Thanks?

Well, Thanksgiving is over, here in el Estados Unidos. We have slain our turkeys, hogs and cattle in annual celebration of our gratitude. It is no longer acceptable, in this country, to verbalize the object of our thanks, so we simply say that we are "thankful".

Interestingly, I was looking for a tie-in to Galatians and discovered that the apostle doesnt address thankfulness in this book. It isnt even listed among the fruit of the Spirit. Paul does talk about it, though, in Romans.

There, he discusses the depravity and decadence of mankind- "when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened".

So, here I am in 21st century America. We have this annual holiday named "Thanksgiving Day". It's origins lie in a time when people were glad to simply have harvested enough to get them through the winter. They gathered together in communal gratitude to their God, sharing the harvest with their neighbors, including unbelievers.

In our time, though, we struggle to give meaning to such a day. Like the people of Paul's day, we dont want to acknowledge a particular God, if we acknowledge one at all.

So, what then?

We still gather our families and spread the board with as much bounty as we can. We cling to the idea that things are better than they could be and that they might get better still. I believe there is something in us that wants to be thankful.

I know. We are inately selfish and unrighteous. Our desires are to please ourselves, but deep down, I believe has built into us a need to recognize what we are - We are creatures made in the image of the One Holy and True God, by whom all things are created.