Thank God for God: Being grateful for gratitude



Several months ago, I came across a conversation on X (formerly Twitter) that caused me to think about the horrors of hell in an entirely different way. Rather than shudder at the torture imposed upon damned souls by demons and other accursed creatures, I had to stop and consider the torture that damned souls impose upon themselves.

"There's not a single grateful thought in hell," said Father Brian O'Brien, echoing a statement attributed to noted exorcist Father Chad Ripperger.

— (@)

Hell is eternal separation from God, as all Christians know, and most people think of hell as wallowing in an endless bath of fire surrounded by warring demons tormenting physical bodies that can no longer die. But, as Fr. Ripperger perceived, hell is also a permanent mental state that prohibits thoughts of God and the goodness of His creation, including our fellow man.

In other words, hell is endless fixation on the self. If there is no God, then man is his own highest being. Such a powerful position may sound enticing at first. As Satan infamously declares in John Milton's "Paradise Lost," "Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n."

But Milton's Satan is lying, as the real Satan always does, and we are now living in a hellscape of our own making because we have accepted his lies and tried to recreate ourselves rather than accept our subordinate role as the created. People have irreparably mutilated their bodies — or even worse, the bodies of their children — in a vain attempt to change their sex. We have toppled statues and destroyed monuments in an effort to jettison the past.

In a recent op-ed in the Nation, two leftist writers even considered doing away entirely with Thanksgiving, a civic holiday that reminds us of our interconnectedness and shared smallness, and replacing it with "Truthsgiving," which apparently would be little more than a yearly lecture from perpetually aggrieved activists.

Chase Iron Eyes called the story of the first Thanksgiving feast a "new myth" created by "aliens in a foreign land" who needed "a sense of people, purpose, and place."

His colleague Sean Sherman argued that the "sanitized version of Thanksgiving neglects to mention the violence, land theft, and subsequent decimation of Indigenous populations ... [and] causes tremendous distress to those of us who are still reeling from the trauma of these events to our communities."

I cannot imagine a more miserable way to spend a day than to focus on the sufferings of those long since dead rather than the blessings of the present age. And everyone, no matter their circumstances, still has something and someone for which to give thanks.

The purest form of gratitude we can have is for God for His own sake. Those in recovery from addiction understand well the importance of God as He is, and a young people's recovery group in my area has an apt motto that keeps Him in the forefront of their minds: thank God for God.

After thanking God for Himself, we must also appreciate His many gifts. Jesus Christ is Lord over all "in heaven and on earth and under the earth," as St. Paul's letter to the Philippians reminds us, and all that we have comes from Him. We cannot possibly repay Him for His generosity, but we can at least devote one day a year to reflecting upon it.

Finally, we must be grateful for one another. Mother Teresa, now St. Teresa of Calcutta, once said that "if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." If we belong to each other, then we must love, serve, and give thanks for one another.

And by others, I don't mean strangers of generations gone by but our family, friends, and neighbors in the here and now. We, of course, should remember loved ones who have passed away, but we do not honor the memory of the dead by forgetting the living.

Gratitude to God and to others gives our lives meaning and purpose. This Thanksgiving, I'm grateful for the opportunity to experience and express that gratitude. Whatever it takes, I want to spend eternity standing shoulder to shoulder with all the saints of heaven giving thanks and praise to Him — and avoid forever the one place without Him, the once place where a "grateful thought" cannot exist.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

This Truthsgiving, I'm thankful for European settlement



Cranks come out of the woodwork ahead of every holiday to tell the masses they're celebrating the wrong thing or wrong to celebrate anything at all. Cynical liberal publications dutifully spin off the cranks' latest insights, which are inevitably just old envies and prejudices repackaged for new audiences.

We're told Christopher Columbus is genocidal; the Fourth of July is a celebration fit only for jingos, sexists, and racists; Christmas is environmentally ruinous; and Father's and Mother's Days are hurtfully exclusionary to the reality-averse. Thanksgiving enjoys no exemption.

In its ritual exhibition of late-November ingratitude, the Nation ran a two-stage article by failed Democratic congressional candidate Chase Iron Eyes and Sioux chef Sean Sherman explaining why Americans should either "decolonize" Thanksgiving or replace it with "Truthsgiving."

It is critical to decolonize the day, Sherman suggested, because Thanksgiving's roots are "intertwined with colonial aggression." His preferred decolonized substitute apparently has blessed roots that managed to grow for millennia without absorbing blood from the intertribal wars, slavery, and human sacrifice the Americas were home to prior to European settlement.

