By Mike Ruffin As our annual day of Thanksgiving approaches, I thought I’d share some of the things for which I’m thankful. 1. I am thankful for people who are self-aware enough to know they’re not self-aware enough, open-minded enough to know they’re not open-minded enough, and well-read enough to know they’re not well-read enough. 2. I am thankful for people who give me hope for the future by doing risky things like getting married and having children. 3. I am thankful for how my Bible beats me about the head whenever I’m tempted to use it to beat someone else about the head. 4. I am thankful for those churches that invite me to preach in the hope that they need to hear what I have to say and for those churches that don’t invite me out of fear that they won’t like what I have to say. 5. I am thankful for people who live authentically without devaluing the experiences of others. 6. I am thankful for people who are able to live in gray areas where tension and nuance dwell. 7. I am thankful for those whose political positions begin with wanting what’s best for others rather than with what’s best for them. 8. I am thankful for people who are brave enough to think for themselves and wise enough to know that most of what they think has probably been thought before by someone else. 9. I am thankful for those who see and treat people as sisters and brothers to be loved rather than as objects to be manipulated. 10. I am thankful for people who find strength in weakness and weakness in strength. 11. I am thankful for those who move toward the future with hope and faith rather than cling to the past with fear and despair. 12. I am thankful for people who are humble enough to know they don’t have all that much to be humble about because they aren’t as great as they think they are anyway. 13. I am thankful for people whose agreement with me encourages me and for those whose disagreement with me challenges me. 14. I am thankful for people who live in ways that show they try to remember that loving God and loving people go hand-in-hand. 15. I am thankful for those I’ve lost who help me appreciate those I have and for those I have who help me appreciate those I’ve lost. 16. I am thankful that grace is greater than sin and that love is greater than hate. I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving Day, and I hope you’ll give some thought to what you’re thankful for.
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