From Thankless to Thankful

Tradition and the calendar tell us it’s the week to be thankful.

But if you listen to the average American, they’re more thankless than thankful. Complaints, gripes and grumbling seem to be the order of the day.

Times are tough. Gasoline prices are sky-high. It’s hard to sell a house or get a mortgage. The cost of everything is going up. Children are ungrateful and won’t listen to their elders. The Hollywood writer’s strike is delaying the season for your favorite programs.

Plus there’s a seemingly endless war going on. Many families will spend the holiday worrying about their loved ones who are in harm’s way. What if you wake up on Thanksgiving Day feeling like there’s more to be worried about than for which to be thankful?

Life can look pretty grim at times. But it doesn’t mean that God has forgotten us.

The Pilgrims knew that. So did Abraham Lincoln.

We’re not the first Americans to feel less thankful during trying times. Consider the story of the first Thanksgiving in America.

The winter of 1620 was devastating. The harvest was almost non-existent. The cold was numbing. Parents saw their children die in their sleep. There wasn’t much to celebrate.

But then came the bountiful harvest of 1621. The Pilgrims gathered to thank God for blessing them. Things could have been better but they also could have been much worse.

Fast-forward 242 years after that first Thanksgiving feast. Listen to the words of a man who faced a different, but no less devastating trial.

Abraham Lincoln was the president of half a country involved in a bloody battle with the other half. Yet in the middle of a Civil War, he declared that there was much that the no longer United States could be thankful for.

On Oct. 3, 1863--just two weeks after more than 34,000 Americans were killed or wounded in the battle of Chickamauga--Lincoln issued a proclamation establishing a national day of Thanksgiving.

“The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies," he wrote. "To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added…”

Lincoln went on to observe that America was at peace with foreign nations. Farming and industry continued, as did international trade. He said, “No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.”

“It has seemed to me fit and proper,” he continued, “that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States . . . to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”

If Lincoln and the Pilgrims were able to thank God in the midst of the trials they faced, shouldn’t we be able to do the same? Surely our difficulties are no worse than theirs.

The Bible tells us to “Be Thankful.” It reminds us to “Sing…with gratitude in your hearts to God…. And whatever you do…do it…giving thanks to God.”

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!