I’ve said it many times, my love for Thanksgiving comes from my mom. There’s just something nostalgically, beautiful about the meal, the preparation, the laughter, the pausing of life’s chaos and pace, just to say, “THANK YOU”.
A few years back I was challenged to be intentional about thankfulness and coming to the Lord with thanksgiving. This year, I’ve made it a point that each day of the month of November, I would communicate (as publicly as I know how) my gratitude to God for the gifts He’s given me. I feel utterly convicted that, that is NOT enough.
Before I was a believer, I still understood that everything I had was a gift, I just didn’t know who the “gift” was from. The better things were, the more grateful to the “universe” I was. I was grateful to my mom every year for cooking, grateful that I had the day off and was able to get together with people I loved, I was thankful that we were all healthy, I was even grateful for the (unofficial) assigned seats at the dining table… but I didn’t really have a heart of thanksgiving. I had gratitude for the how everything worked out. But a heart of thanksgiving, is; that in the midst of things not working out, one is still grateful. That was foreign to me.
Like all the moments in my life I can look back and sort them into 2 buckets: BC / AD. Before Christ (BC) Thanksgiving was special, After Discipleship (AD), Thanksgiving was so much more than just a day, it was a condition of the heart, a way to live. Yet, that 4th Thursday in November remains special. Loaded with traditions that I’ve set up with my family, some of which came from my parents.
I’ve been thinking about a “heart of thanksgiving” in-light of the times we’re all living through. I genuinely believe that our ingratitude is on full display, and nothing good comes from that. I’ll use the upcoming holiday, and its historical context, to explain:
I remember learning about the holiday in school, the treacherous journey of the Mayflower, the few survivors that remained, how the Indians taught the Pilgrims to survive, and how eventually there was this cool kumbaya moment. Right?
Well, what about the eventual demise of that relationship? You know, between the settlers/colonists and their Native American neighbors? How does that fit with “traditional” Thanksgiving? Can we reconcile the eventual tumultuous, divisive, painful, murderous, one-sided betrayal driven by greed and ingratitude, with the cute little pilgrims who came to flee religious persecution?
It’s kind of like that with all of American history. My generation (and those that came before it) were taught the “pretty” parts. A very watered down historical account. Now, “traditionalists” and our newest group “cancel culture” have this ongoing feud that really stems from a very important detail; we don’t have to choose a “version” of history. I mean, as in, ONLY seeing events from one side. Either, the darkness and ugliness, or, the good, “cleaned-up” version. In my humble opinion, it’s the lack of honesty and balance that helps us forget our actual history and continues to aggravate frustrations and dissent.
So… what if we look at all events utilizing lenses of truth? With an actual heart of thanksgiving?
Could we communicate both the ugly and the beautiful parts of our history; namely, this upcoming holiday? What would be so wrong in that? Believe it or not, THAT IS Thanksgiving. A heart of thanksgiving sees the entirety of a situation, and regardless of circumstances, is grateful to God for HIS mercy and grace.
[Side-bar: I, only came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ after I saw the depth of my sin in light of HIS glory. I had to see the truth and uncomfortable ugliness, to see and really appreciate the beauty of who HE is despite of who I was.]
So… thanksgiving… circa Fall 1621… The Indians really did teach the survivors from the Mayflower excursion how to thrive in their new environment. And in-turn, the Pilgrims (as history refers to them) really did appreciate and show gratitude to their neighbors. Edward Winslow, wrote about a gratitude to God for they were “so far from want”. That initial feast of celebration lasted 3 days. This marked, sadly, the only period in history where there was harmony between Native Americans and European colonists, and that lasted 50 years. Just… 50. How quickly we humans forget, huh? Forget the gratefulness? What resulted from the demise of that harmony, from neglecting to be grateful, was an atrocity and a stain that may never be removed. {Throughout human history, every time we forget what’s been done for us, we show our butts.}
Fast forward, and you look at the rest of American (thanksgiving holiday) history and you see a few concerted efforts of people desiring a day of pause, to simply celebrate and be grateful to God for His provision, and His mercy, and His grace. Did you know that Thanksgiving, actually became a Holiday, holiday, at the height of the civil war, in 1863? That’s right… not in a time of bounty like in 1621. Nope. Abraham Lincoln, actually issued a proclamation entreating all Americans to ask God to, “commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.” Therefore, what we know and celebrate as an American holiday wasn’t the 1621 kumbaya version, it was the pain and mourning of the 1863 version.
That’s a 242 year gap between celebration and mourning. However, in celebrating survival, to mourning losses, the heart behind both was thankfulness. How is that? Because, real gratitude isn’t just about pausing the world to celebrate the wins, it’s pausing the chaos long enough to be grateful to God because He doesn’t change or panic. HE is still sitting on His thrown in the midst of turmoil and strife. He remains faithful, sovereign, and capable of tenderly caring for the broken.
Now, in the absence of the Creator… what is the 4th Thursday in November?
For me, BC, it used to be a “tradition”. For some modern-day Native Americans, it’s a day of mourning. See, without God, without an eternal perspective, I definitely see where it’s one version of history OR the other. Without a sovereign God who works all things together for the good of those who love Him, and are called according to His purpose, there is NO balance.
But I present to you an AD version of the heart of thanksgiving to God. It is thankful when one is enjoying a season of plenty, and, suffering-through seasons of want. You’re grateful in times of peace, and in times of strife. You’re content with a lot, or a little; at peace with your neighbor, your brothers, regardless of personal opinions or political beliefs. A heart of thanksgiving understands that as an American we acknowledge a beautifully complicated history. We see not only the American spirit of rebellion, the desire for prosperity, and our unquenchable industrialism. But we must also see, our neglect of our widows and orphans, our ignorance, our greed. A heart of thanksgiving sees all of it, and does not forget to be grateful. Grateful for the good and the bad. Because regardless of circumstances, despite our humanity, in spite of how we tear one another down, HE is still the same.
Oh my goodness, and what if we LIVED like that? All of us living, AD. How different would this world be? When we live alongside others constantly in appreciation of God’s never-ending mercy, fully understanding that HE withholds what we deserve? Living like we’ve been bestowed this immense unmerited grace that granted us the gift of salvation? We’re then not grateful for the circumstances, we’re grateful through them. We can then LOVE the unlovable, extend mercy and forgiveness, giving… when it’s undeserved. OH… to live a life of gratefulness! That kind of thanksgiving is above all reproach.
I mourn for our forgetfulness.
In all things I pray that we are overwhelmed with grateful hearts and that a heart of thanksgiving, the most important heart-condition we can have, helps us live radical lives for Christ.
May your 4th Thursday in November be filled with tradition, peace, laughter, love, truth and above-all, gratefulness.