Ethics & Religion
Column #2,050
November 24, 2020
Thankful for Thanksgiving
By Mike McManus
This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for so many things.
First, I have been blessed with my wife, Harriet, for over 55 years. And
we were delighted to have three sons, who married wonderful women, each
of whom had three splendid grandchildren. All are a joy and a treasure
to us.
Second, I have been blessed with a rewarding career of writing. I first
wrote for the Duke (University) Chronicle and then three
local newspapers before joining TIME as a correspondent, one of a
hundred people covering the events of the world. I was a foreign
correspondent for TIME in Argentina and then worked in the Washington
bureau, reporting on domestic policy.
Nearly 50 years ago, I began writing and self-syndicating a newspaper
column I called "The Northern Perspective." My goal each week was to
suggest a solution for the troubled economies of the old industrial
states. It was published by 60 papers at its peak. Then I heard a sermon
which prompted me to start this column, which I call "Ethics &
Religion." At its peak, it was published by 120 newspapers.
Editors at Zondervan Publishing House read Ethics & Religion in the
Grand Rapids Press. A number of those columns suggested ways to help
couples prepare for a lifelong marriage, enrich existing ones and save
those in crisis. Zondervan suggested that I write a book, reporting upon
those answers with enough detail that both pastors and couples could do
a better job.
Delighted with that opportunity, I stopped writing The Northern
Perspective to have time to write the book which became Marriage
Savers: Helping Your Friends and Family Avoid Divorce. It was
published in 1993.
I am especially thankful that the book prompted church leaders in many
cities to invite my wife and me to help them create what we called
"Community Marriage Policies." Over a two day period, we trained
"Mentor Couples" in about 10,000 churches in 230 cities to:
- Prepare couples for a lifelong marriage,
- Revitalize existing marriages,
- Restore those in crisis,
- Help separated couples to rebuild their marriages and
- Enable couples in stepfamilies to be successful.
The Institute for Research & Evaluation studied our work in the first
114 cities and concluded that Community Marriage Policies cut
divorce rates across a city or county by 17.5% - enough to save about
100,000 marriages from divorce. That was in 2006. With 14 more years in
those cities and twice as many communities added in recent years,
probably 200,000 marriages have been saved from divorce.
I've continued to write Ethics & Religion for nearly 40 years. However,
2,000 newspapers have closed and my number of subscribers has fallen.
However, I'm thankful for the opportunity to try to make a difference
each week.
This Thanksgiving, I'm also thankful for the election of Joe Biden as
our next President. He has been a solid, experienced political leader
for four decades, both as a U.S. Senator and Vice President under Obama.
I'm also thankful that President Trump has finally allowed an orderly
transition to President-Elect Joe Biden.
Finally, I am thankful to live in America which offers opportunities to
every man and woman to achieve their maximum potential as a citizen. No
other country offers such a wide range of opportunities to live and
serve others.
Consider Barack Obama whose father abandoned him as a boy, but who rose
to become a U.S. Senator and the first black President of the United
States. I have been reading his new autobiography, A Promised Land.
He notes the irony that the founding documents of America "could
simultaneously proclaim all men equal and yet count a slave as
three-fifths of a person."
He wrote that his book is for young people - "an invitation to once
again remake the world, and to bring about, through hard work,
determination and a big dose of imagination, an America that finally
aligns with all that is best in us."
I am blessed to live in a nation which has offered me so many
opportunities as a writer to put a spotlight on people and organizations
who are making a difference.
I have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
_________________________
Copyright (c) 2020 Michael J. McManus, President of Marriage Savers and
a syndicated columnist. To read past columns, go to
www.ethicsandreligion.com. Hit
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