A lot of the books I have were gifts because I was "just starting" as a minister. A few weeks ago I had thought about how that doesn't happen often anymore. Most people know I made it through school and that I've been at this for a little while now.  Well, last week I received these as a gift from a retired pastor!

What you may not know is that this is something most pastors do right before we leave the office for the worship service.

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Face it.  Thanksgiving is the middle child of holidays.

People make a great fuss about Halloween.  Of course they do; it's the first-born.  First-borns make us "parents for the first time."  It's likely you've wrapped that statement in a prayer for your first-born.  You were teary-eyed when you said it, too.  Your other children all but wonder why you didn't affirm that obvious piece of information about them.  After all, they made you parents for the second and fifth time.  Likewise, Halloween inaugurates the holiday season.  It's like National Blueberry Popsicle Month doesn't exist.  Spooky costumes and candy corn have this strange way of prepping us for Christmas.

And Christmas can do no wrong.  Duh!  The baby of the family gets away with everything.  You don't have to have a baby sibling to know that.  Just watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off again.  Everyone thinks the babies are so cute.  By the way, that drives older siblings crazy because they (we) know better.  If you don't think that applies to Christmas, ask yourself why we sing Away in the Manger so many times before and after December 25th.  I wasn't there, but I'm guessing that fleeing from an imperial killer and having a stable-birth cannot be that cutesy!

In the middle of the excitement of Monster Mash and Charlie Brown's tree creeps in Thanksgiving.  Sure, we know it's there.  We love it unconditionally.  We don't mean for it to appear like we forgot about it.  In fact, when the day comes we'll do what it takes to make it perfect.  In the mean time, we're still regretting the Halloween pounds and beginning to stress about that fact that Christmas is almost here.  Middle children understand.  They've heard it all before.

I have a middle child.  Somehow, someway, no matter the effort I give to make it otherwise the middle child syndrome makes frequent appearances in my home.  Still, I'm determined to make sure that child knows how important she is and how much she means to me and our family--and, ultimately, to God.  I think it's time we realize how much we've neglected our holiday middle child.

Considering all that God has done for us, giving thanks is a meaningful part of life and faith.  Undoubtedly, someone will remind you that is something we do everyday and not just on one holiday.  It may be annoying when they say it, but they are right.  "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.  His love endures forever" (Psalm 107:1).  God's faithfulness lasts forever.  So, our thanksgiving should endure more than the last Thursday of November.  But maybe that one day can teach us something important so that we can learn to give thanks more often. You may have to put a little effort into it.  There's only so much football and overeating can teach an American.  Find/make/renew a tradition to make thanksgiving the meaning of Thanksgiving.

Just know, however, that people considerately wait until after Halloween to ask if you're getting ready for Christmas.  Thanksgiving gets no such R-E-S-P-E-C-T.   But you've got thanksgiving on your mind.  So, when they do ask that question before Advent,  you just ask them what they have against your middle child.

How can you make Thanksgiving (the holiday) more meaningful, and thanksgiving (lower case t, the way of life) more frequent?

Would it comfort you to know that I wrote these short words days before the results of last night's election? I hope it does because I did so on purpose. For a variety of reasons, I tend not to share my political leanings. One of the advantages I feel I have is that I can offer a perspective that you can take as being thoughtful and, as best I'm able to, free from the usual tone of "my side vs your side" politics. Besides, I'm not convinced most people want to know who I vote for. I was called by the church to be a pastor, a preacher and reminder of the Gospel of our Lord. So, with that in mind...

I'm anticipating the first time I'll hear the words. It'll probably be on Facebook! I first noticed them a few elections ago and have heard them every morning after the election since. What are those words?  Can you imagine someone saying this: "It's sad."


Take a guess at who says that. I've never heard someone whose candidate won an election state that; it's always someone on the losing side. May I suggest that a candidate losing an election is not sad--not even your candidate. Maybe it's disappointing or frustrating. It may even be wrong, but that's something we find out later, not the day after the election.

Sad? Children around the world are dying because of malnutrition. People live in anguish because of drug violence and gang activity. Families are struggling with addictions. Cancer, depression and suicide are sad. Elections? Well, there are people in the world whose votes don't matter and feel forced to vote in particular ways, or else. Is it sad to think about the amount of money used by candidates to convince us to vote? 

We're the church. We're supposed to be set apart, holy. Quite often the way we speak and think about the world around us sounds just like everyone else. Maybe that's sad. Rest assured, God's will is never subject to who runs our nation. Praise God! That message has been clear for thousands of years. Maybe you woke up to find the president to be the man you voted for. Maybe not. That doesn't mean God voted for them too or that the devil is running the next four years.  It means someone won an election.  That's not sad; that's politics.

If my kids were regular readers of this blog, I can guarantee you this would be their favorite post.  Truth be told, I think it's almost one of mine.

I've thought before about how I want "to go."  Call it what you want: kick the bucket; taking a dirt nap; going to the big whatever in the sky.  I bet you've given it some thought, too.

Of all the ways I have ever imagined I might bite the big one, this is one scenario that I'm sure wouldn't apply to any of us.

Dinosaurs blown away by own farts, say researchers

And you thought this was going to be uplifting.  Stay blessed...john