The Clarion, Nov. 2021
Welcome
I can’t help but think of the last stanza of “Over the River and Through the Woods.” It goes like this: “Over the river and through the woods now grandmother’s cap I spy! Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done? Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!”
This is what Thanksgiving was meant to be. A time with family around the table sharing a meal in thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for and family is one. The shared meal goes way back. It was used to seal a covenant. The two parties would share a meal as a gesture of good faith. We are in covenant with our family, they are our flesh and blood and Scripture tells us that we must care for one another. 1 Timothy 5:8 tells us, “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” This Thanksgiving let us share a meal with family and friends with love and appreciation for one another. Now that is a real Thanksgiving.
Coming to America
During this time when we celebrate Thanksgiving we need to think about
a few facts. I hope that you will follow me till the end of this writing.
America is a country that has a rich history in it’s short time of existence.
I want to take a closer look at this rich history and why people came.
I want to start with a song. There was a song back in 1980 written by Neil Diamond called “Coming to America.” This song was about the history of the American imigration. The song says many things about the hopes and dreams of those who came. Let’s look at a few lines of this song.
“Far, we’ve been traveling far. Without a home, but not without a star. Free, only want to be free. We huddle close, hang on to a dream.”
We have lost so much of our history over the years, but once upon a time there were people from Italy and Spain who came with Columbus and they were Chrisitans and Jews aboard his ship. There were Dutch Hollenders and British on the Mayflower. Many were Puritan and Jews. There were freemen and servants on both ships. They all came with a dream, a dream of a new life, a life were they could be free, free to live how they chose. At the time of Columbus, the king and Queen of Spain told the people that everyone had to become Chrisitans or else. So the or else meant they had to leave Spain and its colonies. People had been looking for freedom and freedom found itself in a new land. People had a dream in their hearts to not only be free, but to have a life that freedom brings.
The song says, “Home, to a new and shiny place. Make our beds and we’ll say our grace. Freedom’s light burning warm. Freedom’s light burning warm.” On that first Thanksgiving, the people got off the Mayflower and fell on their knees, and gave thanks to God Almighty for bringing them safely to America. Yes, that was the first Thanksgiving. It was all about recognizing that God, and only God, brought them through all the trials, which consisted of storms, lack of food and water, along with crewmembers who were hostile to them because of their religious beliefs. The song goes on, “Got a dream to take ‘em there. They’re coming to America. Got a dream they’ve come to share. They are coming to America.”
These people who came to forge a new life, came only because they knew that God would see them through. Their hopes, their faith, their courage, it should speak to us today as believers in the One True God, that no matter what happens, God is always with us, if we believe that He is, then He will be. These people wanted freedom to worship God the way they wanted to worship Him. Now you have to ask yourselves, “Did America come about by the hand of God?” I would have to say, “Yes!” Yes, because America has been a Christian and Jewish land since the beginning. This was designed by God. A nation on a hill, to be a light to the world. Yes, this was God’s plan, and this country has been that beacon for centuries. When the time of the Revolutionary War came about, and the people wanted freedom, a new country full of hopes and dreams, who was there to give us the victory? God! Yes, God was there fighting on our behalf. God gave birth to this country. God taught us how to walk as a new country, and God protected us, and provided for us all these years. People have come to America for centuries, with hopes and dreams of a new life. Even though people came from around the world, we remained people of the Bible, people who let the Ten Commandments guide them. Thanksgiving was a time when families gathered and bowed their heads in prayer, with thanksgiving on their lips.
Today America does not look like the America God created. No, we have lost God over the years. We have taken our freedoms for granted. We no longer bow our heads in thanksgiving, instead we have only wanted more and more of this world and less and less of God. We say thanks, but no thanks, for I can do for myself.
We have taken God out of our schools and our government and the workplace and the marketplace. We have removed all symbols of Christianity and Judaism. We drank from the cup of prosperity, till we became drunk on all the filth that it had brought. We have become so casual in our congregations, looking at our phones, drinking coffee, and talking during our services. Our worship has become nothing but a rock concert, with strobe lights and all the effects, as we sit in darkness.
The Pilgrims who left everything behind because they had a dream and a hope, based on God, as they fended for their lives on the open seas, these people, today would be turning over in their graves. The men and women who fought and died on behalf of Americans to keep their freedoms are turning over in their graves.
