THANKSGIVING MEDITATION

My wife and I belong to a Wednesday Worship Group that meets at 6:00 p.m. for a short meditative service. It is lay-led, run by us "amateurs". I did this short meditation at the service this Wednesday. You don't have to be a Christian to appreciate Thanksgiving, so this is for all my friends and/or followers.

As we approach the actual holiday of Thanksgiving, it is a good time to take a self-inventory and examine in our lives the blessings for which we should be grateful. In this connection, I was perusing recently a book that belonged to my grandmother that came into my possession after her death in 1962, a book that I have enjoyed over these many years called “The Book of English Collects”, a collection from the Prayer Books of the Anglican Communion of England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, South Africa and the U.S.A. published originally in 1940. Most of these collects are old and refer to God with the pronouns “Thou” or “Thee”, which appeals to me, as it denotes a special intimate relationship with God. It is filled with inspiring prayers for almost any occasion or circumstance. I recently found one Thanksgiving Collect that appealed to me:

O, Most merciful Father, we humbly thank thee for all thy gifts
so freely bestowed upon us. For life and health and safety, for power
to work and leisure to rest, for all that is beautiful in creation and in
the lives of men (and women), we praise and magnify thy glorious
name. But above all we thank thee for our spiritual mercies in Christ
Jesus our Lord, for the means of peace and the hope of glory. Fill
our hearts with all joy and peace in believing, through Christ Jesus
our lord.
Amen.

And here on Sanibel, in the words of this collect of Thanksgiving, we have so many “gifts so freely bestowed upon us” in our lives, our friendships and our church. Almost every time I drive down Periwinkle (the main drag), I find myself thanking God that Beryl and I permanently moved here seven years ago this month. We had been coming down since 1974 and owned a condo since 1977, but we bought a lot in 2001 and built and moved into our current home the following year.

We all have our “thanks giving” list. Let’s go around the circle and see what “thanks giving” we can make. I’ll start it off:

I give thanks that I have been married to this wonderful woman who has put up with me for 56 years and is the mother of our four children and grandmother to six.

(A lot of people chimed in with their thanks giving. Feel free to add your own.)

Let me end with a Collect for Thanksgiving Day:

O Most Merciful Father, who hast blessed the labors of the
husbandmen in the returns of the fruit of the earth: We give thee
humble and hearty thanks for this thy bounty, beseeching thee to
continue thy loving kindness to us, that our land may still yield
her increase, to thy glory and our comfort, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

IT'S EPIDEMIC OF THE MOUTH TIME

There must be something in the autumn air, a new epidemic going around, a form of rabies with foaming at the mouth. I have recently been buried with emails from my neo-con friends, absolutely ballbusting Barack Obama. I'm used to getting several a week, but the intensity of the tone has been ramped way up recently.

Benedict Arnold looks like our greatest patriot compared to Barack Obama. Our President has sold out the country. He is a dangerous revolutionary endangering the American Way of Life. He has demeaned us abroad by talking to the Palestinians. The Iranians play him for a fool. The Chinese laugh at him. His domestic programs are a farce and all doomed. He's never held "a real job"in his life. Hell. he's not even an American! I can't believe one man can screw up in so many ways so fast.

What am I missing? Did he not inherit a few of both domestic and unternational problems from the previous administration? I do believe there were wars in Iraq and Afghanistan going on when he stepped into the Presidency. I do believe the financial crisis, the mortgage meltdown and the recession were well underway, as well. I do believe most of the world thought our foreign policy abysmal and in need of revision.

I don't think everything he has done is right, I must say. A few weeks ago I wrote a blog where I suggested he would do well to keep a lower profile and work quietly behind the scenes to effect some of his key programs. He is stirring too many pots at one time, but, with the problems he is facing, it's tough to know where to concentrate. He needs to do some pushing and shoving and the grunt work of getting programs going.

I think the idea of a summit with a variety of governmental and undustrial executives a good idea. Jobs are on everyone's mind. It is a real priority. And don't have a press conference every five minutes to update the public. Wait until you have a real program to present.

Then I think it might be possible to slow down this epidemic of mouth foaming by the right---not totally, I know that's too much to expect---but enough that reasonable people can begin to see through the fog of bombast.

TOO FAT, TOO DUMB, TOO LAZY---TOO UNLOVED

The latest report from the military services is a real shocker: 75% of our youth today is unfit for military service. That percentage surprised me, as I would have thought the estimate to be in the 50+% range.

TOO FAT: The diet of the average American family has been the target of nutritionists for some time---adults and kids with too much junk food, too many empty calories, too much fat. I remember being resentful but understanding on a bus tour in New Zealand ten years or more ago when the bus driver, as part of his running commentary, announced as we passed a McDonald’s, “Ladies and Gentlemen, the American Embassy!”

TOO DUMB: Educators have been concerned for some time with the dumbing down of educational standards in an effort to mass-educate our youth. Quantity, not quality, becomes the hallmark of many schools. Drop-outs are still prevalent; “babysitting” classrooms where students simply occupy space too frequent. Lack of funds doesn’t help, as well.

TOO LAZY: How many kids stay active in sports? How many play outside? How many are obsessed with their video/computer games? Virtual physical reality replaces actual physical activity. I know that the computer is an essential part of the military today---but you still have to fight your enemies and you better be in better or as good shape as they.

TOO UNLOVED: Another problem for kids today is lack of family time and family values. Some of this problem can be related to the economic conditions of today where both parents are scrabbling for a living, and not much time remains to nurture family values. Some of the problem, unfortunately, can be ascribed to parents who shouldn’t be parents, who just can’t be bothered with their damned nuisance kids.

It is time for concern. The future of our country will someday be in the hands of this youth, and, if three out of four are in bad shape physically, mentally and spiritually, then we will have a far bigger problem.

Shape up or ship out, America!

"MONEY CAN'T BUY ME LOVE"

The election results of yesterday, November third, prove the Beatles were right. The rich candidates who spent lavishly didn't buy much love. Mayor Bloomberg of New York City won but had a much closer result than the expected landslide. Gov. Corzine of New Jersey spent a ton of his vast fortune--- and lost handily.

Some of the Republican right are beginning to crow, seeing these victories as emblematic of future gains, but I wouldn't place large bets on their predictions.

What you are seeing is the malaise of the general public at the state of the economy. Economists say the worst is over, but it takes a long time for the improvements to show in terms of better employment and overall corporate sales increases and hirings.

What I note is that the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, put his money where his mouth is and paid 34 billion for Burlington Northern, citing his faith in the railroads and the economic future of America. If someone as financially astute as Buffett has faith, we should, too.

Let's keep the faith, baby, and hold tight: the ride will get better.