I’m thankful most of all today for how the gospel is for everyone.

In the Book of Revelation, John describes a scene where people from every race, ethnicity, people group, language, and skin color gather together at the throne of God.

I’m glad that Jesus isn’t just for people who look and act like me. That amount of sameness would get incredible boring really fast. Thank God (literally) for diversity.

It’s sad that right now that 11 am on Sunday is still the most segregated hour in America. Church should look like a sneak preview of heaven, and the heaven I understand is much more diverse than that.

Thankfully, I see signs that things are changing. I love how the blood of Jesus not only brings us to God but also brings us together. We all share the same color blood and the blood of Jesus unites us.

I heard one pastor say that racism isn’t so much a skin issue as it is a sin issue. That’s at the root of any kind of discrimination or stereotyping.

Thankfully, Jesus at the cross defeated racism as well as every other kind of sin. One day, He will restore what sin has stolen and make all things right.

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder” (G.K. Chesterton).

Attitude is everything. Thanksgiving and gratitude turn what I have into enough, while consumerism, competition, and complaining turn what I have into “never enough.”

Thanksgiving is a day on the calendar where we take off from work, eat a whole lot, and generally give thanks for the four f’s — faith, family, food, and football.

Thanksgiving is also a daily choice where we choose gratitude over grumbling, focusing on what we have versus what we don’t or what we wish we had or what we could have had.

True thanksgiving begins with the proposition that God is enough. God in and of Himself, plus nothing else, is enough.

The fall started when we thought we could find any kind of satisfaction and/or contentment outside of God and His gifts. That’s where it all started to go wrong.

Thanksgiving says that God and His gifts are sufficient for satisfaction and contentment.

For today, I choose to give thanks and be grateful. God willing, I will do the same tomorrow.

I read somewhere about how we as a culture can easily switch from being thankful one day to being completely crazed shopaholic consumers the next.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for buying stuff. I sure buy enough stuff.

I just hope we don’t have short memories when it comes to gratitude.

There are a lot of people in the world who would love to have what you have, who are praying for the very things you and I take for granted.

The best way to not get caught up in the rat race of keeping up with the proverbial Joneses and amassing huge debt is gratitude. To say, “What I have is enough,” is just about the most radical, counter-cultural statement you can make these days.

But remember that compared to the majority of the world, you are wealthy. If you had more than one square meal today, a solid roof over your head, more clothes than the ones you’re wearing, and access to clean water, you are rich.

Think about that the next time you get the urge to complain or compare. We as working Americans may feel like the 99%, but globally speaking, we’re much closer to the 1%. So many go without even the most basic necessities while we gripe about not having enough toys or perks.

Remember who it all belongs to anyway. When you die, all you take with you is the love you shared with family and friends, the hope you shared in helping others find their way to Jesus, and the legacy of what you’ve given away in terms of time, talents, and treasures.

“And as He spoke, He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before” (C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle)

On this date 55 years ago, we lost John F. Kennedy, C.S. Lewis, and Aldous Huxley (author of Brave New World). While most of the world only remembers the first Jack (as in Kennedy), many like me point to the second Jack (as Lewis preferred to be called) as greatly influential in their growing in both faith and imagination. Narnia lives on.

I certainly can point to Mr. Lewis in the growth of my faith and imagination with books like Mere Christianity and God in the Dock for my faith, and The Chronicles of Narnia and ‘Til We Have Faces for my imagination (and a bit of faith, too).

I still say that Narnia helped me in my understanding of and longing for Heaven. I can’t say that it will be like Lewis described it in every detail, but I’m sure that it will be the true start and the real beginning of the story.

So than you, C. S. “Jack” Lewis, for your dedication to defending the faith and inspiring the imagination of millions. Your labors have not been in vain.

First of all, I’m having difficulty processing the fact that Thanksgiving Day is 48 hours away. It should still be October.

Secondly, I’ve been having some serious nostalgic moments lately, specifically around all things Thanksgiving.

Growing up, we always had Thanksgiving at our house. The house would be jam packed with family members and probably enough food to feed Custer’s army.

I loved how people from my Dad’s side of the family interacted with those from my Mom’s side, which blew my tiny child mind. I always saw the two sides as existing in two different worlds, so it was almost like witnessing Luke Skywalker having a conversation with Scotty from Star Trek fame.

I recall how the grownups sat at the dining room table, while us kids got the folding table also known as kiddie table. I yearned for the day when I’d be big enough to sit with at the big table, but I’m pretty sure I know now which one was more fun.

It’s been a while since all the family has done Thanksgiving together. I kinda miss it. I miss everyone being together and sharing a meal.

Maybe Heaven will be a bit like a big family Thanksgiving dinner with Jesus as the host. I still think I’ll want to sit at the kiddie table.

“Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary. We should never take the forgiveness of sin in simple faith and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid. Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of God” (Oswald Chambers, from My Utmost for His Highest).

The vacation is over. Part of me was a little bit sad driving away from Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge. Part of me wishes I could still be there now, with a few more days of leisure still ahead of me.

Then again, part of me wants to eat nothing but pizza and chocolate all day and never get fat. I’m no nutritionist, but I’m pretty sure those two can’t coexist.

So tomorrow I re-enter the real world of early rising, long commutes, and work weeks. Thankfully, it’s another short week with the Thanksgiving holiday coming up in a few days.

Honestly, I know that too much of just about anything can get old after a while. Even vacations. Eventually the money runs out. Eventually the bills come due.

I do know that you can’t get too much of God. He’s the eternal mystery that you can never get to the bottom of in a million years. Not even in a million million years.

That’s a comforting thought, even at 5 am on a Monday.

“After the last tear falls, after the last secret’s told

After the last bullet tears through flesh and bone

After the last child starves and the last girl walks the boulevard

After the last year that’s just too hard

There is love

Love, love, love

There is love

Love, love, love

There is love

After the last disgrace, after the last lie to save some face

After the last brutal jab from a poison tongue

After the last dirty politician, after the last meal down at the mission

After the last lonely night in prison

There is love

Love, love, love

There is love

Love, love, love

There is love

And in the end, the end is oceans and oceans of love and love again

We’ll see how the tears that have fallen

Were caught in the palms of the Giver of love and the Lover of all

And we’ll look back on these tears as old tales

‘Cause after the last plan fails, after the last siren wails

After the last young husband sails off to join the war

After the last, this marriage is over

After the last young girl’s innocence is stolen

After the last years of silence that won’t let a heart open

There is love

Love, love, love

There is love

And in the end, the end is oceans and oceans of love and love again

We’ll see how the tears that have fallen

Were caught in the palms of the Giver of love and the Lover of all

And we’ll look back on these tears as old tales

‘Cause after the last tear falls there is love” (Andrew Osenga/Andrew Peterson

Well, it was another day well spent in both Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. At the very least, I was able to pick up the required 2 AA batteries so I could operate my wireless blutooth keyboard and be able to type this blog post so effortlessly.

I visited the usual haunts– the Pancake Pantry, the Village shopping area, Ober Gatlinburg– and got my fill of good food. The weather was perfect for November– sunny, slightly crispy temps, and only moderately breezy. 

I got me another pair of jeans (which are always needed and useful) at the Gap Outlet. I also had a s0-so cup of hot chocolate from Starbucks.

The best part is getting away from the daily grind and having a couple of leisurely days to relax and unwind.

All in all, a good time has been had by all.