We’re All Pardoned Turkeys

If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins – simply come clean about them – God won’t let us down. 1 John 1:8 MSG

As families of every kind gather this week for good food and good company – or so we hope – the truth is that each of us can be a jerk. Every one of us has moments when we are not our best selves. We might be whiners. We might be liars. We might be selfish. We might hold grudges we have no desire to release.

This is a great week to be pardoned. Maybe we need to ask God to forgive us. Maybe we need to forgive ourselves. Maybe we need to forgive someone else.

How do we forgive hostage takers or war criminals or terrorists? How do we forgive political enemies whose policies literally hurt us or people we love? I don’t know.

But maybe there is a turkey out there we can pardon this week. Maybe that turkey is us.

Have a peaceful Thanksgiving. We all need to be forgiven.

MSG = The Message transliteration of The Bible by Eugene H. Peterson.