Thanksgiving Week Thoughts

    It bothers me how Thanksgiving's spot between Halloween and Christmas is getting squeezed into near oblivion. People aren't that interested in celebrating. It has become stressful for so many in the world around us to interact with their families. Not only that, there is a majority of people that have no heart knowledge of Thanksgiving. This makes it rather difficult for them to find things to be thankful for. 

    For those of us that have received the great gift of Salvation, it is true that thankfulness ought to reside in our hearts year round, but I can't help but believe it still thrills our Heavenly Father to see us set aside a day of special remembrance of all the wonderful things we have been given. How does the act of giving thanks really affect our lives? I have several ideas.

    The first one I am convinced of is that a spirit of true gratitude provokes us to action. It is not passively sitting in your house ticking off a list of possessions you appreciate. Instead, it prompts us to reach out to others, to give as we have been given. The great joy and wonder in our hearts at all that has been done for us will lead us into sharing the love we feel with others. It will promote greater understanding and compassion for those around us, and lead us to make sacrifices. True gratitude is not at all embodied in reveling in one's own fortune and dismissing those we see struggling, as the Pharisee did, by saying, "I thank Thee that I am not as other men are!"

    In Sunday School a couple weeks ago, we had a discussion about fighting temptations. Someone suggested that perhaps the prayers of thanksgiving we pray provide layers of protection from the things that would harm us. Isn't that just a beautiful thought? How our Father must delight in the thankful heart! The more we recognize the wondrous things He does for us, the more we realize our complete need of Him and our complete lack of ability to function without His hand holding ours. Thus our thankfulness to Him only continues to grow.

    The last thought I am going to leave here is a personal story. It happened many years ago, but it remains very dear to my heart. I am a person naturally inclined to inferior feelings. One evening, as I knelt in prayer, the Spirit spoke to me quite clearly. I could hardly believe what I heard, for it sounded ridiculous to my ears. "Don't get up until you have thanked God for something about yourself." 

    Quite a battle ensued! I had the clear impression that my "thankful" must be completely sincere, not just something quickly murmured in order to get duty out of the way. But the price I must pay for such a prayer! I did not realize until much later how thanking God for making me the person I was took away any right I felt I had to be even remotely bitter for how I was created. Today I cannot tell you what thing I finally found to be thankful for, but I can tell you that after spending several minutes in contemplation with the rough fibers of the rug making imprints on my knees, there was a small victory in my battle with inferiority. 

    This Thanksgiving season, as you bow your head in gratitude to our Maker, may you and I together realize how being truly thankful gives us a freedom to love, to care, and to trust because we realize all we have comes not from ourselves, but from He who created the universe and all that is in it.

    Wishing you all a blessed Thanksgiving!