“TURKEY DAY” OR THANKSGIVING?

I like turkeys, but we need to be thankful. According to Lauren Aaronson thankfulness is great for body and soul. In “Psychology Today” she writes, "Feeling thankful and expressing that thanks makes you happier and heartier." She goes even further: "Call it corny, but gratitude just may be the glue that holds society together."

Aaronson advises us to practice thankfulness: "Just jot down things that make you thankful."

However, if reality does not consent to practice, thankfulness will be short lived. Here’s what I mean. If we are elderly, infirm, terminally ill, and abandoned by all, we really don’t have much to be thankful about. Consequently, practicing thankfulness will be difficult, unless we believe in the bliss of eternal life.

The Psalmists had struggled with thankfulness. Life often became overwhelmingly painful. One Psalmist complained that, when he opened his eyes, he saw that it was the God-haters who were enjoying life and not him.

However, after he had entered the Temple, God enabled him to see the big picture, the picture that included eternity. Then the Psalmist’s tone dramatically changed

·       "Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Psalm 73:23-26)

What can compare to this assurance! As we delight in the real thing, we also need to feel sorry for those can’t, those who continually must grasp for the insubstantial substitutes: "Just jot down things that make you thankful."  

Yes, enjoy your turkey, but even more, delight yourself in the One who has provided that ultimate menu for thanksgiving.