Monthly Archives: November 2012

Thanksgiving and a borrowed name

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I am with my siblings for the longest duration of time since we stopped farming together over a decade ago.  Eight whole days.  No longer just three of us, and no longer just one family, we are camped out at my sister’s home for the Thanksgiving holiday along with our parents and grandpa.  I am soaking up every minute of it.

It is not lost on me how special my brother and sister are.  We actually like each other.  This seems strange to some.  It garners comments from Mom and Dad’s friends who have observed us, which tells me that many are not so fortunate.  And I am fortunate over again, that in starting their own families, I have another brother and sister besides.

Among the many first article gifts so abundantly provided me, foremost is the bodily preservation of all these people around me.  I think that He knew I would need them.  All were ready for the moment when their brother said “I need help!”  This brother who doesn’t deserve it.  There are others too, in my greater adoptive family, who, to my shock, sprang into action with hands, supplies, and a welcome place to stay when I had none.  I give special thanks this year for this family I am blessed with.

As I prepare this in the early morning before the light of day one, two nephews are asleep.  They were already in bed when I arrived.  The oldest is three.  I have been looking forward to the day when he will see me and my brother, Austin, side by side.  To him, we are both Uncle Austin.  A few months ago, in preparation for the long trip to the East for his wedding, Austin’s name was repeated so much that it stuck for good.  And since I live near my nephew in the West and see him more frequently now, he recognizes me, but calls me Uncle Austin too.  Despite his parents’ coaching, Uncle Nathan would only stick for a minute.  I don’t think he knows there are two of us.

Of all the names I might be mistakenly given, my brother’s is one of the best, and so I did not mind.  I treated it as an honor to borrow until the opportunity arose for its return.

rising tide

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My joke today was that at least my local water utility will be run by someone I voted for.

For many years I listened to a lot of political talk radio.  I knew all the goings on.  I even listened to the station on the other side once in a while for as long as I could take it. But after a while, I began to recognize that one of the hosts was pushing for a sort of civil religion.  So about three years ago, I unplugged from that one, and then another, and soon the others fell by the wayside.  My attention was drawn toward more important matters.  So I have been out of the loop for a while.  I still keep track of whats going on, but not in the intense and urgent way where doom or prosperity turns on the latest report or inside scoop.  I did not even see a single television campaign ad during this general election season.

This really isn’t about parties or platforms.  It is about a few key issues that are of prime importance to me, and way down the list for almost every one else.  Mostly, it is about life.

My state, Washington, was one of four with initiatives concerning “gay marriage”.  I was directly warned of my duty to do something about R-74, passage of which would allow same-sex couples to marry.  I did a little.  Very little.  Maybe I wasn’t plugged in enough.  I had other things going on.  I was seriously busy with work.  I didn’t do my part.  Right now, it is passing by 52% to 48%.  There are still hundreds of thousands of votes to count, but a third of them are in King County, home of Seattle.  And King seems to be finding more and more uncounted ballots.

I think this is about the welfare of children.  How children may be treated as a commodity.  How children are created.  How children are raised.  I think this is about the protection of future generations.  I think this is really about things the state has a legitimate interest in.  And yes, I think that marriage was instituted, not by a state only 122 years old, but by God according to His Word.

On the other side are feelings.

It seems like a rising tide.  Even if it had been stopped this time, how would it have been stopped every time after that?  Will this tide swallow the whole land?  If it does, will it recede?  And if the tide does recede, will what is uncovered be recognizable?  To the best of my knowledge, any great civilization that has passed this graduation mark has fallen shortly thereafter.  Can the United States buck such a devastating correlation?

Tonight, I couldn’t sing all of my evening hymn.  I still can’t.  My voice withered in verse three.  I turned the organ off.  I wept.  One of my favorites, The Day Thou Gavest is a gentle reminder, in a time of defeat, of what is ultimately important, what is guaranteed to endure, and where my hope really lies despite what happens this week, next month, next year, or in the rest of my life.

The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended,
The darkness falls at Thy behest;
To Thee our morning hymns ascended,
Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.

We thank Thee that Thy Church, unsleeping
While earth rolls onward into light,
Through all the world her watch is keeping,
And never rests by day or night.

As o’er each continent and island
The dawn leads on another day,
The voice of prayer is never silent,
Nor dies the strain of praise away.

The sun, that bids us rest, is waking
Thy saints beneath the western skies,
And hour by hour, as day is breaking,
Fresh hymns of thankful praise arise.

So be it, Lord! Thy throne shall never,
Like earth’s proud empires, pass away;
Thy kingdom stands and grows forever,
Till all Thy creatures own Thy sway.

                                            LSB 886