Matt Wash exposed the fact that at least one major hospital in Tennessee is providing “gender affirming care” to minors, i.e., mutilating healthy parts of a child’s body, to change their appearance and ostensibly to address incongruities between their subjective mental states and objective physical realities. It dawned on me that how one views Christmas—whether it’s about Santa coming to town or the Son of God coming to Bethlehem—determines how one should think about such care.

Tuesday morning, I had a great sense of thanksgiving flood over me in the absolute strangest context. I was as mad as the proverbial wet hen with some people—good people—who have been grinding me down over the import to the work of God in His Church of Christians understanding the fundamentals of law and civil government. If you ever had reason to be frustrated over something or someone and giving thanks was the last thing on your mind, maybe today’s commentary will provide some help.

I know a Thanksgiving commentary on Friday is a day late, but our publication day is Friday, and honestly, no one would read it on Thursday anyway. I hope you don’t also find it a dollar short! I want to share with you a simple recipe for having a Happy Thanksgiving you can feast on for days to come without having to eat “Turkey Surprise.” 

As I think about the Thanksgiving holiday just celebrated, I can think of no greater thoughts about it in relation to our civic life than those that were penned during the American Revolutionary War by the Continental Congress in 1777. They marked the first national Proclamation of Thanksgiving. They are words that would never be penned by Congress today, but they are words we and they would do well to remember. They sure do away with the idea that a secular mindset guided the thinking of our leaders.