I have just a short list of good reads to share this week. Most of them have to do with Thanksgiving, but that’s all right–we can apply Thanksgiving lessons year round.

The Other Side of Human Rights, HT to Challies. “We’ve forgotten something our ancestors knew: there is a necessary flip-side to human rights. If I have the right to be treated fairly and respectfully, then that means you have the responsibility to treat me that way. It also means that I have the responsibility to treat you that way. And just like that, another R word has slipped in beside our golden rights: responsibility. Responsibility is not a popular word. It sounds like duty and obligation, and those concepts aren’t trending right now. But if you look closely, every single right we claim has responsibility attached to it.”

Corrupt Communication a Sign of Corrupt Hearts. “Whether scatological locker room talk, or taking God’s name in vain, or gossip, or lies, or cruel insults, there are things we say that stink. And these utterances reveal a corruption or rottenness that goes deeper than the lips, the tongue, or the mouth. Jesus observed, ‘Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.’ (Mt. 12:34) Our words expose our inner attitudes and thoughts. We say what we say because we are what we are.”

Gratitude In a Hostile Land. “Even in this inconvenience, I had a choice. Interruptions like these reveal the state of our hearts. When unexpected circumstances come crashing in, are prayer and gratitude the conductor of our lives—or are they the caboose? Yet prayer and gratitude aren’t only for happy times; they are for every time, every moment, and every day.”

Forget Not His Faithfulness: Thanksgiving Begins with Remembering. “The danger of a hurried life is that when we don’t pause and reflect, we don’t remember. And when we don’t remember, gratitude struggles to make its way to the surface. But when we take time to look back, we begin to see what hurry had hidden all along: the grace of God, His unexpected provision and answered prayers, and His steady faithfulness woven through every ordinary day.”

Thanksgiving Gratitude: Receiving God’s Gifts with Joy. “One year Larry picked up some small gifts for some visiting children. Their delight in receiving them gave us as much, if not more, pleasure than if we’d received gifts. This reminds me how important receiving God’s gifts is to both our hearts and His. Gratitude is a gift. If our hearts swell when someone enjoys the gift we’ve chosen for them, I imagine God also smiles when we appreciate His gifts.”

If you think of this world as a place simply intended for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place for training and correction and it’s not so bad.–C. S. Lewis