Two days go hand in hand
Two important days, events, seasons if you like, go hand in hand in Canada, Thanksgiving and Remembrance. The first one has always stood out in my life, and family because the churches I attended growing up made this out to be such an important event, including inspirational messages on being thankful, giving of our bountiful harvests, whether bountiful or not, and of course the meals, sometimes Sunday and Monday, and maybe Friday or Saturday depending on who was where, and who came for what.
In Psalm 136 verse 26 – “O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.”
The Psalmist used that last phrase, “… for his mercy endureth for ever,” in every one of the 26 verses.
That for me is cause enough to be thankful, but it doesn’t stop there. We continue to live in a free country, live where we want, almost, drive the cars we desire, eat the foods we crave, attend the sports events of our choice, and walk where we please, and say what we like.
One only has to spend some time with the immigrants that come from all over the world to live here in southern Manitoba. They express many of those things, but often much, much more. Many who like our values, and have the same values, but worried if they remained in their homeland, whether their children would grow up with those same values.
There are those that may argue, but not long with me, things are also changing much too fast, and we shouldn’t be so quick to allow so many nationalities to come here. Yes, things change, but often stay the same because those inherent freedoms we enjoy, keep giving us the right to still be ourselves, despite what are neighbours maybe be, do, or say.
At the recent Winkler Heritage Society banquet, Jean Paul Dorst, who has called Germany, France, and Russia home, has lived in Winkler since 2012. They went looking for a bigger and more relaxing area to live, and more diversity in cultural backgrounds. They found it here.
One only has to take a drive south of Winkler, west, east and north and look at the various newer-looking church buildings dot the countryside. Many immigrants built these church buildings with their own hands and money, why – just simply because they can, and this is where they want to worship.
Yes, I said at the beginning two days go hand in hand in Canada. While not nearly everyone may think that way, I do. I watched in horror and some interest as people rallied around our government, and those people who lost so much because of these crazed killers because as I say so often, there but for the Grace of God, go I. I say crazed killers because whether part of a bigger plot or not, when a person takes the life of another intentionally, to me that person must be crazed or even something worse.
But those were two incidents, only days apart, but people in other parts of the world run for their lives literally, every day of their lives. You see what I mean?
This part of the world is as good as it gets or millions of people wouldn’t be trying to get a piece of the action, so to speak. We have it better than 99.999 per cent of the people, and when you complain or hear others do so, with your mouth full, a roof over your head, and a vehicle to drive, and all those other good things that money can buy, then think of those things that money can’t buy, or people in other parts of the world would have done so a long time ago.
I remember those people who gave their lives for us, those people who give their lives daily for their own people, many of them their own children, often to no avail. I remember those people who suffer for the gospel of Jesus Christ so we can continue to worship in freedom, and those people who came before us, leaving everything behind, and starting new in what was then a foreign land to them. I remember those people who invent better things, not because of what big gain they see ahead, but because they need it for their own use.
As we approach this Christmas season, and as the two days, Thanksgiving and Remembrance, are once again behind us, think of all the good things you have and do, before you decide to think about all the things you don’t have and can’t do.
As Jean Paul Dorst says people in Winkler, (most anyplace in Western Canada) are extremely helpful, I’ve never seen that in any other part of the world. Let’s make sure for the most part we are helping & not hindering.