Thanksgiving is a holiday that messes with us. Christmas and New Year’s are easy, we get presents and party! But Thanksgiving – it’s different. We’re told to actually be “thankful”! And in a guilty way, we are – a little bit. A person would have to be pretty cold to read about the refugees in Gaza or the starving children in Sudan and not realize how much we Americans have in terms of creature comforts. But “guilty thankfulness” is never satisfying. It’s like being a kid again and after receiving a very average gift from an uncle we really didn’t particularly like, have our parents say, “Now tell Uncle how much you appreciate his gift. You’re so lucky!”
If most of us are honest, we’re not thankful on Thanksgiving because even though we have a lot of stuff, it’s not enough. There’s so much missing in our lives which we feel we deserve. Maybe it’s a relationship. Maybe a job, a house, a health issue. Maybe it’s just a matter of people recognizing us! But there are some things missing in our lives we believe we deserve and it’s very difficult to be thankful in that kind of situation.
Thanksgiving is only a day that comes and goes, so it may not be worth spending a lot of time and energy trying to resolve this “thankfulness” anxiety. But if this is a subject you find yourself thinking about more frequently than you would like to admit, maybe it would be beneficial to go into it deeper.
If you have the time and inclination, join us on Thanksgiving Day at 11:00 am. Yes, we are inviting you to a church service. (You’re probably thinking, “How in the world is that going to make me thankful?”) No, our church service isn’t going to emotionally knock you off your feet, but we are going to talk about thankfulness in a serious, upbeat manner that may just give you some encouragement to see thankfulness not as an obligation but a positive way to live!