Being Unthankful on Thanksgiving

God tells us in His word to be thankful always. But, honestly, it’s too tough. So, I’m going to be unthankful this Thanksgiving. Here’s all the stuff for which I’m not thankful:

1.     Wars – Movies about wars are cool. So is reading about wars. I even enjoy visiting a battlefield. Give me a little Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers and some popcorn and I’m good to go. Throw in some Louis Zamperini too. I’d rather go to Gettysburg than to Disneyland. But going to war, not so much. Living through three wars, fearing the constant threat of war, seeing the death and destruction caused by war are things for which I am not thankful. However, I am incredibly thankful that I grew up and turned 18 in a time of peace. I’m also extremely thankful for the men and women who have served our country, liberated oppressed peoples, and sacrificed their lives for our freedoms.

2.     Natural Disasters – Katrina, Sandy, and Haiyan could be names from the next Miss Universe pageant. But instead we know them as a trio of devastation. Superstorms, typhoons, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, floods, and tornados all stink and I’m not thankful for them. They kill thousands, uproot even more, wreck families, and destroy millions in property. Despite the fault lines running beneath Los Angeles like arteries under my skin, I’ve managed to survive unscathed. For that I am thankful. I’m thankful for the big bucks that people donate toward disaster relief, the folks who rescue the stranded, the organizations that clean up and rebuild, and the high-schoolers that go on mission trips to hug orphans in Haiti. Firefighters and all first-responders are my heroes. So I’m thankful for them too.

3.     Cancer. Hate it more than anything. So not thankful for it. And I might as well lump in all other random, debilitating, terminal, and ugly diseases. But, there are lots of people who have survived these diseases. And lots of others who devote days of their lives to raise money and awareness for good medical causes. And don’t forget the doctors and nurses who are knee-deep in disease everyday. Thankful, thankful, thankful. And yes, at 45, my number hasn’t come up on the cancer roulette wheel. Thankful.

4.     Mass shootings/bombings. It’s a crazy, scary world out there and these things are horrible. They’re unexplainable and really, really sad. I feel like I live on a roller coaster of amnesia. Something happens in Newtown or Boston and I’m shocked. My awareness is heightened. But then I forget until I go to a ballpark, a theater, or a fund-raising walk in downtown Los Angeles and see the security or the police force and the memories are brought back. Fear sets in. Questions arise. Could it happen here? I go to school and each day I’m reminded that my campus is now closed to parents and visitors. The gates are open just long enough to let the students in and out. But I don’t dwell on Sandy Hook every day. I’m thankful that I don’t live in daily fear that my school could be next.

I’m sure this list could easily be doubled: crime, poverty, homelessness, slavery, trafficking, etc. Perhaps, this amnesia is the biggest reason to be thankful in light of the evil around us. I think the absence of fear is what we need to cherish. The fear of being “next” would be paralyzing. We’d be unable to love, support, and help those in need. The amnesia takes the focus off of ourselves and allows us to care for the sick, to be a courageous first-responder, to send aid or serve in a war-torn or a typhoon-ravaged country.

It truly is a scary, evil world out there. But Christians believe that God is in control. The amnesia is a gift of his grace. Living without fear of evil requires a gripping trust in God’s plan for this planet. Many people find the problem of evil a hindrance to believing in God or trusting Him with their lives. I understand that. They ask, how could a good God allow all the pain and suffering in our world? It’s a legitimate question that takes pages and pages to answer.

But in a nutshell, He created a world with free will and with it the possibility of evil. “God created the fact of freedom and humans perform the acts of freedom.” He didn’t make robots. “Evil is inherent in the risky gift of free will.” We are living in a fallen and broken world that “is subject to disasters in the natural world that would not have happened had man not rebelled against God.” He sent Jesus to restore and redeem the world. Jesus understood evil. He prayed “deliver us from evil.” God could pick a time in the near future and decree that all evil is now banished. But then who of us would still be here? Not I.

Presently, this world is not the best of all possible worlds. Tomorrow’s earthquake, mass-shooting, suicide bomb, rumored war, and cancer patient make me feel like I’m living in the third quarter of Ohio State’s upcoming blowout win over Michigan.

But “it’s the best route to the best of all possible worlds.” I wonder how many people who reject God because of the presence of evil have read the ending to his book. It’s a good ending. He wins. The best possible world arrives. It’ll be a world without pain, suffering, and tears. Love will blow with hurricane force winds. Gratitude and laughter will be as thick as the bullets on D-Day. Cancer won’t be invited. “Freedom will be preserved and evil will be defeated.”

And that’s something for which I am deeply thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Quotes taken from “Who Made God and Answers to Over 100 Other Tough Questions of Faith,” by Ravi Zacharias and Normal Geisler.