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