If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. –Thomas Jefferson
What does Thanksgiving mean to you? Is it just a reason to have turkey? You can have turkey any day of the week, so why is Thanksgiving so special? Is it just an excuse for a day off? Just a regular holiday? Or could it be something more, much more.
In today’s world more and more businesses are opening on Thanksgiving in order to stuff their pockets with more profits. Now don’t get me wrong, I love profits, profits keep me employed.
Still it seems like our priorities are all messed up. I always believed, and still do, that this special day of the year is for giving thanks to Divine Providence for all His many blessings.
What is that you say you have no blessings? I beg to disagree with that rash judgment. You are totally blessed you just refuse to see those blessings, especially the blessing of freedom.
Life is not easy and the politicians of today seem to go out of their way to make it even more difficult. Why? For the same reason I have always claimed: to maintain total and complete control of your life. And they are doing a damn good job of it don’t you think.
Hopelessness is a politician’s best friend. They want you to be hopeless so they can come in and save the day. Politicians want you to depend upon the state for all your needs. This keeps the politician in power and you subservient.
Yet it need not be this way. It is God, not the politician who has given you the right to be free, and just as Divine Providence used the Founding Fathers to give you freedom he can use today’s politicians to take freedom away from you. Freedom is not free; it must always be paid for.
What would you do without freedom? Think about it for a moment. What would your life be like if you had to ask for permission just to drive your car? You already do in a way, it’s called the DMV. Think DMV on steroids.
If you lost your freedom how would your life change? Today you have to submit to the TSA just to get on an airplane. Think TSA on steroids.
If you lost your freedom how would it affect your choices? What if you could only shop in the “approved” grocery store? What if you could only wear one color of clothes, the state approved color? How would that affect your psyche?
If you lost your freedom you would be told where to live, where to shop, what kind and color of car you MAY be permitted to drive. Or you may not be permitted to drive at all. You may be resigned to move around via public transportation. Not too bad for New York but a death sentence for California drivers.
If you lost freedom you could only watch one television station, the state approved television station. And only state approved programming.
If you lost freedom you would be told what to do every day of your life, and if you didn’t comply a state approved “corrections officer” would ensure you did.
Don’t think this can’t happen? The places are called China, Russia, and Hitler’s Germany. It already has happened and this country is next on the list.
Don’t think you don’t have blessings? You still have freedom and there are men and women who are ready to defend this freedom. Freedom is never free. It is only one President, one Congress, one newspaper away from extinction. And we the people will suffer the wrath of the dictators unless freedom is preserved and defended.
We are still blessed but we are losing those blessings fast. I do not know what is going to happen in the near future but one thing I am sure of our blessings are being ripped away from us and we the people will pay the price for our ignorance. When a small minority of voices can silence the majority and the judiciary sides with the minority, another freedom is lost.
What do I have to be thankful for? The ability to write these words and to encourage you to shake off the cloak of apathy. Our freedom is not guaranteed and I encourage you to realize that fact. So be thankful, very thankful for what you have today because tomorrow it could all be ripped away.
Yet we are Americans and we will survive and once again flourish. When we realize that Divine Providence is our beacon of hope we will re-emerge a much stronger force. But for now and in the foreseeable future we must suffer the pain before we realize the hope of a much better future.
A tyrant’s worst enemy is a self-reliant individual so become that individual because you can. Deny those who would deny your freedom by becoming self-reliant and never having to depend upon government for a handout. Take pride in yourself and your talents and recognize that Divine Providence helps those that help themselves and that government helps those who leech off the good.
My Thanksgiving wish is for you to become the individual I know you are capable of becoming; self-reliant, strong, proud, and American. God gave this land to us so that we may serve and protect a world from tyrants and dictators. You are a part of that legacy, for you have freedom on your side and in your heart. Never lose it.
G.