and then there's....

There’s Thanksgiving and then there’s Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving seems to be one of those holidays were we and by we I mean everyone just don’t know where it comes from. Traditionally of course the first Thanksgiving was in 1621 in Plymouth, MA, with a few pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe (who in years to come would not be so thankful for the pilgrims). This seems to be the most celebrated version today. We can see it in arts and crafts in elementary schools, in parades, and television.

There are of course other first Thanksgivings. British colonists gave ‘thanksgiving’ in 1619 in Virginia. There are even apparent records that say that the first ‘thanksgiving’ celebration was done in 1565 in St. Augustine, FL.

At the website history.com it states that, “Although this feast [between the pilgrims and Wampanoag] is considered by many to be the very first Thanksgiving celebration, it was actually in keeping with a long tradition of celebrating the harvest and giving thanks for a successful bounty of crops.” It seems that Europeans and Native Americans alike have been having ‘thanksgiving’ for hundreds and probably thousands of years around the harvest of crops.

The Pilgrims didn’t have Thanksgiving each year, and not until Abraham Lincoln in 1863 was Thanksgiving declared a holiday. The holiday was set on an ideal that the pilgrims had a bountiful harvest in 1621. Without the good harvest (and the Wampanoag, of course) the Pilgrims probably would not have survived another winter.

To me the harvest between the pilgrims and Wampanoag showed great hope that Europeans and Native tribes would get along in the years to come. Instead, it would be a temporary alliance at the outset of a troubled and broken relationship between the two people groups.

Thankful source: History.com

Further reading:
Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick

i'm thankful for...

"I'm thankful that this can't happen anymore."

The photo was taken in 1968 in Michigan. More on this next week.

Life Magazine and Google recently hooked up. You can now view archived photos from Life at Google.com.

Photo by: Alfred Eisenstaedt

the shack: an un-review

No, I’m not going to review The Shack by William Young. I will let you read it for yourself with unblemished eyes if you haven’t already read it. I think the book is worth reading whether you have heard positive or negative feelings about it. I’ve recently read the book. I thought Young did a great job. I have a lot of praises for the book and also a few criticisms. I went through a few reviews on Amazon to get a general consensus and I thought one reader put it quite well: “A parable, not a text on systematic theology.” The Shack is fiction – a story. I think it draws out a lot of ideas, thoughts, and feelings on how many Christians and non-Christians alike see God. Like a story it is not a theological guide to God. I would leave something like that to the Bible or books written by theologians. But, with that said - the book is out-of-the-box.

And with being out-of-the-box it causes controversy. Just under 19% of the reviews on Amazon gave the book a one or two star. Reading through some of those reviews you could see the book-burning mobiles coming out of the garage with ashes from Harry Potter in the back and books being written in response to the theological fallacies of the book.

On the other end of the spectrum is the Left Behind series. Almost 20% of the reviews for this novel gave the book a one or two star score. Several of these reviews describe the book as one that condones hate, and it is evidently a book for ‘fundamentalists’.

Both of these books are used as ‘evangelism’ tools for non-Christians. But the stories and ideas that these books convey are almost polar opposites. Where does this leave us as Christians? Where does this leave Christians in the mind of non-Christians? Being in America’s candy box of Christianity, it is apparent that there are thousands of ideas of what Christians believe about God. Many of those divides are as simple as back in the day one part of a congregation wanted red carpet and the other wanted green. So, maybe the argument wasn’t over carpet, but the divides were just as important. Is there another dividing shift among Christians? Are we living out a modern day protestant reformation of these different theologies? Could we see visual split of churches over this? Have we already? Obviously I have many more questions than answers.

Is it okay to be gray over this issue, and that there are these disagreements? Or, are these disagreements over serious fundamental truths and that there needs to be a black and white “yes” or “no” agreement?

I ask these questions from the context of which I live in. Currently in my job I see conflicting views in Christian mission, more specifically the work being done in Sudan. What is moving forward is a peace and reconciliation ministry in Sudan. It is a ministry that seeks to heal, reconcile, and redeem a war torn country. The other side is critical of the peace and reconciliation ministry and wants purely and solely church planting done to evangelize.

The story of the Sudanese is not fictional. It is a story of violence and genocide. In this story though, God is working in the lives of Sudanese: in healing, in reconciliation, and in forgiveness. There are stories like this all over the world. These stories are of the love, grace, and mercy of the God that created it all.

october round-up

Let’s see. It’s almost Thanksgiving so that means it’s time for October round-up.

Well, not too much happened in October. It got colder so I was outside less. Small group started up at church. We’re in a small group that meets up bi-weekly. The group so far has been about six to eight people. It’s been encouraging to be in community with others and to have casual conversation about God. The food has also been good.

On the eighteenth I early voted in Chicago. It was great because it literally took me fifteen minutes including travel time. It helps that I went over as soon as it opened up and that the polling place is my local public library which is literally a stone’s throw away from my apartment.

Also, on the eighteenth a bunch of went to seek the folk artist, David Wilcox at the Old Town School of Folk Music. I had never been to the Old Town School of Folk Music so it was excellent to see the inside and to hear about all the great stuff that goes on there. Definitely check it out. And if you are into folk music or music at all I would definitely check out David Wilcox. His music is fantastic and he puts on a really entertaining concert.

One of the best parts of the month was to visit my brother who lives in Texas for a long weekend. I hadn’t seen him all year and won’t get to see him over the holiday months so it was really great to be able to visit him and his wife. We visited the Dallas Arboretum, and ate at some wonderful local restaurants including an authentic BBQ place for lunch. We saw an opry at the local theater. It reminded me of a country music American idol. The singers were very good. On Sunday we went to a Dallas Cowboys game. It was a great weekend, but too short of a visit.

Great places I ate during the month:
Rockwell Neighborhood Grill – This place is excellent. It’s off the main street, and they are known for their burgers. Which were awesome! The restaurant had a cozy ambience for a bar, but it was kid friendly. It was also one of the first smoke free places in Chicago.

Dallas Arboretum

Dallas Cowboys Game

My brother and I cooking marshmallows