My geometry teacher drilled into us that it takes "....three points to determine a plane". I've been thinking a lot about that this Thanksgiving weekend. Washington DC is a city obsessed with history - and immortality. Everywhere you go you are confronted with a statue or artwork that rings out this theme. As you walk around the United States Capitol Building there is a painting titled Embarkation of the Pilgrims. It shows the Pilgrims as they are about to leave for the New World from Holland. They are praying. That thankfulness traveled with them to the New World and is the origin of the day of Thanksgiving. [ALAN'S NOTE: Both Catherine and I have direct line ancestors who were part of that band, making mentions of Myles Standish and the Pilgrims very personal].

George Washington proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day in 1789, calling on all (newly minted) Americans to "...unite to render unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection."

In the middle of the Civil War Abraham Lincoln wrote, "No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People".

That is three points - enough to determine a plane. I know that doesn't make us a "Christian nation" nor does it make everyone in the nation a Christian. That would be like saying everything in my car garage is a car. I just went down there and looked around - not everything is a car. Trust me. But whatever "plane" we were established on certainly includes God as understood from a Judeo-Christian world view.

So how did we celebrate? A non-traditional celebration - we went to an Afghan restaurant where we toasted our son who is in Afghanistan, doing those things that freedom loving people from a Christian nation do to bring hope to the rest of the world.

Check out the Afghan restaurant in Falls Church http://bamianrestaurant.com/.


       The statues in the mural behind us are of the Buddhas 
    destroyed by the Taliban. The area of Afghanistan where 
      they were is Bamian, hence the name of the restaurant.

The food - I had palau (Entree #6), Catherine had Kabob Dehqan (#9 on the menu), Amy had the Vegetarian Platter and Jon had a Kabob platter - was delicious and I think I was at least as full as if I'd consumed an entire turkey. The flatbread is baked fresh daily and it was delicious.


    This Afghan flat bread is baked fresh daily - and it's delicious 
    dipped in the eggplant and yogurt combination in the picture.


Happy Thanksgiving - on Thursday I gave thanks to the God who has preserved this great Christian nation. (If you accept plane geometry