below, and also commanding a view of the Piedmont Plain stretching easterly to the Washington Monument, which landmark may be seen on a clear day.... Few scenic drives in the world could surpass it.”

Herbert Hoover was all for it; he loved the Blue Ridge enough to have established a permanent Presidential trout fishing camp on the Rapidan river. Federal money was secured, but the land still had to be acquired.

Most of it was farmland. Federal law forbade the government from seizing property, so the job fell to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Although some acreage was donated, most was acquired through condemning it, then negotiating a reasonable purchase price with the farmer and giving the land to the Federal Government.

David checking out fresh cotton

There were far more squatters than landowners living in the path of the Drive, and in evicting them the Federal Government tried to avoid sparking another messy protest movement as had recently happned in the Great Smoky Mountains. Over 500 families were displaced in Virginia. All were offered resettlement assistance, including Federal programs for purchasing land in three new homestead areas on each side of the Blue Ridge.

As the work progressed, North Carolina also realized the economic value such a project would create. State legislators proposed extending the Skyline Drive to connect the Shenandoah and Smoky Mountain national parks. A plan modeled on the Virginia project was approved, and work began on the Blue Ridge Parkway in 1935.

The Virginia project went quickly, considering all of the blasting, grading, paving, landscaping, rail-building, and the digging and lining of the 670-foot-long Mary’s Rock tunnel.

The first section of the drive was opened in 1934, with the entire 105-mile road finished and paved by the fall of 1939. Over 4,000 workers and 13 contracting companies (four from Virginia) made it happen, at a total cost of just over $1.6 million government dollars.

Today, the Skyline Drive remains one of the most traveled recreational roads in the nation—about 2 million people drive it each year. It stretches from Front Royal to Rockfish Gap, with a 35-mph speed limit the entire way, offering the same magnificent views and peaceful foray into Appalachian Virginia as it did 75 years ago.

Kim, enjoying the final moments of our drive

 

The earth displays the handiwork of God

O

ur new hometown is a delightful place with many wonderful surprises for those who take the time to look. But one feature of our town is not a surprise to most people who travel through Front Royal, Virginia.

Skyline Drive is an unbelievably beautiful 105-mile-long drive along the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The drive sees many visitors during the fall foliage peak, but the drive is absolutely beautiful 365 days per year.

So yesterday we decided to drive along this road that begins across the street from our son’s high school. The entrance to Skyline Drive is about two miles from our house. We drove about 20 miles of the 105-mile length yesterday and took quite a few pictures. The current blog header is one of those pictures. This photo was taken about five miles from our house and about three miles after the entrance to Skyline Drive. As we were leaving the Drive for the day, we stopped here to take pictures as the sun set.

God has blessed us so greatly by moving us here and we are thoroughly enjoying his handiwork all around us. I’ll share a few more photos tomorrow and will give you some information about this wonderful drive.

 

A rose tulip by any other name

I

t is no novelty, then, that I am preaching; no new doctrine. I love to proclaim these strong old doctrines, that are called by nickname “Calvinism,” but which are surely and verily the revealed truth of God as it is in Christ Jesus. By this truth I make a pilgrimage into [the] past, and as I go, I see father after father, confessor after confessor, martyr after martyr, standing up to shake hands with me....

Taking these things to be the standard of my faith, I see the land of the ancients peopled with my brethren; I behold multitudes who confess the same as I do, and acknowledge that this is the religion of God’s own church

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, as quoted by David Steele and Curtis Thomas in The Five Points of Calvinism (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1963), p. 8.

 

Pray for our government

R

eading in my bible today, I was reminded of how important it is for us to regularly plead with God about our leaders. I was especially moved to pray for our president.

Psalm 109:8

Okay. I’m just joking. But we really should be praying for our leaders.

 

Meditation

T

he winds of change can really have an impact when you’re not grounded. I believe my lack of deep roots has caused me to be blown and battered about over this past year. Rather than looking at my own contributions to the faulty foundation I concentrated on the winds caused by those around me. This is not good.

So as I began today with my personal devotional time, I pulled out a book I have not read in quite some time, The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis. I turned to Book Two: The Interior Life and began to read from the beginning:

“The kingdom of God is within you,” says the Lord (Luke 17:21).

Turn, then, to God with all your heart. Forsake this wretched world and your soul shall find rest. Learn to despise external things, to devote yourself to those that are within, and you will see the kingdom of God come unto you, that kingdom which is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, gifts not given to the impious.

Christ will come to you offering His consolation, if you prepare a fit dwelling for Him in your heart, whose beauty and glory, wherein He takes delight, are all from within. His visits with the inward man are frequent, His communion sweet and full of consolation, His peace great, and His intimacy wonderful indeed.

