As we begin an uncertain 2021, it is important to reflect on the blessings of 2020.  That is, of course, no easy task.  And yet it is most important in the midst of trials.

There is no reason to reflect at any length of the trials of 2020.  It was a year like none other in American history.  It began with a corruption of the Constitutional provision for impeachment; then proceeded to months of rioting and lawlessness in major cities, with Democrats rooting on their street activists from the bleachers.  And then there was Covid, Covid … and more Covid.

Leftists across the nation took full advantage of the Chinese Virus to manipulate and mangle election laws in order to maximize their chances to win the presidency.  As of this writing, it remains to be seen whether they succeed.

In the midst of such outrageous abuse of the American people, it is understandably difficult to find the blessings of 2020.  And yet, they are there.

We can be grateful for the courage and determination of our President, Donald Trump.  His leadership during 2020 will shine for generations.  He managed to keep America’s economy functioning during an unprecedented health scare, preaching courage and hope while most other “leaders and experts” worked feverishly to drive the herd into isolated caves.  He led efforts to provide the various states with health care equipment and facilities, while lashing the medical community to produce a vaccine in record time.  And all year, he defended our core values, the Constitution – while beating back a savage personal and political attack from the Left unseen since the days of Lincoln.

But we may also be grateful for the opportunities 2020 presented:

Parents and families were able to spend more time together.  And those same parents may well have learned a great deal about the failings and prejudices of our modern educational system.

We were able to gather in places of worship, after our right to do so was temporarily suspended in an initial over-reaction to the advice of our expert class.  Even now, religious liberty and the First Amendment are under assault across the nation.  But that, too, is an opportunity for gratitude – for it shows us in a most powerful way to better appreciate what we may have taken for granted.  Hopefully, the gathering together in worship of our Creator will forever more be less of a chore and filled with more joy as a result of what we’ve endured in 2020. 

In fact, 2020 is loaded with such demonstrations of our vulnerability to the technocratic state.  Going to work, to school, to the grocery store have all been impeded by a government apparatus few of us would have believed possible just a year ago.  For those with the eyes to see … this past year has shown how very fragile our Constitution and liberties are.  We have now seen first-hand that there is a whole army of political and cultural leaders determined to remake the nation and bequeath the next generation a European-ized version of America in which the freedoms to assemble, to worship, to own property, to work, to redress our government… to live … are no longer inviolable rights – but merely nice suggestions.

Let us be grateful for the mortal threats of 2020, and resolve to make 2021 better.  Let us pray that the new year will be one which sees patriots rising in defense of our heritage. 

And let us continue to beseech Heaven that the Lord will come to our aid and deliver us from evil.