YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets. – Jesus Christ (Matthew 22:37-40).

Economics is not politics. – Frank Chodorov

Introduction

One of the basic premises of the postmodern age in which we live is that everything is political. Really? How many times must we study the history of political power and its consequential flow from the negation of basic human rights to the rise of Statism and tyranny to put to rest the inanity that everything is political? Perhaps we can build on Chodorov’s notion, proclaiming that not only is economics not politics, but neither are morality and ethics, nor is human dignity and salvation to be found in the political arena.

Having known many individuals, from family members to close friends and acquaintances, who were upright, moral, trustworthy, and ethical in every aspect of their lives, the last thing I would want to ascertain from them is to what political party they belonged or for whom they voted. Additionally, unlike the gross over generalizations and gaslighting that signify our current culture, I never thought of them nor concluded in some unthought out way that they were perfect human beings. They possessed and evidenced at times their flaws like all of us. But their shortcomings did not characterize how they lived or who they were, a distinction lost in our unthinking milieu today. To glean from them entailed learning how they built their lives via many struggles, failures, and heartaches, as well as the victories they experienced in life. Overcoming obstacles and hardships in life used to be an admirable trait to observe in others. Today it is designated as a metanarrative.

But this is the season for thankfulness, and one of the things we can display is gratitude toward the family by whom we were truly blessed in ways we perhaps did not or could not comprehend. No doubt, there are those who lacked the blessed circumstances of a loving family that sought to teach their children the lessons of life. But that is not a reason to discount family blessings, labeling it as some kind of privilege. That harsh and stark truth is even much more a reason to extol the thankful blessings of a loving family, friends, and circumstances.

Ethos

I have known people who have worked through difficult circumstances that would undo me in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, I grew up in a time whereby I heard about those experiences, but did not by logical extension realize how blessed I was. And in many ways the blessings came from family members who desired for me a life spared of the difficulties they had experienced. There’s no doubt that family members, during the time that I grew to an adult, doted on their offspring in ways that involve over indulgence. But the lessons I failed to learn from them is not their fault. That totally falls on me. Over indulgence can be easily excused and forgiven, even seen as funny at times if properly understood. But what is difficult to forgive is how the generation in which I lived forsook the many lessons worth learning that should have been a foundation for our living. The self-learning, the self-development, and the building of a skillful life are learned lessons that are truly a blessing, all that we call diligence and steadfastness. I look back now at loved ones, realizing, the foundation for building a life that they provided. Were they less than perfect? So what? Take a long hard look in the mirror. Then think about the way our loved ones provided a foundation for us to grow and live. In other words, think about the way they truly loved us.

Faith

My grandmother on my dad’s side of the family loved the Lord. Because of her I had parents and many aunts, uncles, and cousins who lived faithful lives in Christ or who were raised and lived on Biblical premises. This brings home the truth that not only is economics not politics as Chodorov proclaimed, but neither are morality and ethics. Moreover, neither is salvation found in the political realm. I can’t imagine looking to a politician or to his or her political party for salvific riches. Jesus, the Christ, proclaimed the greatest commandment as given in the epigraph above (Matt. 22:37-40; Mark 12:29-31; Luke 10:27). As I reflect upon my family, loved ones, and the friends I had growing up, I can’t comprehend the blessings of love that seemingly emerged effortlessly from, if not the actual faith, a worldview based on that faith, embraced by those with whom I was close for many years of my life. Unfortunately, that was another piece of gold that was jettisoned by my generation in a totally unthought out manner.

Faith played a big part in my family from embracing the holidays with family reunions, Sunday dinners, and family vacations. What I didn’t realize at the time was how that very faith informed the work ethic, teachings, and even the discipline that formed the many lessons I learned growing up. These were lessons, for sure, that I would have to remember and reclaim later in life, especially after my personal conversion to faith in Christ. But they were there as a foundation. What I personally regret is that I never said thank you enough, if even at all, to family and loved ones who lived out their beliefs, bequeathing to me contributions that followed me through life even as I sought to desert them.

Again, this is a season to be thankful. The countless blessings that secured my upbringing are just that – countless. Salvation and the many blessings that come with it are in and from God. He blessed me with a family that is beyond comprehension in all that it provided for me through its discipline and love.

Conclusion

I recall sitting at a table one night with my dad, looking over the multiple medications he was prescribed for his heart condition. He had a cardiac disease that was incurable, and one that would eventually take his life at 75 years of age. I remember as we talked that evening, thinking that this man who had always been bigger than life to me, was now an older man with an irreparable illness who wanted to live just a little longer than the vicissitudes of life would allow him. This was a man with an incredible work ethic who rarely purchased anything on credit, who built a life through hard work, and who took on the role of being a provider with the valor of a warrior. My biggest regret is that not only did I not learn the valuable lessons from him that I should have at an early age, but that I also jettisoned those values in a foolish way for many years. That evening was the final face-to-face conversation I would have with him.

The book of Proverbs is replete with contrasts between the fruit that comes from wisdom as opposed to all that comes with folly. Ethics, values, and morals form a foundation not only for an individual’s way of life, but also for what a civilization shows itself to be. During this season of giving thanks, I am truly thankful for the family and loved ones with which I was blessed by God. I’m thankful as well that God showed me the way back to those ethics, morals, and faith that I at one time turned against in my foolishness. They indeed in no way equate to the rhetorical notion of something contrived as a social construction. Rather they are the foundation for a life fully lived.

References

Chodorov, F. (1959). The Rise and Fall of Society: An Essay on the Political Forces That Underlie Social Institutions. New York, NY: The Devin-Adair Company.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D./November 14th, 2026

CHRISTIAN THOUGHT