As always happens the year is quickly winding down. The last weeks of a year are some of my favorite days. First we come to the most American of holidays--Thanksgiving. In the 21st century we aren’t a very thankful people. Our massive expectations get in the way o true thankfulness. We have become more and more demanding of everyone, including our government. Our attitude is one of entitlement rather than gratitude.
This Thanksgiving season will be a special one at our house. On the day before Thanksgiving, 1965 my wife and I were married. We’ll celebrate 50 years together just a couple of days before our 51st Thanksgiving. The years have gone fast, too fast, but life has been good. We have enjoyed good health, a great family, and meaningful work. It just doesn’t get much better.
We should thank God for life itself. As the old hymn says “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” The New Testament writer James wrote, “Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights…” My other holiday favorite is Christmas. Not the commercial event but the birth of the Savior of man. Christmas is actually the greatest day we should show our thanks.
Our next thanks should be to the troops around the world who are defending our way of life. They have sacrificed greatly in time, injury, and even loss of life. Included would be the police and firemen that daily protect us. They will be of even more importance as we face the continuing challenge of terrorism. Theirs is a tough and thankless job so we should encourage them whenever possible. I can’t imagine what life would be like without their efforts.
Our friends and families should also be thanked. Without their love and support, life would be very lonely and much less joyful. It has been said that a friend is someone who knows all about you and still remains a friend. Life doesn’t bring a lot of friends so we should treasure and thank them often. We also often take our families for granted and don’t show them the appreciation they deserve.
We could go on to several other things to be thankful for, but I’ll finish with just one more. We should be very thankful to be an American. We have freedom and privilege like no other people have ever had. We can freely choose our occupation, our home location, and those we associate with. Many don’t have this freedom. We take these all for granted. Another sign of our ingratitude.
So as we enjoy these events of the last weeks of 2015 with family and friends let’s take a moment to say thanks. And if we do develop a spirit of thanksgiving (and a true Christmas spirit) we can carry it with us all year.
