This is my Thanksgiving post. I’m writing this while watching Parenthood, which makes me think of one thing I am thankful for, my kids. This, makes me think of my wife, as she was a major contributing factor toward the fact that I, or I should say we, have kids. I am so very thankful for my wife. Thinking of kids reminds me that I am a son to my mom, who is another person I am thankful for, and along with her, I am thankful for my dad, even though he is no longer with us. All of this makes me think of my siblings, who I am also thankful for, even though my brother is relatively far away, and my sister, like my dad, is no longer with us.

I am thankful for all my friends, but I am not going to name them all in this post, for I would likely forget to write down one of their names, and the person whose name I forgot would likely read this post, and see that I didn’t mention his or her name, and on some level that friend would be hurt. So, I want to avoid that scenario. So, just know that if you consider me a friend, I am thankful for you.

According to Wikipedia thanksgiving is synonymous with gratitude, and about both of these words Wikipedia says, “Gratitude, thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation is a positive emotion or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive.” When I read this I think that if there is a person somewhere that is not thankful then such a person is not in touch with reality, because such a person must believe there is nothing good in his or her life. Yes, of course, we can get into some pretty bad places, and in such places it’s hard, really hard to see anything good, but perhaps in such circumstances it is exactly then that we should give thanks for what we cannot see, and maybe then scales would fall from our eyes, and we would see that beyond the pain of such difficult places, life is good.

Among the first things I remember as a youth regarding courtesy and respect is you gotta say “please” when you ask for something, and you gotta say “thanks” when you receive it. These are the things I am teaching my children.

Coincidentally, in the scene I just got done watching on Parenthood a daughter gave her mother a word of thanks, because the daughter stepped out and did the uncomfortable thing the mother was asking her to do, the thing the daughter resisted doing, and in doing so she came to see that what the mother was asking her to do was actually a good thing, and having come to that realization she gave her mom thanks. This makes me wonder how many things I resist doing, things that if I did them I would realize they are good, and would have all the more to be thankful for.

For all the good things I know, and for all the good things I don’t know, I give thanks to God who is good.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 25th, 2010 at 9:45 pm and is filed under Spiritual Growth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.