Giving Thanks

Double-Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake from the FatFreeVegan Kitchen  A+

I am thankful for so very much – that’s probably why Thanksgiving is such a great holiday to me. I certainly like it better than Halloween or Memorial Day (although I am super patriotic!)  But something really put me in a twist this year: two people recently mentioned that, in their opinion, Thanksgiving is a secular holiday. That really put me in knots for a few days, because I have always thought of Thanksgiving as a Christian holiday. I mean, if you are not thanking God, then what’s the fuss? It’s kinda lame if we created a holiday for thanking each other, right? That seems just a bit too self-centered, even for 21st Century Americans.  

Weren't the Pilgrims giving thanks to God for the abundance of a harvest season?    And speaking of the Pilgrims, why are they getting such a bad rap lately?   It seems very fashionable to bash them as intolerant, backward, Native-hating folk, when I think just the opposite is true.   Oh sure, they fled England to get away from people who disliked them, but aren't we, as Americans, free to live and believe how we want?    Who cares if they seem ‘weird’ in our modern eyes.

Perhaps Thanksgiving has become more secular over the years, I will give you that much. There is nothing wrong with feasting and watching parades and football. I don’t even mind the shopping. But I believe with all my heart that giving thanks to God must be a part of this excellent holiday.

I don’t know about you, but my list could go on and on: My beautiful home, my health, my three awesome children, the cutest dog in the world, the best husband a woman could want, a job that blesses me beyond my wildest imagination, my great state – Michigan, a hot cup of coffee every morning, music, a closet full of clothes, a cupboard full of food, a heart full of love and a home full of laughter.

Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices,

Who wondrous things has done, in whom his world rejoices;

Who, from our mothers’ arms, has blest us on our way

With countless gifts of love, and still is our today.