If you are traveling today, or at any point
during this weekend, please be safe. And as you spend time with loved
ones, take a moment to ponder the deepest truth of this holiday. 
For
what and whom are you truly thankful? This day has always been about
more than celebrating the shiny new wheels in the driveway and surfeit of our lives. The earliest
pilgrims to this land were thankful simply for those of their number who did not perish during the early days and brutal conditions of their settlements.
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"But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." ~ Joshua 24:15 "If you want the easy way, fine. You wanna wuss out and follow everyone else? Knock yourselves out. My family and I will do the right thing and you're either on board or you're gonna get out of the way. Good luck."Trust me, it took quite an effort to clean this up for universal consumption. Feel free to contact me directly for the uncensored, Bronx version.
The verse from Joshua that I quoted above was revealed to me during the earliest days of my relationship with my wife. I credit her with pointing me to the Path which led to my salvation, a road which brought me to a deeper understanding of God's Grace and Providence. (Thanks, Sweetie...you are reading this, right?)
I was cleaning out my wallet, a task which obviously I perform very infrequently, and came across this card on forgiveness. I think (yeah, that's how long I have had this in my wallet) I may have received this card, with the stunning image on the front side, while on a Tres Dias retreat several years ago.
This section of Exodus always throws me into an inner turmoil that leaves me exhausted. Perhaps that is the reason why it has taken me more than a week to write this blog entry, the struggle to reconcile this micromanaging deity from the God who walked with Adam and Eve, and Abraham. The mixed images flooding my imagination of a grandiose Creator who dictates not just the exact measurements of the Ark and the Sanctuary but the specifics of the underwear that the priests, beginning with Aaron and his sons, are in stark contrast from the loving Father who sent his own son to live and minister to the poorest and disenfranchised.
The Law, as embodied in the Ten Commandments, was from the very heart of God. The codified laws were inspired by God but derived from the mind of a man and his inner circle. One thing that this cynical 21st Century Bronx boy sees is a cadre of men who seek to control their people by imposing such a complex, massive Code of Law. A clique of leaders who exert dominance by claiming to be the mouthpiece of God. A small group who claim to speak for all.
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