On Thanksgiving

It takes no more than just a few minutes of watching the "news" on television - or reading it in the papers, for that mater - to notice that what is called "news" is not much more than commentary and editorializing.

As I readied for the day this morning I was listening to the news on a couple of different channels in an attempt to ascertain if anything of note occured throughout the world during the night (it appears not).

I stopped one station to listen to a bit of discussion about thanskgiving, not so much the day but the act of giving thanks.

One of the guests - an "expert", no doubt - said that thanksiging was a very "life-affirming" activity. She never quite said just what she meant by that.

The second of the guests tried to help us realize for what we might be thankful if, say, we were suffering some disease or a family member lay dying. He suggested we be thankful that we have people who love and care for us.

What struck me first about these two guests and their comments was that in discussing thanksgiving, neither of the two mentioned anything about God, or even a "Supreme Being" (the host said nothing to that end, either).

If there be not God, to whom are we to be thankful? More to the point: if there be not God, for what are to be thankful? If there be not God life simply is pointless and dull.

My second thought concerned the notion of thanksgiving as being "life-affirming." That may be the case, but there is far more to it than that. Thanksgiving is, first and foremost, the acknowledgment that I am indebted to someone else; to other human beings, yes, but most especially to God. To give thanks is to acknowledge my dependence.

My thoughts then turned to the comments of the second guest. There are many people who do not feel or believe that anybody cares about them. For what are these to give thanks? Our guest would have no answer for them that might bring them comfort, but the Christian does have an answer.

Life is inevitably a series of blessings and tribulations, for both of these we must give thanks. We owe thanks to God for the blessings he lavishes upon us for obvious reasons. We owe thank to God for the sufferings and trials he allows us to endure for the opportunity to suffer with his Son, to be united with the Crucified Lord.