An early Observations this week as we celebrate Thanksgiving Day with friends and family. Posted below is George Washington’s first (of two) Thanksgiving Day Proclamations.  As you read it, pray to Almighty God “that we may . . . all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks,” for his “signal favors” in our “public or private stations.” 

Happy Thanksgiving!

By the President of the United States of America. a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks—for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation—for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war—for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed—for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted—for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions—to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually—to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed—to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord—To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us—and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

“Always Let Your Conscience be Your Guide,” Jiminy Cricket tells Pinocchio in the Walt Disney version of the children’s classic. I can’t speak for Pinocchio, but my conscience can be a pretty lousy guide as it leads me not to being a real boy or a better person but to chasms of guilt and swamps of discouragement.

A couple of weeks ago I had what might be called a difficult conversation with a colleague. I challenged him regarding attitude and behavior that I and others in our organization were finding harmful to relationships and to our common work. Prior to the conversation I sought the advice of some wise counselors who were familiar with the situation and who know me well.  They deemed the conversation difficult, but necessary.

I don’t like difficult conversations and tend to steer clear of them until I have exhausted all avenues of avoidance. But sometimes you can no longer postpone the inevitable. Continue reading →

The first snowfall of the season was larger than expected. The total for Sunday and Monday at our house was around four inches, enough to blanket the ground and stick to the roads and sidewalks. Enough to shovel before church on Sunday morning, at that point a wet and heavy slush of a snowfall.

The early snowfall caught us a bit off guard. We have yet to winterize the screen porch, and it’s still too cold to get the work done. We weren’t ready, not quite prepared for four inches of snow the second week of November. This is January stuff. Continue reading →

I have written before about my early morning routine of running the streets of our subdivision. That routine includes running each of the nine cul-de-sacs in the development. Adding the cul-de-sacs to my route ensures enough distance to meet my mileage goal. Miss a cul-de-sac, miss the satisfaction of having accomplished my goal.

My service to our presbytery has recently taken a busy turn with significant business before a couple of the committees with which I am involved. The issues are complex and take not only too many Zoom calls, emails, text messages, and telephone conversations, but a lot of thinking time to process new information and formulate next moves. What better thinking time than the morning run?

So intense has been my thinking, though, that I sometimes end my morning run wondering – and certainly not remembering – if I made all the turns onto cul-de-sacs that my routine requires. Was I so lost in thought that I simply kept running instead of making that left or right turn onto Ursa Cove or left turn onto Bruin Pass? Okay, the time I was out running indicates the mileage was accomplished. I guess autopilot worked. Continue reading →

My cynicism can too often get the better of me.  I should not have clicked on the recent Guardian article with its headline “An ex-Intel CEO’s mission to build a Christian AI: ‘hasten the coming of Christ’s return’.”

I did not expect a Christian-friendly article from the Guardian, but they played it fairly straight with very little sarcasm or disparagement. My eyes did roll, however, when I read this quote from the tech CEO: “My life mission has been [to] work on a piece of technology that would improve the quality of life of every human on the planet and hasten the coming of Christ’s return.”

Forcing Jesus’ hand on the whole second coming thing has been a part of Christian lore for generations and is a key doctrine among some American Evangelicals. In Mark 13, Jesus is talking with his disciples about the end times and his coming to gather the elect unto himself. The key “force his hand” verse is Mark 13:10, “And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations” (ESV) where a simple indicative becomes a condition. “If the gospel is proclaimed to all nations, then Jesus must come.” Continue reading →