Today is Thanksgiving !!! Really ?
Thanksgiving is a feast which brings all Americans, no matter their religion or ethnicity, to thank God for all his gifts; for life, for a beautiful country, for freedom, for family, and for His values.
Every good value comes from God, His commandments and His word because He indeed made everything very good (Genesis 1:31).
This great nation and its Constitution were founded on that faith in God and our trust in Him as printed on the dollar: In God We Trust.
Today, on Thanksgiving of 2015, we should ask ourselves whether we truly continue to thank God. Do we truly continue to honor Him and consider Him as the foundation of our lives, our constitution, and our values?
I was walking in the market, seeing people around me running left and right, shopping, busy, eager to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Suddenly, a thought hit my mind like lightning...tomorrow, when we stand around the table to thank God for the meal, for everyone, for His gifts for all things, what if He appears before us and asks us; “What are you thanking Me for?
I would say, “Lord, we thank You for everything You gave us. We thank You because You are our Lord and we are Your people.”
Here, He responded, “My people? My people? Are you talking to Me? You are thanking Me for being Your Lord And God?
You pushed Me away from your life and family, from your schools, from your universities, and from your government, all while your politicians pushed Me away from their lives and their policies. You removed Me from the history of this nation, and now, You are trying to push Me away from its present and its future. You are ashamed of My name and censored it from your news, your music, your movies, all of your media, and more than that, you persecute Me and mock Me through it. You censored Me from my feasts. You try to censor the lips of my people from speaking My name on My own birthday. You spend billions and billions of dollars on wars, for no reason except to sell your weapons while millions of My children are homeless on the street, with no food, no drink, and no shelter.
I blessed you once, dear nation, and I made of you a leader in the world, the first no less. May you become an example for other nations, and for those who have never heard of My name, of what happens to those who break My commandments. You all say that you love Me and that you listened to My commandments. I hear those words and I am happy, but then I see your actions and I grieve. Your neighbor does not know his neighbor, they are even fearful of one another. Children do not respect their parents, and parents have no time for their children. You taught them to love the world rather than to love Me. You have lead them to worship other gods, and look how addicted they are to them. They prostrate themselves to technology, they make idols of pop stars and criminals, and games of war and murder are their prayers. You Made them love everything that does not belong to Me. Have I not commanded you to love one another?
You say that My name is hallowed, but then blasphemed My name, you say you want My will to be done, yet you always do yours. You ask Me to give you your daily bread, and yet your banks, companies, and politicians are stealing the bread of the poor. You ask Me to forgive you all of your sins, and yet you do not forgive each other. You ask Me not to lead you into temptation, yet you run after any temptation, and when you cannot find it, you make sure to create it and lead others to it. Are you truly My people?
My people are the poor, the needy, and the refugee. They are the ones I commanded you to take care of when I said that "I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to Me" (Mathew 25:35-36).
You did not do any of this.
So, are you truly my people? Are you truly thanking me? Do you truly bear my name? Do you truly worship me?”
After all these thoughts I was speechless, until someone hit my shoulder in passing and woke me from my dream, back to this reality. I felt cold, I was shivering, and a bad headache came upon me. I left the market sad, if anything, I was ashamed of myself. On my way home I looked up to the sky, with tears, and prayed: “Thank you Lord for the grace of conscience. Be compassionate and have mercy on us. Do not turn our face from us, we sinners, and from our beautiful country.”
Father Theodore Daoud
Every good value comes from God, His commandments and His word because He indeed made everything very good (Genesis 1:31).
This great nation and its Constitution were founded on that faith in God and our trust in Him as printed on the dollar: In God We Trust.
Today, on Thanksgiving of 2015, we should ask ourselves whether we truly continue to thank God. Do we truly continue to honor Him and consider Him as the foundation of our lives, our constitution, and our values?
I was walking in the market, seeing people around me running left and right, shopping, busy, eager to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Suddenly, a thought hit my mind like lightning...tomorrow, when we stand around the table to thank God for the meal, for everyone, for His gifts for all things, what if He appears before us and asks us; “What are you thanking Me for?
I would say, “Lord, we thank You for everything You gave us. We thank You because You are our Lord and we are Your people.”
Here, He responded, “My people? My people? Are you talking to Me? You are thanking Me for being Your Lord And God?
You pushed Me away from your life and family, from your schools, from your universities, and from your government, all while your politicians pushed Me away from their lives and their policies. You removed Me from the history of this nation, and now, You are trying to push Me away from its present and its future. You are ashamed of My name and censored it from your news, your music, your movies, all of your media, and more than that, you persecute Me and mock Me through it. You censored Me from my feasts. You try to censor the lips of my people from speaking My name on My own birthday. You spend billions and billions of dollars on wars, for no reason except to sell your weapons while millions of My children are homeless on the street, with no food, no drink, and no shelter.
I blessed you once, dear nation, and I made of you a leader in the world, the first no less. May you become an example for other nations, and for those who have never heard of My name, of what happens to those who break My commandments. You all say that you love Me and that you listened to My commandments. I hear those words and I am happy, but then I see your actions and I grieve. Your neighbor does not know his neighbor, they are even fearful of one another. Children do not respect their parents, and parents have no time for their children. You taught them to love the world rather than to love Me. You have lead them to worship other gods, and look how addicted they are to them. They prostrate themselves to technology, they make idols of pop stars and criminals, and games of war and murder are their prayers. You Made them love everything that does not belong to Me. Have I not commanded you to love one another?
You say that My name is hallowed, but then blasphemed My name, you say you want My will to be done, yet you always do yours. You ask Me to give you your daily bread, and yet your banks, companies, and politicians are stealing the bread of the poor. You ask Me to forgive you all of your sins, and yet you do not forgive each other. You ask Me not to lead you into temptation, yet you run after any temptation, and when you cannot find it, you make sure to create it and lead others to it. Are you truly My people?
My people are the poor, the needy, and the refugee. They are the ones I commanded you to take care of when I said that "I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to Me" (Mathew 25:35-36).
You did not do any of this.
So, are you truly my people? Are you truly thanking me? Do you truly bear my name? Do you truly worship me?”
After all these thoughts I was speechless, until someone hit my shoulder in passing and woke me from my dream, back to this reality. I felt cold, I was shivering, and a bad headache came upon me. I left the market sad, if anything, I was ashamed of myself. On my way home I looked up to the sky, with tears, and prayed: “Thank you Lord for the grace of conscience. Be compassionate and have mercy on us. Do not turn our face from us, we sinners, and from our beautiful country.”
Father Theodore Daoud
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