Thanks-Giving

At Thanksgiving we tend to reflect on and give thanks for the things which we've been given.  These blessings run from large and obvious to small and seemingly meaningless to a casual observer. No matter the significance of a blessing in one's life, the fact remains, whether you believe so or not, that gift was given by God. 

While I think it's important to give thanks, essential even, I think that it's just as important to give.  Period.  The holiday season brings out a charitable side from even the coldest of hearts.  There are myriad opportunities to drop a dollar into a jar or pack a shoebox or donate new toys or load up bags of canned goods for a food pantry.  You get the idea.  Opportunity abounds.

I challenge you, "my readers", to find something this next year, not just this Christmas season, into which you can pour your time, money, and resources.  Make a difference.  Don't just give thanks for the blessings you have been given, but take time to be a blessing to someone else and thank God for the opportunity and fortune he has afforded you that you might pay it forward.

I'm not going to touch on the political implications of the following picture, but I saw it and it resonated with me so strongly, I wanted to share it here.  It was a share of a share on Facebook, and I can't appropriately credit the source, but here it is nonetheless:

We have a lot in common in this great, divided nation of ours.  We are rich. 

Let's do our job and share it.  Better yet, let's find a way to invest our wealth in the type of charity that will pay eternal dividends.

Believe me, the opportunities are abounding.