Modern . . . Gratitude

Since it’s Thanksgiving week, I figured I’d put a grateful spin on everything I blog about the next few days. =) Now this is a bit of a challenge right this moment, because I’m sitting here in a half-zombie state thinking, “Why, oh why can’t I just get a full night’s sleep?? Soooooo tirrrrred.”

But anyway. Combining my thoughts about the VERY soon-to-release Stray Drop with my thoughts on modern or contemporary stuff with my determination to be thankful, I arrive I at this:

I am so, so thankful for the history of the church that we have behind us, to draw on. Yes, there were some bleak times, a ton of disagreement, and, being comprised of people, a lot of mistakes over the centuries. But we also have a complete Bible, in any translation you please. We have so many amazingly brilliant Christian philosophers who have pondered the big questions and written extensively on them. We have, in our country and many others, the freedom to worship Him.

I’ve heard people saying they wish they lived in Jesus’ day, so that they could have seen him, witnessed the miracles, received the Spirit as they did. And yeah, that would have been cool. But on the other hand, we have the spiritual right to the same miracles and greater ones, we have the exact same Spirit, and we can see Christ in so many ways.

So this Thanksgiving, I’m not taking my Bibles for granted, nor my shelf full of Luther, Aquinas, Augustine, and Anselm (and others I can’t pull out of my sleepy brain right now . . .). I’m thanking the Lord for the rich history we have of working for Him, for the rights to do so, and even for living in a time when I can turn my thought into novels.

Thank you, Father, for speaking through the ages.