a certain time

i usually don't like posting about something because of a certain holiday or event. i held back during the election and halloween recently because i felt like i would've been putting those up just because of the particular event and not because there was something i really wanted to say. i changed my mind for Thanksgiving, though, after seeing something in church this morning that bugged me a little to be quite honest. during the worship service, they showed a video about 'what Thanksgiving was all about.' there was stuff like,"it's not about food," "not about family," etc. i thought, "that's strange, family's a good thing, right?" (that's a completely different discussion, which i won't go into). then the video went into how Thanksgiving "should be a time to be thankful for all God has given us." the reason this bugged me is i thought, "shouldn't we be doing that already?" here we're talking about a time to be thankful, but we should be thankful all the time. i mean, i don't denounce taking the time to be together as a family (or as much of the family as possible, as i'm doing), but for some reason, some people think of it as the time reserved for being thankful. you might be able to say that it could be something of a thankfulness "checkpoint" to examine how thankful you are the rest of the year and if you are regularly thanking the Lord for His blessings, as it can be difficult when we are excessively blessed (isn't that interesting? the more thankful we should be, the less likely we are exactly that?). i believe that if you're regularly thankful and grateful to God for all you have received from Him, then Thanksgiving can be purely focused on family and friends (and stuffing).

there is life

isn't it great how death isn't the end of the story of the cross? after taking into account all that Christ had to suffer through, He was raised from His grave and raised us from ours.  the concept of our New Life from His Death has to be the most abstract idea to think about. and this Life isn't just the kind that comes after life on earth; it is immediately attained by accepting the Gift from Christ, made possible by the cross. Christ said He came that we may have life "more abundantly," meaning that our lives on Earth will be more fulfilling and have more purpose as a result of our submission to Him. this comes from the joy in new life: that we don't have to be slaves to sin and there's a choice when it comes to how we live our lives. we have been transformed by the renewing of our spirit (sounds familiar, right?). it comes from the hope we have in the Life to come: that no matter what, there's a happy end to the story and, in fact, there doesn't have to be an end. if we think about it though, Life mostly comes from the purpose that we receive through the commission that Christ gives to all who believe in Him.

there is death

for most people, the initial interpretation of the cross symbol is simply a representation of any Christ- based religion.  the cross' use in jewelry, Christian posters, clothing, and other items have made it unbelievably ubiquitous (even more so than the chrome- colored Christian fish).  with this overuse comes a numbness to its meaning and a lack of understanding.  even Christians can lose a genuine understanding of the Cross (guilty).  sometimes we get it half- right by remembering Christ died and was the atonement for our sins, was the ultimate sacrifice, cleansed our souls...  (ever wonder how meaningful words can sound so meaningless?). we got it. Christ died. but what we don't get is how Christ died. He endured more pain than we could ever hope or ever want to understand. He suffered not only physically but what ridiculed and scoffed at by those who had just welcomed Him with joyful cries and waving branches just a few days earlier. not to mention betrayed by one who was supposed to be one of His closest friends. i imagine that the anxiety that Christ felt in anticipation of what he knew he was about to experience. i'll even bet that Christ was hoping God was giving Him a test similar to Abraham, who at the last second was given a way out of the sacrifice he was told he had to give. nonetheless, Christ endured what He had to, all the while thinking of those he loved the most.