On Thanksgiving Eve

During my work duties today, I spoke with a distraught man who is about to be evicted from his home this evening, along with his seven year old daughter and elderly dog. I put him in touch with a department that may be able to help him with his situation, and I prayed for him. I cannot imagine the burden on his heart on Thanksgiving eve. The trials of this life are common to all, but sometimes a particular instance one hears of can strike the heart with such bruising power. This is one of those times. If any of you are inclined to pray, please intercede for Mr. A.R and his little girl and his old dog.

While Mr. A.R. is facing his bleak struggles, I am here in a warm home with a loving wife and three rambunctious dogs, happy in the knowledge that our children and grandchildren are safe and well, and that for the moment, spared from overt trial and tragedy and trial. I am thankful for these things, and for many more that I cannot number. And while thinking of this sad man with the gentle voice and the musical Southern accent, I think of the moguls like Bill Gates and so many others, people with more money than common sense, who give away scads of cash to organizations bent on destroying souls. I like to think that if I had such money, say for example if I won a lottery or had a distant uncle die and leave me a gazillion dollars, that I would help people like this man. Not to seek out foundations or organizations to endow, but simply to help those who come across my path who are truly in need. No press conferences, no attention drawn to the act of giving, just a simple “Here, brother…this house is yours, paid for. God bless you, and say no more.” But who can say if I would do this or not?

The quiet sorrows borne by so many unknown people go largely unnoticed by the rest of us, until those sorrows are brought to our attention in some way. Once they are known, some of us are changed by that knowledge. Changed in the sense that we are reminded and made aware afresh that this present calm period in which we have no major problems will pass, that the troubles will resurface, that tears and heartache are only a phone call away, only a misstep on the basement stairs away, that we are only separated from terror by a miniscule piece of plaque breaking loose and traveling in that hidden red flume to our hearts or our brains, and then everything changes forever. Or that scam artist who empties our bank account or takes out loans against our mortgage, or that calculating neighbor who poisons our cat in the silent dark stretches of night because she has a bitter heart and a smoldering grudge. Or the IRS agent who takes a warm delight in notifying a trembling citizen that no, his request for a delay will not be honored and he will need to be in the office for his audit on Friday morning, with all the documentation they previously discussed.

Right now, many or most of us are in the calm waters at present. And it is good that we are aware of it, and that we are thankful for it. Pray God they extend a little longer, and that we revel in peace and calm, if not outright prosperity. Some of you are enduring loss or grief or fear at this moment, and I have no way of knowing it. What I would have you know, though, is that I am praying for you. I, the doubting, waffling, inconstant, quadruple-minded, brooding, antisocial man that I am….I am praying for you. I pray for every one of my readers every single day. That’s what I would have you know.

And let me say that I am thankful for each of you who reads and/or comments at this little blog. Many of you have been an encouragement to me, a flame of warm light in some dark times. I never forget, and I never take for granted how kind y’all have been to me.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and may God richly bless you and your loved ones.

~ S. K. Orr