Therefore, faithful soul, prepare your heart for this Bridegroom that He may come and dwell within you; He Himself says: “If any one love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him” John 14:23.

Thomas à Kempis

Do not place much confidence in weak and mortal man, helpful and friendly though he be; and do not grieve too much if he sometimes opposes and contradicts you. Those who are with us today may be against us tomorrow, and vice versa, for men change with the wind. Place all your trust in God; let Him be your fear and your love. He will answer for you; He will do what is best for you.

Wow. How could I have forgotten where to look for that peace and solace that all of us so desperately seek, but which I had not experienced for some time? I had looked for shelter from the storms of life and had accepted that shelter from men—never a particularly good choice. Those men eventually moved on to other plans, leaving me facing a storm and wondering how to protect my family from it.

In spite of my seemingly perpetually weak faith God blessed greatly, providing us a home and a church and educational needs for my son. He patiently waited for me to turn again and recognize the true source of comfort and consolation—himself.

Had you but once entered into perfect communion with Jesus or tasted a little of His ardent love, you would care nothing at all for your own comfort or discomfort but would rejoice in the reproach you suffer; for love of Him makes a man despise himself....

He who tastes life as it really is, not as men say or think it is, is indeed wise with the wisdom of God rather than of men.

Time to get back to ground level and work on my foundation.

All quotes from The Imitation of Christ
Book Two, Chapter One

 

Stratford Hall

I haven’t commented on my header photos lately, but thought I ought to at least identify today’s subject. This photo is of Stratford Hall, the birthplace of Robert E. Lee and of his great-grandfather, “Lighthorse” Henry Lee, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Stratford Hall is in Virginia’s Northern Neck, so it is not easily accessible by roads, although it was a thriving port 200 years ago due to its easy accessibility from the water. This house was featured in the Mel Gibson movie “The Patriot” in the scene when the revolutionaries blow up the ship and the clueless woman says, “Oh goodie—fireworks!”

If you live anywhere near Virginia’s Northern Neck or across the River in Maryland, take advantage of your proximity by visiting Stratford Hall. I would recommend a visit on July 4th when the Hall hosts various events and has myriad 18th and 19th century period actors to help deliver the full immersion experience. You’ll love it.

It’s Friday!!!

W

hen Mary and I were going to college together (about a quarter-century ago) I was a trumpet player. In fact, I was majoring in music with a trumpet proficiency (until I switched to voice because it seemed easier). And Maynard Ferguson was my favorite trumpet player.

Unfortunately, a health issue caused me to lose my ability to play the trumpet—not that I was ever able to do what Maynard can do, or even come close.

The loss of control of my lip muscles brought some fear with regard to Mary’s recent surgery and we’re praising God for retaining her ability to play the clarinet. Perhaps the fact that she’s good and I was a slouch played into the final outcomes in our individual cases. Hmmmm.

Anyway, as the weekend kicks off, here’s a video from back in those days (circa 1980) of my favorite trumpet player playing “Give It One.” And the tenor sax in the middle of the song is my tribute to Mary. I just couldn’t find an actual clarinet. A tenor sax is basically a clarinet with a bit more testosterone.

Maynard rocks!

 

Why does God allow evil in the world?

D

on Carson is one of my favorite authors. I had the honor of teaching a class using one of his books as the textbook and foundation for the curriculum. He’s a deep thinker and a solid biblical theologian.

Some of our recent conversations here have brought up the question of why, if he does exist, would God allow evil to happen in the world. This is a difficult question and one that comes up regularly in a world filled with so much evil and suffering. Don Carson attempts to answer this question in this video:

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Interesting observations

I

n A Tale of Two Shootings, columnist Scott Wheeler made some interesting observations:

1. Obama’s response to the shooting death of abortion doctor, George Tiller:
   I am shocked and outraged!
2. Obama’s response to the Fort Hood shooting of 12 American soldiers by a self-proclaimed Muslim jihadist:
   I would caution against jumping to conclusions.

Wheeler also pointed out another apparent inconsistency in the Obama admistration’s response to domestic terrorism:

1. Janet Napolitano’s activity following the Fort Hood terrorist attack on multiple American soldiers:
   The Department is now working to deflect any backlash against American Muslims following Thursday’s rampage by a Muslim soldier.
2. Janet Napolitano’s activity earlier this year:
   The Department issued a report cautioning against the domestic threats of “right-wing extremism” and right-wing groups that might use issues such as abortion as a recruiting tool.

Interesting observations that kind of make one wonder exactly who our government is trying to protect these days. Read Wheeler’s article here.