How to Whup the Devil

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Friday, November 16, 2012

An Open Letter of Thanksgiving

It’s my belief that thanksgiving is a learned behavior. I can remember when I wasn’t so thankful, but as life progressed, I learned to look at life a lot differently and count my blessings. I learned to appreciate and be thankful for my parents and the seemingly little that we had, growing up.

Looking back, we had little compared to material possessions, but we had the greatest blessing of all… Love. My folks loved each other! They loved their family and they taught us to love one another. They’ve both gone on to be with the Lord, but the love they demonstrated and taught us still lives on in our lives.

There have been times when I looked at life from a worldly prospective; judging myself and my circumstances based upon how the world would view me. Then there were times I’ve assessed my condition and analyzed it through the eyes of spirit or from a godly perspective. For me, the latter has always been the most encouraging.

As we approach this Thanksgiving season (Nov 22), I’d like to contrast the two scenarios to validate why I’m thankful and blessed. One of my favorite quotes is from the Forrest Gump movie; “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’ll get out of it.” Those words have spoken volumes to me.

We can set goals, establish plans, put them into action, hope for the best, but in the end, we don’t always know the outcome. From all outward appearances, this year (2012) has been a challenging year, to say the least. I’ve faced some daunting personal challenges. I lost five family members this year: three maternal cousins, one paternal cousin and a paternal aunt; two of which were teens, who died to gun violence; but I can’t help saying, “Thank God I’m blessed. Life could be worst.” My mortgage is paid. The utilities are on. I have food in the fridge. I’m connected to the worldwide web through my mobile phone and Internet. I have transportation that gets me from point A to point B. I’m doing what I love—writing and teaching. I can go to the store and buy a piece or two, every now and then. From time to time, I can take a trip, just to get away and be refreshed. I’m not under the doctor’s care, nor do I take any medication. My health is good; I need to lose a few pounds, but who doesn’t these days. Even though my life has not turned out the way I planned it; I’m still blessed and thankful. Those closest to me are well. But most importantly, I have a host of family and friends who love me (the prayers and the non-prayers). I'm tremendously blessed and loved.

For people in New York and New Jersey, several weeks ago, it was life as usual. How could they know they would become victims of "Hurricane Sandy" and be homeless this Thanksgiving and Christmas? How did the folks in Indianapolis know that their homes would be blown up, through no fault of their own, by a neighbor’s faulty gas line? How did three families in Wisconsin know they’d be celebrating the holidays without their loved ones, because an estranged husband went to his wife’s job and murdered her and shot others close by?

Life is so uncertain. Who knows what you’ll get out of it, but as long as you’ve got breath in your body, there is hope. Hope that what’s coming is better than what you’re facing today. Hope that failure is not an option.

If Thomas Edison could fail 10,000 times and keep trying, what about you and me? Hope that this is temporary…this too shall pass. Psalms 23 says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadows of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.” Things will get better.

I’m hopeful. I’m thankful and I’m appreciative to God for his multiplied blessings in my life. In all things, I give thanks to him because this too shall pass.

Things will get better; if we live our lives thanking God for the small things. One day, he’ll trust us with bigger things. Things will get better. This too shall pass!

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Dorothy Bracy Alston

Dorothy Bracy Alston
Communications and Writing Consultant