Is Thanksgiving all about the Mashed Potatoes?

On Thursday, millions of people around the U.S. will gather with friends and family to celebrate Thanksgiving.  There will be 40 million green bean casseroles, more than 46 million turkeys will be eaten (those poor little turkeys), and about 141 million pounds of cranberries will be consumed.  I’m most looking forward to the mashed potatoes and pie.

But we all know Thanksgiving is about more than the food.

It’s about being thankful. 

We spend time thinking about our blessings and we say a prayer of thanks to God.  Perhaps you observe the tradition of going around the Thanksgiving table and saying one thing you are thankful for.   We feel genuinely thankful for what we have and what we have been given.

However, it seems like a more appropriate name for this day that we call Thanksgiving is becoming “Thanks-feeling.” 

We don’t honor the “giving” part of Thanksgiving.

But even more importantly we have lost the “giving” part of giving thanks throughout the year.  God has blessed us with so much and the way God asks us to thank Him is to bless others in return.  Yes, it is good to tell God we are thankful for what we have been given, but God expects us to pass on the blessings we have received.  We show God we are thankful by doing God’s work, by sharing our blessings with others.

There are so many ways we can GIVE thanks to God.  We can give our time.  We can give our resources.  We can put our skills and talents to use in a way that serves God through serving our neighbors.  We can give hope and love to those most desperately in need. 

One day each year is set aside as the official Thanksgiving, but the ending of the word “thanksgiving” is significant.  The “ing” ending means it is something that is on-going, something that continues, something that we must always be a part of.  For our entire lives we should never stop giving thanks because we will never stop being blessed.

So may you use this Thanksgiving to determine how you want to GIVE thanks.  What are you going to GIVE in response to all you have been given?  How are you going to GIVE your time?  Where are you going to GIVE your resources? 

May you find your niche in giving where your heart, resources, and gifts meet a need.  And may you come to see that through giving you will receive far more than you give away.