Thankfulness...

One of the things I love about Thanksgiving is that we all take a time-out from the craziness of life to take stock of the true blessings in life. There is always something to be thankful for! Thankfulness is a virtue that transcends cultures, religions, demographics and geography.

Imagine the following dialogue:

Friend - "So Doug, what are you doing for Thanksgiving this year?"
Me - "Actually, I don't believe in Thanksgiving. Where I come from we aren't thankful.

or...

Friend - "So Doug, do you do anything special for Thanksgiving?"
Me - "My religion doesn't allow me to take time-out to count my blessings."

or...

Friend - "So Doug, do you have big plans for the Thanksgiving weekend?"
Me - "No. In this economy there is nothing to be thankful for so I'm skipping Thanksgiving this year."

Almost everyone I know is in the following situation:

1. There are 3 things they don't have that they really, really want.
2. There are 3 things they do have that they really, really don't want.

At some points there may be 4 things I want and only 2 things I don't want; at other times there may only be 2 things I want and 6 things I don't want. The numbers fluctuate, but there are always a few things that could make my life better.

Before I continue too far, I should remind myself that not all of my desires are bad. For instance, my desire to have Thanksgiving with my mother is not wrong. It is not wrong for me to want my the War on Terror to end peacefully. There are a number of instances in which my life would truly be enriched by the addition or subtraction of specific items. The ethics of desire are very interesting!

Of course, many (many, many, many) of the items on my wish (or "wish not") list are vain phantoms making empty promises to my heart. Pursuing them is like pursuing a mirage. Sometimes it can be worse...sometimes getting the desires of my heart is like getting to the mirage and finding that what you were looking at on the horizon was not water but a large pool of poisonous snakes! Sometimes what we want (or don't want) is the opposite of what actually will bring us joy, peace, and contentment.

In first establishing Thanksgiving as a holiday in the United States, George Washington says (in part):

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be...

At the end of 1863, the year of Antietam, Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Abraham Lincoln wrote:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

Thankfulness is not seasonal or circumstantial. I think it is good to pause and take stock of our blessings and give thanks.