My time at war was a million-dollar experience that I would not give you ten cents to repeat. It is something that I do not want to do again, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I saw the best of humanity and the worst of humanity. I returned home with fond memories and things I would like to forget. But I also came home with the greatest of gifts.
My time in Iraq taught me a level of gratitude that I had not experienced before, which I have fought to retain. Since November brings us Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, I have spent considerable time pondering the many blessings they represent. Here are some of them.
In the sixty-one years of my life, no one has ever oppressed me. There have been no invading armies. I have had the freedom to come and go as I please. I have chosen my career and made all the significant decisions in my life without coercion. I elect my leaders, whereas half of the planet’s leaders have become so by force. I can get in my car and drive to either of my nation’s seashores. No checkpoints and no armed guards to question my travel. All of this I enjoy, although I have not paid for it. It is the product of a developing ideology called democracy that has produced a nation where no one person, group, or entity can suppress another.
I am grateful. I remember. I am thankful that I can worship Christ and that he has revealed himself to me and placed me in a nation that honors people who worship. I am grateful that when this nation has been forced to bear arms strong men and women chose to love liberty more than life and freedom more than comfort. I am grateful.
I am grateful and remember that I stand on the shoulders of others. Presidents and paupers have chosen time and time again to do the right thing at the right time for the right reasons. Their commitment has given us gifts that are too numerous to count. I am grateful. But, even in my gratitude to God, I ask for one more gift. Here it is…
Lord, you have given so much to me. Give me just one thing more: a grateful heart;
Have a Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving,
Pastor Corey