Thanksgiving: More than a holiday?

Psalm 92:1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High.

No doubt about it. It's good to celebrate Thanksgiving - making memories with families and friends, serving others with acts of charity to the less fortunate, to say nothing of a ready-made excuse to eat more delicious food than, most would agree, is healthy for everyday practice.

But, while it's good to have an annual place on the calendar to refresh the mind's sense of generic gratitude, you have to wonder how much of this thankful spirit is left among the general populace by the first week of December. It's a similar question to that of wondering what happens to all the "good will to men" talk when everyone returns to work after the Christmas holiday.

Indeed, if Thanksgiving is just a holiday, it's a worthwhile one, if only for the occasional nudge to our collective conscience in the direction of acknowledging the source of our blessings; or at the very least to see that we have been well blessed. But, according to the inspired witness of the Psalms, there is much good in the simple and most appropriate act of giving thanks.

Think of thanksgiving, not as an obligation of courtesy, (and so we train our children to say it), but as a means of keeping the soul centered on the most fundamental fact of our existence: We owe nothing of our lives or possessions or accomplishments exlcusively to our own actions or merits. Even our simplest acts or thoughts are made possible in part by the contributions or gifts or assistance of someone other than ourselves; and ultimately to Someone who gave us even the capacity to think thoughts that are contrary to His will.

Giving thanks keeps our perspective in proper alignment. Humility is a natural result of acknowledging our indebtedness, first to God, and second to others. Foolish pride and arrogance are simply incompatible with gratitude as a consistent theme of our hearts and practice. So, as the psalmist said, "It's good to give thanks." Yes, it's the right thing to do, and therefore it's wrong not to give thanks. But, like all things God calls "right", thanksgiving is also "works for me."

It is not simplistic to say: A grateful heart cannot wander far from the truth of God; and the heart that wanders into darkness, far from God's truth, is an ungrateful heart. As Paul summarized the errors of a lost humanity, he said, "Even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Romans 1:21)

Gratitude - God says it's right for you!