Thank God for Alabama in the United States

Thanksgiving is the holiday to count our blessings, but if you are reading the news in this wicked world, it can be difficult and even depressing. Poverty is marked by the homeless defecating on the streets of our major cities. Substance abuse is still epidemic, but society responds with demands to legalize drugs. Depravity is being endorsed and glorified as a militant LGBTQ agenda is forced into every aspect of life even educating our children that gender is fluid. We still murder thousands of babies daily for sheer convenience. And nothing but bickering and turmoil comes out of Washington as our politicians divide us with identity politics more than unite us as Americans.

If you never go out into your community and only watch network news, it could seem overwhelming and even hopeless. Perhaps some communities around the country are foreboding and unwelcoming, but thank God we live in the South especially Alabama. Manners are still in style in the South, so Southern culture is congenial not coarse. Southern folks are generally cheerful, kind, and polite. People of all races speak to one another in the shops and on the streets. We easily exchange pleasantries and if you are standing in line in any store, you are quite likely to have a conversation about the weather or football.

The poor are everywhere and always with us, but numerous organizations and myriad churches minister to the poor across the South. Chambers of commerce and companies have food drives this time year and churches open their doors to feed the masses. People with plenty seek out those without to share their bounty. The poor are appreciative and the prosperous are gratified; and then they pray together over the blessings of giving.

Discussing sexuality is considered inappropriate, and flaunting it is certainly vulgar. So Southern LGTBQ neighbors are also generally polite. We may disagree about morality, so friendly encounters stick to gardening. We live in the same neighborhoods, but everyone maintains an amiable decorum. Hearts are changed by example not brow beating.

Abortion is still a problem, but Planned Parenthood is intensely unpopular in the South. And thankfully abortion clinics are few and far between. Anti-abortion protesters are not aggressive; they don’t make a scene. They sing hymns and they pray outside abortion clinics for the babies and their mothers. They offer hope!

Probably the best thing about living in the South is we PRAY! It’s not uncommon to see folks praying over their meals in restaurants. Our student athletes pray. Any public meeting whether a civic club, a city council, or a public ceremony commences with prayer. Southerners are a proud people grounded in their faith. We deliberately and openly pray and the best part is it’s completely normal and even expected in the South!

The east and left coasts amuse themselves maligning the South as backwards and deprived, but people are leaving those places heading South. Academics and analysts routinely place southern states at the bottom of any list about quality of life or whatever other measure, but Southerners are quite content and happy here; and the Yankees keep coming.

America is suffering acute apathy and moral malaise, but America has Alabama. A place where college football is supreme and a noble sport; we all love football. Despite a very difficult racial history, mutual respect is more common than strife. We still have our differences, but outside the national partisan overlay we can talk to each other. We regularly strive together to improve our communities. We work and worship together. We are constantly reaching out to each other because we realize we have more in common than differences. That common denominator is prayer!

Traditional values are still in vogue in Alabama. We are not ashamed of our faith. There are certainly still many problems, but overall we are truly blessed in Alabama. And perhaps the greatest blessing is that we in Alabama still acknowledge God and intrinsically know our blessings still come from God; and we naturally still seek the blessings of the Almighty Creator. Thank God we live in Alabama! God bless Alabama and America! Happy Thanksgiving!

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” 1 John 5:14

 
 
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