A Few Thoughts On Thanksgiving

Grace.

Thanksgiving is a uniquely American Holiday. I remember being in England once over Thanksgiving and having a nice British gentleman wish me a Happy Thanksgiving. They don't have Thanksgiving in England or the rest of the world. There was something about the way he looked at me that seemed to say " you Americans have a special place in history and the world looks up to you. "

Grace.

I like Thanksgiving more than Christmas. One gets all the festive activities, but none of the angst, the pace is relaxed, and it is spread out of several days. Great fall weather, a little touch football with family members, seeing old friends who are "back in town" for a few days.

Grace.

When we prideful Virginians think about Thanksgiving we think of colonists at Berkeley Plantation, thanking God for their safe arrival. Others think of Pilgrims being thankful for the great abundance of the New World. We Americans have been blessed like no other people in the history of the world; wealth, a just society of laws and freedoms to pursue our interest and worship as we wish.

Grace.

However, despite the abundance of things in our lives, we are never really satisfied. Our human condition makes us self centered and narcisstic. No matter who we are or what our station is in life, we all have anxieties and fears: finances, relationships, health, prideful jealosies and we never seem satisfied.

Grace.

I think the real gift of Thanksgiving is that God loves us abundantly, so much that he gave his son for us and that the ultimate comfort is not the "things" we have, but in the thought that we need not fear about anything....

'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home. John Newton circa 1760