It’s the day Americans choose to celebrate with turkey, canned cranberry sauce, and football. Yes! It’s the day we decide to have a thankful heart. At least, that’s the idea.
However, that can be a challenge when you have an ungrateful relative. Maybe they had a challenging year. Or perhaps that has been their demeanor since you’ve known them. Regardless, one dour soul can bring down the whole group.
Thanksgiving can be a real challenge for parents. Kids can complicate a complex social gathering when they turn their noses at Aunt Elva’s oyster dressing, among other delicacies. So I’ll help you by advising how to deal with picky eaters at Thanksgiving.
Today, in the United States, most of us will be gathering around a table and offering a prayer of gratitude. The two simple words of thank you can do amazing things.
If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.
Meister Eckhart
A prayer of thanks changes us. We can come to God with no agenda and just simply express gratitude. It reminds us of what we do have and humbles us enough to realize we are more dependent than we would like to think.
All of us have wants and needs. On the other hand, if someone only comes to us when they want something, we start to dread the next encounter. None of us like a relationship where the other person is a taker.
Today, let us give thanks. Give thanks in prayer, and also give thanks to those around us. We rely on others much more than we would like to admit. Let us give thanks in prayer and in the words we give to others.
Think about why someone dear to you is so dear. Tell them. If it is too hard, we can just say, “Thank you.” If they ask what for, just tell them that they mean so much to us. A memory of past generosity is good, but not necessary. Just thank someone for the blessing they are. It does our heart, and the heart of the recipient of our gratitude, a good thing.
Are you ready for Thanksgiving 2021? No? Me neither! A few years ago, I did a post on how to have a happy Thanksgiving. I had a cartoon that wasn’t based on real experience.
I am thankful I never had to go out and shoot our Thanksgiving turkey. Though if you haven’t already thawed the bird, you’re much more likely to have turkey tomorrow if you go hunting.
For 2021, an old-fashioned, traditional Thanksgiving is what most of us yearn for. We had an interesting, if not desirable one last year. Most of us didn’t get together at all or did so through Zoom. I hear the travel for this year is back to pre-pandemic levels.
Yet, I also know some friends who are still dealing with COVID in their families. And there are some of us who will be missing loved ones at the dinner table. In my family, I can think of a couple we will be mourning over this year.
Through it all, my prayer for you is that no matter the situation, you will remember something to be thankful for. It’s okay to mourn the losses. But also remember the blessings. They are out there. Have a happy Thanksgiving!
A heart of gratitude is the password to so many good things. It takes us from entitlement to contentment. It changes “why me?” to “why not me?” It turns the focus from what we do not have to what we do have.
On this Sunday morning, I am reminded this is the best way to approach prayer and worship. The Message version of Psalm 100 helped me see this in a new light this day.
Enter with the password: “Thank you!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him.
Psalm 100:4 (MSG)
“Thank you” is the password to so many good things. My coworkers probably think I say it too often. My emails and speech are filled with please and thank you. But I am fine with being known as the guy who is too polite. It’s much better than being known as the guy with the rude ‘tude!
Therefore, when we go to prayer with a thankful heart, it makes us reconsider how much I have already been blessed. Just the fact we woke up to a new day is reason enough for gratitude. It helps us reconsider the many things we take for granted.
Nobody likes to see someone coming every time with a list of grievances, least of all God. It’s true that we can be honest and take our requests, our problem, and yes, our tragedies to him. But if that is the only time we pray, that would get pretty old.
Thanksgiving is coming. Let’s remember to give thanks today and every day. It’s a password to greater things. It’s a reminder we already have so many great things right under our noses.