Thanks and Giving

November 28, 2019

Thanksgiving, like, Christmas, we often gloss over it’s origins or what it really means. Of course then there’s the fact that like most things, there’s different meanings to different people. In 1621, tangibles were limited.

As we all know, the word Thanksgiving manifested out of the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts giving thanks for a bountiful harvest in 1621 (of course there was so much more than that as well…but I digress). Fast forward 398 years and though we still celebrate, I don’t even think we come close to having the same sense of thankfulness that the pilgrims did. Of course we think we do, but life was much simpler, but harder in 1621 and if you weren’t harvesting you didn’t eat; in 2019, few and far between actually harvest, now we simply walk into a grocery store and take our pick of the plethora of foods offered. This begs the question of what are we giving thanks for in 2019?

I give thanks for the all the usual suspects, family, health, friends, job etc., and most of all to God for his mercy and love for such an imperfect humanity. For all the lessons we’re supposed to learn that we resist and for all his patience with us to learn. This is where giving comes in.

Giving isn’t about the tangibles (not fully anyway). Giving is about what we give of ourselves to make someone else’s burden lighter and their road brighter. Giving can be a simple hello, when you know you are distracted, but someone is walking by you; giving can be listening for the millionth time to a story an elder family member repeats because it holds meaning for them; giving can be a hug; giving can be a prayer – giving can be simple!

God never intended for us to make life complicated, but we are human and we do. But at Thanksgiving, just take a moment to be grateful for what you are thankful for and how you can give back to humanity. Don’t complicate it and I promise you will feel good.