A political commentator once observed that the person who said that they wanted the government off their back was the same one who went to school on the GI Bill, bought his home with an FHA loan, started his business with a SBA loan, saved for retirment with a ROTH IRA, sent his kids to college with a Pell grant and was enjoying his senior years because of Social Security and Medicare. That does not even mention the public school system, the roads and transportation, safe food and medicines, etc. They myth of the “self-made man” is a persistent one in America. It takes a village. St. Paul warns us against such thinking on the personal level as well: What do you possess that you have not received? Every move we make, every breath we take is a gift. As a gospel song puts it: God woke me up this morning and started me on my way. For that reason, giving thanks has to be the default position of a believer.
