Thanksgiving

I am sitting at me desk as we prepare for our Thanksgiving service and the first Sunday of Advent.  I thought I would share with you from Crazy Talk about thanksgiving.  The editor’s have a way taking common theological ideas and presenting them in such a way that may have one pause of reflect.  Here it is.

“Thanksgiving n.

Any prayer or action that admits you didn’t do it all yourself and , yes, you did need a little help along the way.

Humans say ‘Thanks, God’, in so many ways.  Some are better than others.  In ancient times people would sacrifice animals in gratitude to the gods for a favor received.  How cool is that?  Don’t for a second think our consumption of a bird on the fourth Thursday of every November is a manifestation of this ancient tradition.  That holiday is entirely secular.  In our gluttony we commemorate Pilgrims—good people, to be sure, but not God.  Not into animal sacrifice?  You can always say an I-just-wanna-prayer.

Giving thanks is not something that we should save for single day on the calendar.  Giving thanks is even more than our prayers before meals.  Ideally, our entire lives are an offering of thanksgiving. ‘In everything, give thanks,’ it says in 1 Thessalonians 5.  Easier said than done, that’s for sure.

Maybe it’s a matter of perspective.  When we realize that God is the ultimate source of all things, and when we realize that we are ultimately dependent upon God for daily food and drink, homes, families, good government, peace, loyal friends, lovely neighbors, good weather, and so on, we realize: Dang!  God’s got a pretty Big Job there, whet with taking care of me, everyone else, and all that exists.  Perhaps thanksgiving begins with simple gratitude that God is God (and we’re not).”

Amen.