Caring Beyond Borders: Embracing True Thanksgiving Spirit

What I want to deal with here in answer to the lawyer's question is the resulting broad instruction from Jesus that my neighbor is pretty much everyone. So it is everyone that I am somehow to care for. Wow, everyone? Even those that I don't like and who don't like me? Even those who live far away and who have no direct impact on my life? Even those who I don't know and will probably never know? Even those who are not part of my family or my circle or my clan or my country? Well, that's what Jesus seems to be saying. [00:03:47] (36 seconds)  #LoveYourNeighbor

I believe that we demonstrate our greatness when we feed people when they are hungry, and we clothe people when they are naked, and we shelter people when they are homeless, people all over the world through a variety of aid programs and expenditures. I believe that we demonstrate our greatness when we send teams of experts and tons of equipment to disaster-stricken places, regardless of the causes of those disasters. [00:06:28] (23 seconds)  #GreatnessInGiving

And I believe this on a religious rather than on a political basis. It's what Jesus called for and represents the basic teaching of all religion. Can we afford this kind of humanitarian generosity? Can we not afford it? Surely we can support military strength and also feed people. Surely if our tax dollars can build detention centers and sports stadiums, they can also construct affordable housing and subsidize medical insurance. [00:08:01] (32 seconds)  #FaithAndGenerosity

Surely we can use our wealth and expertise to help our neighbors, whoever and wherever they might be. Surely we have the resources to do both and rather than either or. Surely we have hearts large enough to try to become what our professed faith calls us to be. The United States is the richest nation on earth. And yet we have people who are hungry and homeless. [00:08:32] (24 seconds)  #UnderstandingPoverty

Call me naive, but I believe that there are far more people who would rather work for what they need and have than who want to hand out. The poor. Many of them work two or three jobs to make ends meet, ends which often don't meet no matter what they do. Many of them are sick mentally or physically and may not be able to afford medical care. Many of them don't have resources to secure adequate housing, so perhaps they live on the streets or in their cars. These, too, are our neighbors. [00:10:05] (33 seconds)  #EndEconomicInequality

Do we care enough as individuals or as a nation to help them? And indeed, beyond charitably giving them what they need to survive, why can't we rework the system so that all can earn enough money to take care of themselves and provide for their loved ones? There is something obscene about a situation in which one man can become the world's first trillionaire, while others have to decide whether to buy food or medicine, if they can do either, and because they can't do both. [00:10:38] (28 seconds)  #GratitudeInAdversity

I think you will admit that that is easier said than done. Make a joyful noise when everything is going wrong. Be thankful and show gratitude when I have no food, no clothing, no home, and people are dying all around me. Give thanks when the bombs are dropping and I see nothing but death and destruction. I most admire people who can be thankful and show gratitude even when in the direst of situations and facing sometimes unimaginably horrid circumstances. [00:11:48] (29 seconds)  #SlaveryAndHope

And yet they turned their burdens of pain and suffering into resolve to someday somehow overcome their servitude and detain the kind of freedom the pilgrims were seeking. Their thankfulness for what they did, for what they did have and what they hoped for, is reflected in the songs they sang, many of which we also sing in worship to express our faith and aspirations. [00:14:06] (23 seconds)  #ActWithGratitude

We can set aside blind political party loyalties, and vote for those men and women, whether Republican or Democrat or Independent, who consistently demonstrate integrity and honesty, who actually put the welfare of people ahead of getting reelected, and to have a larger, indeed a global view of who is a neighbor. We can put aside our prejudices and treat others, all others, as we would like to be treated. That is how we epitomize and legitimize our gratitude for the blessings that we enjoy. [00:17:45] (31 seconds)

``Blessings we can and should share with others so that they too can feel blessed. Let us do what we can to make not only this Thanksgiving, but every day, a time of true Thanksgiving for as many of our fellow human beings as possible. That's how we take a great America and make it even greater. That's how we save the soul of our nation. That's how we hopefully make a reality out of Ronald Reagan's vision of America as the shining city on a hill. That's how we make a joyful noise to the Lord. [00:18:16] (32 seconds)