Thanksgiving 2004 October 10, 2004
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Since Canadian Thanksgiving is often overshadowed by the American Thnaksgiving, we might not realize the long tradition we have. The tradition of a harvest festival of Thanksgiving started in Europe, but The first North American Thanksgiving is traced back to 1578 when the English navigator Martin Frobisher held a formal ceremony in what is now called Newfoundland. It was a great party to give thanks for surviving the long journey across the Atlantic.
Forty years later, and also after crossing the ocean, French settlers led by Samuel de Champlain in Nova Scotia would hold huge feasts of thanks. They got a little more organized, formed "The Order of Good Cheer" and shared their food with Indian neighbours.
This would be around the same time as the American pilgrims gave thanks in 1621 for the bounty that ended a year of hardships and death.
For the next two centuries, people on both sides of the border would informally set aside a day in November to celebrate the harvest. But the Americans beat us to the punch, so to speak, when in 1863 Abe Lincoln’s government officially declared that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November.
Our Canadian Thanksgiving bounced around the calendar quite a bit. It was first celebrated as a national holiday on November 6, 1879. Many different dates were used after that, the most popular being the 3rd Monday in October. The thinking was that this simply made sense because of our shorter growing season. After World War I it was moved back to the second week of November to coincide with Armistice Day. But finally, in 1957, Parliament said enough’s enough and formally proclaimed the 2nd Monday of October as "a day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed."
There is a piece of Canadian tradition that could be at least as old as the tradition of celebrating one day of thanksgiving: the great Canadian tradition of grumbling and complaining about things.
It is as if Canadians cannot be happy unless there is something to complain about! In order to change this we do not need to change our circumstances, we need to begin to give thanks!
The story is told of two old friends who bumped into one another on the street one day. One of them looked forlorn, almost on the verge of tears. His friend asked, "What has the world done to you, my old friend?"
The sad fellow said, "Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars."
"That’s a lot of money."
"But, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear."
"Sounds like you’ve been blessed...."
"You don’t understand!" he interrupted. "Last week my
great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million."
Now he was really confused. "Then, why do you look so
glum?"
"This week... nothing!"
I am convinced that gratitude is one of the main keys to a happy life.
Dennis Prager writes in "Happiness is a Serious Problem." "There is a ’secret to happiness,’" Prager writes, "and it is gratitude. All happy people are grateful, and ungrateful people cannot be happy. We tend to think that it is being unhappy that leads people to complain, but it is truer to say that it is complaining that leads to people becoming unhappy. Become grateful and you will become a much happier person."
Often times we think that it is things that will bring us happiness, but I’ve met happy and grumpy people who were poor, and I’ve met happy and grumpy people who were well-off, the difference was if they were grateful with what they had.
Gratitude Begins With Recognizing the Good.
Do you remember that little rhyme I taught you in the summer – I learned it as a teenager:
Two men looked out from prison bars
One saw mud, the other saw stars
What the rhyme speaks to me is that we have a choice as to what we see in life and what we live by. We can choose to be greedy or whiny, or we can choose to be grateful. To choose gratitude is to choose life
In her book, THE HIDING PLACE, Corrie Ten Boom relates an incident that taught her to be thankful for things we normally would not be thankful for. She and her sister, Betsy, prisoners of the Nazis, had just been transferred to the worst prison camp they had seen yet, Ravensbruck. Upon entering the barracks, they found them extremely overcrowded and infested with fleas. Their Scripture reading from their smuggled Bible that morning in 1 Thessalonians had reminded them to rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in all circumstances. Betsy told Corrie to stop and thank the Lord for every detail of their new living quarters. Corrie at first flatly refused to give thanks for the fleas, but Betsy persisted. Corrie finally agreed to somehow thank God for even the fleas.
During the months spent at that camp, they were surprised to find how openly they could hold Bible study and prayer meetings in their barrack without guard interference. Several months later they learned that the guards would not enter the barracks because of the fleas.
When I was part of Parkdale neighbourhood church, there was this amazing woman there named Nellie Ross – Nellie must have been 4’10” and getting smaller all the time because she was hunched over. Nellie is one of my favorite people in the world – my daughter’s middle name comes from Nellie’s maiden name. Nellie had the ability to say the nicest things about the worst people! – it wasn’t that she was a flatterer, or that she was lying, she was just really good at seeing the good. It is a habit that I try to build in my own life.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
This doesn’t mean that we are thankful for every circumstance. Although there are times, in hindsight, that we can give thanks for a bad time that we went through, if we see the good that has come of it, it is really difficult to give thanks for the bad times while we are in them.
We can be thankful for the things that do not seem so pleasant. Troy Mason writes…
I am Thankful for.........
....the taxes I pay
....because it means I’m employed.
....the clothes that fit a little too snug
....because it means I have enough to eat.
....my shadow who watches me work
....because it means I am out in the sunshine.
....a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and
....gutters that need fixing
....because it means I have a home.
....the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot
....because it means I am capable of walking.
....my huge heating bill
....because it means I am warm.
....all the complaining I hear about our government
....because it means we have freedom of speech.
....the lady behind me in church who sings off key.
....because it means that I can hear.
....the piles of laundry and ironing
....because it means my loved ones are nearby.
....the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours
....because it means that I’m alive.
....weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day
....because it means I have been productive.
Recognize the good – revel in a glorious day, delight in ice-cream, enjoy a good friend. Ask yourself “what is good?” and think about it
Philippians 4
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
Gratitude Recognizes the Giver
A few years ago, to invite people to come to church, I put up posters in the neighbourhood that would hopefully get people thinking – they simply said “Who are you giving thanks too?”
We might recognize the good around us, but thanksgiving and gratitude is always directed at a person, not just the universe.
James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Gratitude takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder, and to praise of the goodness of God. – Thomas Merton
To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His Love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. –Thomas Merton
Gratitude brings us life because by being grateful, we embrace the gift that life is. If we take the gifts of God for granted or whine about them, we miss the gift and our life is diminished.
Gratitude says the words
My wife might make me a special meal of my favorite food one day and set the table real nice with flowers and candles, and I would recognize it as good, and I would recognize that it is a gift, but if I don’t say anything and and just sit there feeling grateful, she’ll never know that I liked the gift!
Psalm 92
1 IT IS A GOOD THING TO GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, AND TO SING PRAISES UNTO THY NAME, O MOST HIGH:
Psalm 145
1 [1] I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation will commend your works to another;
they will tell of your mighty acts.
5 They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and I will meditate on your wonderful works. [2]
6 They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The LORD is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
10 All you have made will praise you, O LORD ;
your saints will extol you.
Be Thankful – it will change your life.
Meditate, not on your troubles, but on the works of God.
Psalm 143:5
I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.
Thankfulness is “the chief exercise of godliness” in which we ought to engage during the whole of our life. Gratitude is the heart … of the Christian life. – Merton
Just do it. I want to develop an attitude of gratitude in my children, so periodically I ask them what they are thankful for, out of the blue. Ask yourself the same question. “What am I thankful for?” Keep asking it, because it is something that will grow into your whole life if you let it. The light will shine in the darkness of your heart and the darkness cannot overcome it.
Exercise – write a prayer of thanksgiving – pick something you like, and thank god for it in an expanded way.
Example
Mountain Biker’s Prayer…