According to Sherman, decolonization "means centering the Indigenous perspective and challenging the colonial narratives around the holiday (and every other day on the calendar)." It also apparently means "resisting the dominance of colonial influences."

A decolonized Thanksgiving is apparently one where we racialize our gratitude, resist the urge to give thanks for the myriad gifts handed down to us from settlers from Britain and Europe, and adopt a "clearer lens" to see that anything capable of inspiring pride in post-17th-century America isn't worth celebrating.

Iron Eyes underscored in his argument for canceling Thanksgiving that we can be thankful so long as we're thankful to the right people. "Give thanks to the Native nations who created the world that we inherit today," he wrote.

Iron Eyes' talk of inheritance and Sherman's call for selective remembrance prompted me to think about the world we actually inherit this Truthsgiving and those to whom we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude but are now asked to discount.

More than for property rights, the free market, and the wheel, this Truthsgiving I'd like to express my gratitude to the decentered settlers for their gift of the written word and a functional alphabet, which enable cranks to air their grievances but also preserve Indian languages and traditions for the benefit of future generations.

I am thankful for the settlers' science — the European origin of which the late sociologist Rodney Stark noted was the result of Abrahamic peoples' belief in a rational God whose creation was likewise rational and therefore replete with discernible truth — which has extended Indian and European lives alike and provided us with dominion over a wilderness once worshipped.

I am thankful for the salvific faith settlers brought over to the New World, which not only affirms human beings' inviolable dignity, the eternal love of God, and the promise of life after death but has informed the culture, customs, and ethic that have helped make America the envy of the world.

I am thankful for the imported rule of law, which spares us all from the tyranny of chieftains and the impulses of the mad mob.

I am also thankful for a society prototyped overseas that is so accommodating and tolerant as to put up, year after year, with blood libels and putdowns from its many beneficiaries.

Iron Eyes concluded his argument with, "Let's tell a different story by dropping the lie of Thanksgiving and begin a Truthsgiving."

Instead, let's drop the lie that European settlement wasn't, at least in the long run, an absolute blessing and acknowledge that the imperfect cast of characters responsible for the society we've inherited don't need our condemnation or praise but rather our understanding and thanks.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

After A Perfect Week Of Sports, Can The Universe Deliver Another Gift To American Soccer Fans?

I don’t mean to sound grabby, but after last week I’ve seen what you can do. Any help to secure a World Cup victory is greatly appreciated.

1,600 years before Plymouth, a Thanksgiving feast took place in Israel just before the most important week in human history — and it was all about gratitude



Many centuries before the autumn 1621 meal in Plymouth between the colonists and the Wampanoag, another kind of Thanksgiving feast took place in Israel — and it quietly set the stage for the most important week in human history.

The details come from the Bible — specifically the Gospel of John, chapter 12.

It's a little slice of life wedged between perhaps Jesus' greatest miracle — raising his friend Lazarus from the dead — and his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which marks the beginning of Passover week — the last week of Jesus' life.

But on the day before he enters Jerusalem upon a donkey, treading over palm branches amid cries of "Hosanna," Jesus returns to nearby Bethany to once again be with Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, along with his disciples and perhaps others.

On this day, the thankful siblings give Jesus a "dinner."

My pastor discussed this passage on Sunday and mentioned that the Greek word used for "dinner" or "supper" in John 12:2 is the same word used in Revelation 19:9 to describe the "marriage supper of the Lamb." Amazing that this hidden-away gathering — those in power were already plotting to kill Jesus, and he had to be cautious about where he walked — carries and reveals so much spiritual meaning.

Turns out this feast in honor of the Lamb about to be sacrificed for us is centered squarely on gratitude.

We learn that as Martha serves the meal and Lazarus reclines at the table with Jesus, Mary takes expensive ointment, anoints Jesus' feet with it, then wipes his feet with her hair. With that, the whole house is filled with a lavish fragrance — indeed, this is special stuff that appears to be worth the equivalent of a year's wages.

But my pastor pointed out that the monetary value of the ointment doesn't matter to Mary in this moment: She only wants to be present with Jesus and express her love not only for what he's done but also for who he's become in her life.

