Thanks
Posted By Russ Emerson on November 24, 2011 at 9:00 am
I have quite a lot to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day.
These days, I think many if not most people mistake happiness for gratefulness. They’re happy they have a job, they’re happy about being in good health, and so on, without being truly thankful for what they have.
I suspect that’s because genuine thankfulness requires someone to whom to be thankful. You can’t be grateful to a stone; saying “thank you” to a coffee mug is a rather pointless waste of breath.
But in today’s secularized society, thanking God — you know, the whole point of Thanksgiving — is often frowned upon publicly, and the culture in general is focused on happiness rather than a true sense of gratitude to God for what we have. I think that’s a mistake of (dare I say it?) biblical proportions.
Some of the things I’m thankful for do nothing to make me happy. I’m thankful for the degree of health I still have, though I’d have been much happier had I never become debilitated. I’m thankful that I have such great neighbors who have been willing and able to lend a hand when I have particularly difficult days. I’m thankful for the experience I had of taking care of Mycah for almost eight years, even though I remain profoundly saddened by her passing.
It has been noted that the Pilgrims dug many more graves than they built houses, and yet they still felt the need to take a day to give thanks to God for the blessings they had received.
Maybe you get my point.
Happiness qua happiness isn’t the be-all and end-all in life. We’d all be better off — and, ironically, happier — if everyone remembered that.
Russ, you did a masterful job explaining what Thanksgiving is truly about.
great post. Exactly right about happiness, and I think it’s destructive to America to think otherwise. Happiness is one of those things you will not attain if you aim at it. You have to aim at a higher target, and will come by happiness through doing so.. .