Some families, before setting into the turkey, go around the table as each person shares what she or he is thankful for. And we all know the usual answers ~ family, friends, health, recovery from illness, food, shelter, and so on. All the things we call blessings. But are we missing something? Are we short-changing ourselves and God? What about the things that we would not call blessings? The illness; the loss; the hardship? How can we possibly be thankful for them? We’re not. Yet, St. Paul says, that we are to give thanks in all things. What might he mean by that? For one thing, he’s talking about an attitude. This gratitude attitude is not contingent upon having or receiving this or that "good thing". There is no for or because. "It is good to give thanks," the Psalm says. The modern Thanksgiving originated not with the so-called "Pilgrims Fathers" but with Abraham Lincoln. In the middle of the Civil War, President Lincoln issued a Proclamation designating a National Day of Thanksgiving simply because "it is good to give thanks." For another, our greatest blessings often come wrapped in the hardest shell. The greatest of saints had the hardest of times. For it’s in the hard times that God is closest to us. God’s Presence in our lives isn’t contingent upon how we feel or our emotional state. God’s not fickle. It’s easy to be thankful for the good stuff ~ the blessings. And it’s right and proper to give thanks to God. It’s harder to be thankful for "the bad stuff." Not just because the bad stuff gets us sad or mad, but also because it’s such a hard shell. But what might we be missing if we don’t take the time and make the effort to break it open?

Fr. Ken
Thanksgiving, 2008

"Messages from Father Ken" is a regular feature of our church newsletter, St. John's Messenger, which is published every other week. 

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