This is week three in a three-week series on things I am thankful for. The first two subjects were work and family. Today’s subject is grace. Three things definitely worthy of our thankfulness, three things we definitely need, and three things connected.
I often address the theme that most of life’s issues are non-respecter of person issues. Meaning that regardless of one’s race, socio-economic status, faith, education level, nationality or geographic region, the issue being discussed affects all of us equally. That is definitely true when it comes to the three things I have stated I am thankful for. Regardless of our background, all of us need to work, we all need family, and we all need grace – and we should be grateful for these things!
I went to thesaurus.com to consider all the words related to grace. It’s amazing as you can see, http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/grace. It is interesting to look at the antonyms as well.
Ultimately, I was thinking about forgiveness.
This Thanksgiving season we are coming out of a Presidential election where the word vitriolic sounds like an understatement. Following the election, the vitriol evidenced on the nightly news seems historically high.
I returned to thesaurus.com again to look up vitriol. The words that came up are: nastiness, contempt, hostility, sarcasm, distain, hatefulness, maliciousness. There are more – but that sums up what we have witnessed on the nightly news since we elected our next Commander in Chief, Donald Trump.
In multiple cities we have witnessed organized protests where citizens who, rather than getting permits and protesting peacefully which is their First Amendment right, have, among other things, inconvenienced their fellow citizens by shutting down traffic which defies the rule of law, meanwhile chanting “Not my President!”
So, I decided to do a little research on the closeness of Presidential elections. The electoral college is an important part of our republic, but today I am specifically speaking about the popular vote. Our electoral history has produced 45 Presidents as a result of 58 elections. Out of 58 elections, 7 were decided with less than a 1 % margin in the popular vote, 11 with less than a 3 % margin and 17 with less than a 5 % margin. Stated differently, almost a third of our national elections for Commander in Chief have been decided by a less than 5 % margin of the popular vote.
Division in our country is not new, but the lack of grace is, at least for most of us.
I don’t know about you, but I find this troubling. Especially when I consider the gospel message from Mark 6:14 & 15 “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Just like my previous editorials of things I am thankful for, work and family, there is an indication that the things we are thankful for include responsibility. We can be thankful for work, and are responsible to work. We can be thankful for family, and we have a responsibility to family. Finally, we can be thankful for grace, but in order to receive grace, we have a responsibility, indeed a moral obligation to provide it.
I wish you and your family a rewarding Thanksgiving week. In our republic, we have much to be thankful for. After we recover from overeating and excessive football this weekend, I hope each of us will think about how we can be more graceful as we go about the work of providing for our family, the lowest level of civil governance and the communities we choose to reside in.
November 24th, 2016 at 12:47 pm
Thank you for you realty and love for SC and the low country where my family has inhabited since chickens fly out of the coop when a fox is around.
The Lee’s and Smith’s from everywhere below Darling or Florence; and the WALTERS from Indian related to the rest. Johnny M Walters; relative that served Nixon during the attempted and successful ” resignation”..Of Richard Nixon. Lots and relatives from Columbia; the Blackwells; Uncle served the State House of mail delivery until up in his 90″s. He knew and delivered their mail. They knew him well. He was funny and collected junk in the Five Points neighborhood until it went rogue. Third generation from my Dad; James E. Walters; his Grandmother was Head of Cherokee Nation: Mary Cooke with accent on e. My God imprinted me with the combination of Smart tp Strong in both mother and dad’s I have a few well disliked kin that I will Not report. My relative Named Florence. SC for his oldest daughter. Lived in Cola a while; we owned Capital Cabana; association with all the Dr’s and Layers. Ugg on some.Related to several; house speakers. Nice if you wanted something read before the State Legislature. I am FU grad; plus law school and Ed D. stuffed with schools. Clemson also. I tried them all: My philosophy: ” Study to show thyself acceptable unto God”. I dearly miss the old shag dancing at Myrtle Beach;. those days were filled with love, safety, and fun, fun, fun. Our daddy; James E. Walters worked 58 years with Swift and Co; Greenville and Spartanburg; Like myself; my Dad was fast. “Hyper Active’ they call it in psychology. My mom grew up on a farm on the Darling- Timmonsville Hwy. Well, you and I may be related. Hope so! Nt dad was the only one in the Walters or Lee Family to move to upstate-Greenville, SC. He cooked at CCC camp started by Roosevelt. I am the youngest in my family. So, do not publish this. None of my Lee relatives are outspoken like I. Gad for Nikki Haley to get promoted out of SC. She will tell the UN all she can. I like her replacement ; he used to be friends in Columbia at our Attys meeting. D M Winter was my father in law. Great man from Monks Corner, SC. His mother ran an Inn there. Their Dad killed in war. She raised 12 children 5 Men ( all Doctors or Attys. What dynamic things people did with all those children. I met Irvin Berlin in Cincinnati when I was 16. Now, that a story. You are a most interesting and wonderful real person that I watch, and read. This is my first ever reply.