Thanksgiving is not some formulaic action based on a tedious ledger that neatly tallies everything I have received so I can determine if being thankful is warranted or not. Rather, it’s appreciating the fact that I have already received the privilege of living life which in and of itself will fill the whole of my ledger for the whole of my life.

We can breathe in the sweet scent of a tepid summer’s meadow after the kiss of a warm rain, and in the very same moment we can stand utterly breathless underneath the expanse of untold galaxies that breech the very edges of the universe itself. Such are the privileges we enjoy because of God’s unimaginable imagination.

God has given me both the right and privilege to outrun Him if I so choose. Yet, if I do so, I will have lost the race.

Independence that has declared its ‘independence’ from the sure and certain compass of sound morals is nothing more than rogue greed having scantily dressed itself in the garb of independence while running off the cliff of anarchy.

We live with this tortured feeling that we must create that which in reality we have the privilege of finding.

A ‘good’ leader recognizes that they have been granted the uncommon experience of leading common men. A ‘great’ leader recognizes that of all men, they are likely the most common.

Any sense of privilege that we have to possess something seems to vanish once we are actually able to possess it. Therefore, in how many cases would it better ‘not’ to possess something?

If you haven’t figured it out yet, an absolutely certain way to lose something as quickly as possible is to forget the privilege you have to possess it in the first place.

In my desperation, I have finally discovered that the only way that I can begin to fill the gaping hole within me is to be thankful for what’s there, and not angry for what’s not.