Slice of Life

November. Thanksgiving. Gratitude. Gratefulness. All wonderful words and all worth considering. This is the month David and I celebrate our wedding anniversary. I am grateful that God sent him into my life and that God gave me the wisdom to see the gift he is to our family. And the gift he continues to be.

However, I tend to try and look beyond our small world and see the larger world around us. And as I consider what is happening in the world today, I find myself turning towards the foundation of my life, my faith. It is truly in my faith and the faith I share with the larger community that I find myself grounded in these challenging days.

Looking toward our nation, which is founded in Judeo-Christian philosophies, I can be heard to murmur to anyone who will listen, “We are living in truly historic times.” As civil rights are challenged in the courts, in the local government and even toward parents in our school systems, I give thanks and am grateful for the forward thinking, wise words of our founding fathers. From the Convention of States our forefathers wrote into Article Five of the U.S. Constitution, allowing citizens to correct the direction of the federal government, to the three branches of government they devised to allow checks and balances within the government itself, I am grateful. I am grateful to see the system in action, although it is not always easy to work within opposing factions to achieve the correct outcome. And the divide within our community, our nation and even in some families due to these challenges is heartbreaking.

I am so grateful for my grandfathers, who fought in World War II and for the history my Grandpa Bob shared with me, against his wishes but due to my nagging, about his experience arriving at a Nazi concentration camp to help move the prisoners there to hospitals and freedom. The photos he had saved, now long destroyed by him, underscored the stories he shared. And as I watch what is happening in the world today, my heart breaks that we, as a society, learned nothing from the devastation of the Nazi’s hate. As I hear of Ivy League college campuses protesting in support of the barbaric murders committed by Hamas, my heart breaks. Yes, there is a war going on and war is brutal and awful and evil. But the barbaric actions of Hamas, beheading babies in front of mothers, raping and murdering women in front of their children and husbands, is not about war. It is about hate and extermination. And the protests against a singular people, the Jewish people, not a nation, should not be tolerated in a civilized society.

While I respect the rights of others to worship as they believe (trust me, my family is as diverse as it can get in this regard) I still fall back on my foundation of faith in choosing my path in life. And the Bible prophesied in Isaiah 5:20, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” As I look around me today, I can see this happening before our eyes. Is there greater evil than the human trafficking happening around us, even through our small town on Montana State Hwy 200? Than the barbaric actions of Hamas being celebrated on college campuses in the USA and around the world? Than the protests in support of annihilating an entire population of human beings? Than the flood of drugs being pushed into our communities and killing our people?

Last Friday I was able to participate in setting up the nativity scene in Thompson Falls. It is symbolic to myself, and many others of the true celebration of the season. While many scholars will debate on the correctness of December 25 as the birthdate of Jesus Christ, it is a tradition that has held for centuries. A cultural tradition of the United States of America. And while not all celebrate, as is their constitutionally protected right, many do. And it is this symbolic holy season that gives many of us the foundation to stand for what is right according to our faith. For life. For peace. For forgiveness through the love of Christ. And hope. Hope for the ability of people to come together. And for this hope and the moral teachings of Christ, I am truly grateful and will celebrate in this season of Thanksgiving.

Often, I close my column with the word Shalom. I’ve been asked what it means by several people. During the start of this holy season it seems like a good time to share the meaning from my heart to yours: peace, harmony, wholeness, prosperity, good welfare, tranquility to you all. And goodbye. Until we meet again.

May the unrest of the world remain in your prayers, mediations, thoughts and hearts for peace and harmony to return. And may your family know the blessings of the season.

Shalom.

Chelle is a recovering social worker who currently works as a licensed massage therapist at Cherry Creek Myotherapy. She moved to Montana with her husband David and two pups, Lucas and Turner, where they seek “the quiet life” amid new adventures.