A Month of Thanksgiving

​Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
 
Last Saturday, after an absence of many years, our congregation held a Harvest Festival Dinner, a kind of early Thanksgiving gathering of our church family. We decorated our newly remodeled West Wing with fresh flowers, candles, pumpkins and festive tablecloths. We ate delicious roast turkey and ham and all kinds of wonderful sides. We indulged in pie, pumpkin roll, and brownies, and drank sparkling cider. Best of all, we had the chance to talk and laugh together over a meal and enjoy each other’s company. Enjoying this delicious meal with people I love at the end of October got me thinking about Thanksgiving early this year; about the holiday that is coming up at the end of November but even more about the idea of giving thanks, of being grateful.
 
Psychologists tell us that practicing gratefulness can lower levels of depression, raise feelings of wellbeing, and even improve the quality of our sleep. Monk and scholar, David Steindl-Rast, even argues that “it is not happiness that makes us grateful” but “gratefulness that makes us happy.”
 
Being grateful for good things that happen in our lives and for people we love may seems like a natural thing to do but intentionally practicing gratitude increases our awareness of things to be grateful for. In a TED talk, author AJ Jacobs recounts his journey to thank all the people responsible for his morning coffee. He starts by thanking the barista and the coffee buyer and soon discovers that they need others in order to do their job, and so he also needs to thank the people who drive the trucks and build the roads and design the lids for the coffee cups. He also learns other lessons along the way like the joy of savoring the details and holding onto a moment. He says the exercise taught him how to focus on the thousands of things that go right instead of ruminating on the few that go wrong.
 
But what about the things that go wrong? In his letter to the church in Thessalonica, Paul reminds the Christians there to “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” It may seem counterintuitive to be grateful for not-so-good things or even bad things. But approaching these types of things with an attitude of gratefulness can open us to opportunities to learn and grow from our experiences and to see the blessings amongst the tears. For example, we learn to appreciate the kindness of a nurse when we are in the hospital or the generosity of another when our luck has run out. It can help us to see others, even difficult people, as multi-faceted whole human beings and appreciate them for the gifts they have. Author and Buddhist practitioner, Jack Kornfield writes, “open the [gratitude] meditation to include neutral people, difficult people, and even enemies – until you extend sympathetic joy to all beings everywhere, young and old, near and far.” 
 
In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul encourages us to be give thanks in all circumstances. Be grateful for the people and situations of our lives and at the root, to God, the giver of life and wisdom, and our redeemer.
 
So I invite you to join me this month in practicing gratitude and see where it takes you. Here is a link to the TED talks reference above and other videos to assist you on your journey of gratitude and thankfulness.
 
https://positivepsychology.com/gratitude-ted-talks-videos/
 
Happy Thanksgiving,
Pastor Sue