Sunday, November 20, 2016

Thanksgiving


At Thanksgiving we pause, even if only in a cursory way (and it often is) to consider what we’re thankful for. Usually we’re more interested in turkey, football and shopping than in the practice of deep gratitude. (Isn’t it odd how on one day we give thanks for all we have, and then the next day we go on a mad shopping rampage?) But give gratitude a try. Take a moment to think of what you’re most deeply grateful for. Most people’s lists are kind of short. Family, friends, health, material comforts, our nation, church and pets. That about covers it.

Go deeper. As long as you’re being thankful for something, say, our nation, be thankful for the whole thing, not just your favorite parts. I’m thankful for all the people, all the kinds of people, all the races, all the ages and shapes and lifestyles and perspectives, the heroes and the ones who struggle. Everybody. If you are grateful for your family, give thanks for the whole ding dang family tree stretching back to Adam and Eve, even the drunks and cheats and losers and misfits. Thank God for them, each one of them, or you wouldn’t be here. If you are grateful for your health, thank God for your body, this amazing creation that may be older and weaker than you wish, but it keeps you alive. It knows how to move and feel things, how to digest food and fight germs and how to get sick instead of just rolling over and dying. Even pain is a necessary gift. Thank God for pain.

If you’re really deeply grateful for what you have, you know that it’s a gift. You haven’t earned or created it yourself. Your health, your family, your station in life, even the money you’ve “earned” is a gift (plenty of people work hard and no one pays them for it). And you’re grateful for all those who suffered so that you could have it: the underpaid migrants who pick your fruit, the black-lung infected miners who dig the coal that keeps you warm, the slaves that pick your chocolate (sorry, but it’s true, unless it’s Fair Trade chocolate).

Beware of selfishness masquerading as gratitude. There’s a difference between gratitude and possessiveness. Love does not rejoice at the suffering of others, nor does it seek to keep what we are grateful for to ourselves. (Thank God for my food; too bad for the poor... thank God we get cheap goods, though the people who made them can’t afford them...thank God for oil; too bad for the earth...) If we are truly grateful we are mindful of the whole. Even as we give thanks for our goods, health, friends and comfort, we are aware of those without. And we are aware not just in thought but in deed. In love, gratitude is not a feeling; it’s an act. We don’t just have thanks; we give thanks.

So as you think of the things you are grateful for, try this:

If you are grateful for your belongings, donate to UMCOR to support those who have experienced disaster and lost everything.

If you are grateful for your house, find out where the closest homeless shelter is and make a donation to them.

If you are grateful for your church, tell someone about this community today and invite them to come with you to worship one day.

If you are grateful for the abilities God has given you, put them to use by committing to a particular ministry via the Stewardship Response Card.

If you are grateful for your friends, greet someone you don’t know at worship this Sunday.

May gratitude be more than just a feeling for you, but something you practice. I hope that you have a deeply grateful thanksgiving.

-Adapted from “The Other Side of Thanksgiving” , Steve Garnass-Holmes