Thanksgiving is Thanks-Living

The title of this post is one of those sappy signs you see displayed at churches, yet I find it hard to disagree with its sentiment. I'll tell you why...

We went through a dark valley of under-employment and near-poverty conditions in the not-so-distant past. In the midst of this, I found that what I wanted to learn--what I diligently prayed I would learn--was gratitude and contentment. I did.

Gratitude and contentment aren't lessons you learn once, like riding a bicycle. They are lessons you continue to learn. Really, it is a practice you build into your life, sort of like the habit of flossing your teeth (one I've failed to implement thus far).

We all have a lot to be thankful for. For one, God hasn't destroyed us as we've deserved. Let's start there. I'm guessing that you're reading this from the comfort of your home, sitting in front of a nice PC, wanting for nothing.  The fact that you can afford broadband access at your home instead of $10/month dial-up is thanks-worthy. We all have mp3 players that we paid at least a couple of hundred for, which helps us avoid the inconvenience of those bulky portable CD players.

Don't misunderstand me. I don't speak from any moral high ground. Just because I was forced to see life differently by difficult circumstances doesn't give me any special knowledge. Just a different perspective.

I prefer not having Thanksgiving with our family every year. Our family gatherings aren't necessarily focused, directly or obliquely, on gratitude. I prefer to spend it with folks that we know have real gratitude built into their lives. It's nice, if you should so choose to express your thanks to your Lord for his generosity, that you not do so receiving weird looks of misunderstanding. It's nice to do so amongst people who know what you're talking about and pretty much agree with you from the start.

It's OK, maybe every other year, to do Thanksgiving with the folks. But a break from that now and again helps me remember to focus on the holiday's root, not what I've chosen to make it.