Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday. Although a few other countries have a national day for prayer or thankfulness, nothing truly resembles our Thanksgiving Day.
Europe, with its more established countries, scoffs at such a notion of commemorating the virtue or emotion of thanksgiving. They might celebrate national accomplishments like successful harvests, vanquishing enemies, and religious observations. A day for thanksgiving related to the passing of a particular calamity might occur occasionally, but having an annual, nationally observed day is only something the brash, provincial, unsophisticated Americans would do. It seems against the dignity of a strong country to cancel work and devote a day to appreciation.
To be thankful is to acknowledge vulnerability. Giving thanks notes that whatever success or achievement an individual or nation may have obtained was not accomplished alone. To celebrate thankfulness is to pause and reflect on all things, good and bad, realizing that amid it all lies an achievement resulting from the assistance of someone or something.
The distorted perception of self-made people is that they made it all by themselves. They see their achievements as something of their own making, discounting the assistance of others. They’re so self-absorbed and consumed by an inflated ego, that to acknowledge anything less than a solo performance is unthinkable, perhaps even humiliating.
Thanksgiving to them is cultural – to act appreciatively without being truly thankful. This is best summed up by the blessing given by Jimmy Stewart’s character in the movie “Shenandoah”:
Lord, we cleared this land. We plowed it, sowed it, and harvested it. We cooked the harvest. It wouldn’t be here; we wouldn’t be eating it if we hadn’t done it all ourselves. We worked dog-bone hard for every crumb and morsel, but we thank you just the same anyway, Lord, for the food we’re about to eat. Amen.
We chuckle at this, but that is how some people feel. Their thanks is a grudging tribute to a cultural norm that invokes a blessing not as returning thanks, but as a requirement, masked to further claim credit for achievement.
In reality, no one is a self-made man, and no achievement is made in a vacuum. National accomplishment is the obvious, collected efforts of citizens, giving and sacrificing for a greater good. While a nation benefits from these efforts, each citizen also benefits individually when a nation prospers.
The early American settlers quickly realized that the success of their community was not a solo performance. Over and above the work of individuals was an acknowledgment of a Divine Creator who had specifically given them the grace to obtain plentiful crops. So while they appreciated the efforts, toil and labor of others, they realized that several things over which they had no control had coalesced to assist their prosperity.
Because these were religious people, none of this is surprising. It shocks no one, but fits the inaccurate stereotype of uneducated, superstitious people attributing anything inexplicable to a force outside themselves.
But in an age of quantum physics, can Thanksgiving still be relevant? Certainly, we can be thankful for our friends, family and co-workers. We can appreciate the variety of partnerships and collaborative efforts that go into achievement. But if we are serious and review any achievement, prosperity, or happiness carefully, there is something outside of ourselves and our circle of experiences that gives us pause to claim credit or see achievement in only secular terms.
If we inject God into our Thanksgiving, are we plodding down a path of suspicion and ignorance?
In recent years, atheism was the faith of the educated and sophisticated. Science explained everything and God was pushed to a small corner of the public square for those few poor souls who needed a crutch. But atheism grew old, and the nihilism of nothingness is as unsatisfying as it is depressing. As militant atheists hocked their wares, the fruits of their beliefs yielded uncertainty, confusion, and ultimately unhappiness and instability.
As the fad of atheism falls away as unsupported by reality, we can be encouraged by a growing faith among scholars and men of science. Recently we have seen a revival and a return to acknowledging a faith that is directly connected with a God who created the world. This view embraces that timeless vision that individuals are not self-made and the state is not the locus of spirituality. Rather, this view hearkens back to Genesis and the view that we are created in the image of God, and thus, our meaning, being and rationality come from that truth.
Of course, this was the accepted belief for most of history until the 20th century detoured from truth to embrace modernity. That road to nowhere created an object lesson in futility. In frustration, people have returned to faith in the broadest sense of the word to find an acceptable place for religion to inform, influence and guide faithful people.
Now a quarter into the 21st century, it makes good sense to embrace the uniqueness of Thanksgiving to count not only the blessings of food, family and friends, but to also give proper thanks to all those unseen benefits, the near misses in life, and unexplained benefits. To acknowledge God’s provision, guidance and sustenance is appropriate.
One influential person suffering from terminal cancer, even on her death bed, always remarked how thankful she was and how blessed she felt for the life she was given, her experiences, and the love that had sustained her. Even in the most helpless of circumstances, gratitude and thankfulness are always in order.
This Thanksgiving we have every reason to be grateful and to invite God back to our table, acknowledging all the micro-blessings we take for granted and attributing them to His care and loving kindness.
Will Sellers is a graduate of Hillsdale College and an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of Alabama. He is best reached at [email protected].
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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