Thanks Giving

I read an article recently where the author was trying to explain the difference between being thankful and giving thanks. Before I continue, stop for a moment and think what giving thanks means to you and what it means by being thankful. Do you see or find a difference?

Giving thanks turned around spells thanksgiving, a holiday we celebrate on the fourth Thursday in November. Originally celebrated by the pilgrims in 1621, it wasn’t until 1863 when President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving. Proclaimed by every president after Lincoln, the date was changed a couple of times, most recently by Franklin Roosevelt, who set it up one week to the next-to-last Thursday in order to create a longer Christmas shopping season. Public uproar against this decision caused the president to move Thanksgiving back to its original date two years later. And in 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday, as the fourth Thursday in November.

Back to the question posed up above. Being thankful is a state of being. It’s good to be grateful. But being happy about one’s good fortune is one thing, giving thanks is another.

Thanksgiving should be about giving thanks and not about thanks-gorging. People get together to stuff themselves and imbibe, yet in the midst of it all they seem to miss the true meaning and in some cases family members are frayed and strung out.

I applaud the author’s candor in revealing that his family was in such a state. He had an aunt who would show up drunk and weep at the table. No one knew why and no one asked. His grandpa did not speak to his grandma. His older brother would only show his face when it was time to eat. His mother in trying to make everything perfect would come down with a migraine causing his father to be upset because she didn’t feel well. The Detroit Lions seemed to get more attention than anyone at the table.

The Thanksgiving feast would not last very long and with all the lavishness they would always be left with a feeling of emptiness. In some families, Thanksgiving has become sort of an escape, a kind of therapy, and not a meal of celebration. Some don’t even let the day come to a conclusion before making plans as to how early they have to get up in order for them to snap up the “bargains” in the after Thanksgiving day sales. More and more, holidays are planned around the various retails’ store schedules. Some are scheduled around football games. Is that what you’re thankful for?

What about thanking our family members, even with all their pimples and warts of life, for just being them? What about thanking the person who cooked the meal. What about thanking our Lord, for all He gives us.

This reminds me of the Gospel story (Luke 17:11-19) about how Jesus cured ten lepers and only one, a Samaritan, came back to thank Him. Would you be one of the nine that didn’t give thanks?

“Much obliged,” are two words that have vanished from the old American vocabulary. It used to be a common expression of thanks. It meant more than thanks because it showed that you really appreciated what was done for you and you were ready to do something in return. You were obliged. You were obligated to do something for the person that did something for you. “Much obliged” seems to have a stronger meaning than thank you.

Thank you for your patience while I ramble on. I hope that it makes some sense to you. Wouldn’t it be great if we could take the feeling of gratitude from this day and spread it throughout the remainder of the year?

Who are you going to say thank you to on Thanksgiving?