Judas, on the other hand, criticizes Mary's extravagant gesture as a waste of finances — after which Jesus tells him, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

There's much to be drawn from this snapshot of a gathering in a Middle Eastern town long before turkeys, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and sleeping it all off, only to rise early on Black Friday to take advantage of outrageous discounts on Christmas presents.

Here we see gratitude lived out. A willingness to give up that which is most valuable in a bottom-line sense in order to bestow it upon the One who is most valuable in the eternal sense. My pastor wisely noted that when we give — whether it's our time, our money, our physical efforts, our emotional selves — we give a little bit more of our selfishness away.

What's more, he added that if we practice the discipline not only of giving but of gratitude — daily gratitude, in fact — we can literally change our attitudes for the better over time. Therefore, no matter what has happened to us, no matter how bad we've had it or think we've had it, we can reshape our attitudes and hearts by purposely focusing on things we're grateful for on a daily basis.

On this Thanksgiving, I'm grateful for truths like this that feed my soul and enlighten the path ahead. I'm particularly grateful for Mary's example of extravagant love that pushes cost aside in favor of simply sitting at Jesus' feet.

Really, is there any better place to be?

A Poet’s Reflection On Why We Can Thank God For Worry And Trouble

American poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox's poem 'Thanksgiving' acknowledges that 'Full many a blessing wears the guise / Of worry or of trouble.'

The Anti-Thanksgiving Activism Dividing America Is Rooted In Ungratefulness

Only in America are anti-American activists given such liberty to express their disdain for everything our nation represents.

How A NASCAR Hall Of Famer Taught Me The Importance Of Gratitude

‘My Creator gave me more than I deserved.’ Especially in a time filled with suffering and loss, it’s an inspiring message of both humility and gratitude that’s worth remembering.

Thank Goodness For Thanksgiving

Christopher Bedford and Emily Jashinsky discuss the importance of spending time with family, taking days off, and expressing gratitude.

Jordan Peterson’s ‘Beyond Order’ Calls For Balance And Gratitude

'Beyond Order,' Jordan B. Peterson's long-awaited new book, is an insightful, all-too-needed prescription for an anxious, angry, and divided world.

'I wasn't expected to be alive today': Rush Limbaugh delivers message of gratitude in final show of the year



Conservative talk radio icon Rush Limbaugh delivered an emotional message of gratitude opening his final show of the year on Wednesday, thanking his listeners and family for their support during his ongoing battle with lung cancer.

Limbaugh disclosed that according to the prognosis he received following his Stage IV diagnosis, he "wasn't expected to be alive today"— and shared what he has learned through the experience.

What are the details?

The host told his audience that he was "shocked" when he learned his fate in late January, revealing that he went through an initial period of denial but has experienced an overwhelming outpouring of support that has put him in a place of utter gratitude.

He reflected on receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump in February, reminding his listeners that around that time he had shared that he gained "a little bit of understanding of something that had perplexed me for a lot of my life, and that was Lou Gehrig," the legendary professional baseball player whose ALS diagnosis cut short his record-breaking career in the 1930s.

Limbaugh explained:

"On the day that Lou Gehrig announced that he had his disease that was forcing him to retire from Major League Baseball, he said to the sold-out Yankee Stadium, 'Today I feel like the luckiest man on the face of the earth.'

I didn't understand that. I mean, here's a guy who'd just been diagnosed with the most terminal of terminal diseases, and I said, 'This can't be real. He can't really think he's the luckiest guy in the world. This is just something that he's saying because it will play well.' I don't mean to be insulting Lou Gehrig; don't misunderstand. I'm just saying, how in the world if you're being honest can you feel like you're the luckiest man on the face of the earth?"

The radio giant said that now he understands, telling his listeners, "Well, when I got my diagnosis...I began to receive all of the outpouring of love and affection from everywhere in my life from so many of you in so many ways and from my family."

He added, "because I have outlived the diagnosis, I've been able to receive and hear and process some of the most wonderful, nice things about me that I might not have ever heard had I not gotten sick. Again think, how many people who pass away never hear the eulogies, never hear the thank-yous? I've been very lucky, folks, in I can't tell you how many ways."

Fox News pointed out that Rush Limbaugh's program, which began in 1988, is the most listened-to in the United States.

The outlet reported:

He's a five-time winner of the National Association of Broadcasters Marconi Award for "Excellence in Syndicated and Network Broadcasting," a No. 1 New York Times bestselling author and a member of the Radio Hall of Fame and National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He also was named one of Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People in 2008 and one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2009.