I tell you, Thanksgiving is for the sole purpose of the soul being grateful to a faithful God. It is not a time for football, shopping or anything other than what the Pilgrims did on that day, and that was to give thanks to a faithful God and later they shared a meal to be hospitable to those around them, to those who helped them and to say, “Thanks.” We who have been born in this great country need to fall on our knees and be thankful that those who came before us paved the way for us. They had a vision of a land that would be called the Promised Land. A land flowing with milk and honey. A land were they could worship the One True God, and they felt that they were the chosen people of God. Yes, at one time in our history the people who came to this country were truly what we call Judeo-Christians. They very much kept the Jewishness of God’s Word. Jews and Christians played a part in this nation’s history. Why? Because of God. This country was not going to replace Israel, or the nation of Israel, but it was to advance God’s kingdom around the world. America became the most powerful nation in the world. We were the defenders of freedom and the Biblical way of life. You find it in our laws and the mottos on our flags and on our buildings,and the words to our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, even on the
Liberty Bell, all signs of God, the God who brought this great land into being. So as we should be celebrating our gratitude, where does America stand today? Fallen! Yes, we have fallen out of the grace of God. We have seen less and less of God’s protection. We have seen less and less of God’s prosperity. We have seen less and less of God’s blessings, as we have seen more and more people fall away from God. America, we need to repent and come back to God. Every one of us! We need to draw near to God. We need a revival in this country and it will only come if God’s people repent. We need to come back to the America that God gave birth to, an America which stood for the love of God, and the American way was the way of loving one’s neighbor. God, Family and Country, that was America. When people would walk to their congregations, or their churches, people were polite, and people were united, and people cared about each other. This is the America that we need to return to and we need to return quickly because God tells us this in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 , “If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Today, let us come back to our Judeo-Christian principles, and truly be one nation under God, giving thanks from a grateful heart.
Thanksgiving Prayer
Sandiegrams: “Thank you Lord” Copyright 2010
Lord, thank You for Your love and for teaching me how to love.
Thank you for giving me Your grace even though I did nothing to earn it.
Thank You for opening my eyes and ears so that I can see Jesus in the people
around me and that I can hear and understand Your Word.
Thank You for blessing me and for calling me out of darkness
into the Light.
Thank You for abiding in me and for letting me abide in You.
Thank You for caring about me and for not leaving my side despite the
trials I go through.
Thank you for being the good Father and for admonishing me when I need it.
Lord, this is a world where there is an evil force all around me.
But You send Your angels to form a hedge around me and protect me.
Thank You.
Thank You for putting the love of nature in my heart and for letting me see You in all this beauty.
Recipe Corner :
“Old Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies”
Ingredients: 2 ½ cups all- purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda — 1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking powder — 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon– ½ teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg—1 ½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup butter (1 stick) softened
1 cup pure pumpkin
Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking sheets.
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, (nutmeg) and salt in a medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in a large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets.
Bake: for 15-18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes: remove to wire racks to cool completely. Drizzle glaze over cookies.
Glaze: Combine 2 cups of sifted powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons of milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in a small bowl until smooth.
Makes about 36 cookies.
ENJOY!
Hebrew Corner:
Tsadeץ
Tsade is the eighteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It has the sound of Ts or Tz with the equivalent number of 90. At times this letter is called Tzaddik (“righteous person”). The Tzaddik, the righteous person, is revealed in the letter form as a faithful servant with his arms raised before the Lord in humility. As some of the sages say, the letter Tsade, represents the Tzaddikim (righteous ones) that are the foundation of the earth. Because God is the righteous foundation of the world, the Tzaddik then reflects the divine image when they live in humility and are dependent on God for their ability to live in obedience to His will.
There is a connection between Tzedek (righteous) and Tzedakah (righteous deeds). Just as the Melakhim (angel) are God’s messengers in heaven, so the Tzaddikim are God’s messengers on the earth. There are two forms of Tsade. The letter can look like a man on his side, as in need, when the letter is written in books. The bent form of Tsade represents righteousness and humility, but also is a picture of the suffering Tzaddik , which is a picture of Yeshua, suffering for our sins. Also the Tzaddik, standing up with arms lifted upward in victory and praise. The famous Rabbi Luria maintained that God created the world by an act of Tzimtzum, which was a voluntary withdrawal or contraction of himself, in order to make room for His creation. Since Tzimtzum begins with the letter Tsade, he reasoned that the first creative act was the voluntary humbling of God as He made room for the rest of His creation. If God had not made room for His creation by restricting Himself, then nothing could have existed because it would have been overwhelmed by God’s totality. For the righteous person Tzimtzum means this, Making yourself less in order to make others more…humility! Since Aleph represents the creator, and Tsade represents the reflection of His image, you can make the connection of the Bride of Messiah.
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