Just had a July thought about #ThanksgivingDay2020

This will be another test of the American spirit. It will be nearing the end of a year of epic sickness and enduring struggles. Pandemics are temporary but seldom hurried. Prayerfully we are not beginning a second wave of global pandemic.

Additionally, the holiday will be on the heels of a political season that will significantly influence our national future. Platform and principles will be on the voting block. Economics and jobs will be at stake. Supreme Court judge(s) will be nominated by next POTUS. Elections have consequences.

Families will gather around tables and traditions, likely with empty chairs for multiple reasons. Churches will gather socially distanced around the Lord’s Table with opportunity to display unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph 4:3).

The heart of America will be re-learning how to hold these truths to be self-evident: that all are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Christians will need the reminder of #dayenu. God is good and will provide for our every need. The Lord is in control, His kingdom is unshaken, His Spirit is with us, His word is sufficient, and His mission is unchanged. 

We will have the opportunity to spiral complaints into endless conflict and division, or to enjoy the art of contentment: learning from failures and pressing forward toward the upward call. Aim big by starting small on personal and local levels.

Christian Americans need one reminder: “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Php 3:20-21).

#HappyThanksgiving in July.