By Fiona Pimentel

Thanksgiving

On Thursday (22) Americans will be celebrating their Thanksgiving Holiday. Canada celebrated their own Thanksgiving in October, and those of us who are not from North America and don’t celebrate on a particular day, are also in some way aware of the need for being thankful for blessings received.

The celebrations this Thursday will involve feasting on turkey and pumpkin pie, and thoughts will turn to the First Thanksgiving, a meal lasting for 3 days and shared by 53 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans.

The idea of a Holiday of Thanksgiving originates from the Reformation, when reformers replaced Catholic Church holidays with Days of Fasting and Days of Thanksgiving, in particular at this time of year, Harvest Festival.

I don’t want to focus on the Thanksgiving Holiday celebrations, but on what it is really behind them, in other words, giving thanks to God.

When are we thankful?

Like the first North Americans settlers, who were grateful for safe arrival and a good harvest, we can be thankful for events in our lives going well, such as the success of a project, or the arrival of a new child in the family. We can also be grateful for unchanging blessings, such as paid work, good health, and having family around us. Whenever we are pleased about something, regardless of what it is, we can and should be grateful to God for it.

Importance of being thankful to God

It is important to be grateful to God because it reminds us that He created us, and everything good that happens in our lives, is provided by Him. Although we are able to bring about change by using our intelligence or particular skills, we should remember that these are God given, and ultimately, it is God who provides or allows any situation. In thanking Him, we are acknowledging not only his gift but also his authority.

Expressing thanks

We should also express thanks to people who do anything to help us. If someone has made an effort to work hard, give us something, or make something, it is not enough to feel grateful. The gratitude needs to be expressed, and there are many ways of doing this. The tradition of writing a “thank you letter” after having dinner at someone’s house seems to have disappeared, but it takes very little effort to write a few lines of thanks in an email, and it makes such a difference to the recipient.

The effects of gratitude

Studies on gratitude have shown that when we actively choose to cultivate gratitude, and get into the habit of expressing thanks, not only do we feel happier, but there are significant improvements to our relationships and even our health.

In an article entitled “Gratitude is Good for You,” Ocean Robbins says,“Sure this world gives us plenty of reasons to despair. But when we get off the fast track to morbidity, and cultivate instead an attitude of gratitude, things don’t just look better — they actually get better. Thankfulness feels good, it’s good for you and it’s a blessing for the people around you, too. It’s such a win-win-win that I’d say we have cause for gratitude.”

How to cultivate Gratitude

Leo Babauta in his post “Why Living a Life of Gratitude Can Make You Happy” suggests having a Morning Gratitude Session. “Take 2-3 minutes each morning to give thanks, to whoever or whatever you’re grateful for. You don’t have to do anything, other than close your eyes and silently give thanks. This one act can make a huge difference.”

How to recognise a grateful person

As Francis Frangipane claimed, “The thankful heart sees the best part of every situation. It sees problems and weaknesses as opportunities, struggles as refining tools, and sinners as saints in progress.” 

By contrast, according to George Macdonald, “The careless soul is ever complaining, as if someone were accountable for the problems which meet him at every turn. For the good that comes to him, he gives no thanks… At the disappointments that befall him he grumbles – there must be someone to blame!” 

When gratitude makes the most difference

Henri J. M. Nouwen, author of The Wounded Healer said, “Gratitude as a discipline involves a conscious choice. I can choose to be grateful even when my emotions and feelings are still steeped in hurt and resentment. It is amazing how many occasions present themselves in which I can choose gratitude instead of a complaint.” 

In my own personal experience, when we deliberately express gratitude and praise God when we least feel like it, is the time when it makes the most difference. Some kind of grace is given which manifests itself in what I like to think of as “irrational joy”. When everything seems terrible and we choose to be thankful, we start to see a positive side and are flooded with peace and an almost ecstatic state of joy. I believe this is what the prophet Daniel did in the den of the lions, and thus was able to survive. Many martyrs before their death are recorded as praising God loudly, in defiance of their persecutors, and as a result went to their deaths full of joy.

More Quotes on being thankful

“Thanksgiving is the language of heaven, and we had better start to learn it if we are not to be mere dumb aliens there.” 
Arthur John (A. J.) Gossip

“Ingratitude denotes spiritual immaturity. Infants do not always appreciate what parents do for them. They have short memories…Those who are mature are deeply appreciative of those who laboured in the past. They recognize those who labour during the present and provide for those who will be labouring in the future.” 
Anonymous 

“Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.” 
Henry Ward Beecher

“How many times do we miss God’s blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?” 
Anonymous 

Fiona Pimentel is a contributing member of the Cayman Writers Circle
For more information go to: http://caymanwriterscircle.blogspot.com/