L'Abri Journals...ACGray

November 2001
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Thanksgivings - 2001

We aren't responsible for any history that reaches back before our own day.  But we are responsible for what happens here and now so far as our influence and opportunities are concerned.  And the Lord God who gave us what we have will not hold us guiltless if indifferently we fail to enter into all that is expected of us if indifferently we let the issues of the day be decided by default.   Richard L. Evans, May Peace Be With You

 LAbri @ Massanutten, November 6, 2001.a page from my journalacg

 The events of September 11th have sobered my thoughts as this Thanksgiving season draws near.   I muse that this season of harvest  is surely a time for taking inventory of all my blessings as did those who celebrated that first American Thanksgiving.  I send up a Deo Gratis for all the good things that have come my way this eventful year, for my long life- journey filled with adventures around the globe, for wondrous acquaintance and companionship of abiding friends found on every continent, for an abundant measure of good health down through the years (and for the times of illness that made me appreciate the wisdom of healthful living), for the immeasurable good fortune of having been born an American with all the legacy and privileges of freedom, for the diligence of teachers and mentors who guided my early days and those who influence these latter days, for the dedicated service of  all who have made my way through life more safe, more secure, more joyful, more meaningful, more spiritually rich and blessed. 

          Richard Evans wrote that in its own way, the Thanksgiving season is the evidence of the fruition of faith.  It is, in fact, the substance of things hoped for with the fruits of the field before us, the things that give us sustenance, the rich, bounteous blessings which are ours by the goodness of God, because someone had the faith to plow and to plant and because God gave the increase.  I add my gratitude for God-given intelligence and the ability to think, for the priceless privilege of life, for the conviction that life has meaning and purpose, for every motivation to repent of wrongs and strive to be a better and more sensitive person to the struggles of those who cross my path.  Give me dear Lord, I pray, the will to hope and plow and plant so that my life work may make lighter the burdens of others.

          We have had warm windy Indian Summer days here in the Massanutten.  Blowing leaves,  magnificent morning sunrises over the Blue Ridge, and the remorseless ticking clock mark my days.  

As for man, his days are as grass:  as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone;  and the place thereof shall know it no more.  But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting   Psalm 103:15-17.

  Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be moved, and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea;  though the waters thereof rage and swell, and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same.   Psalm 46:2-3

The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:5-7