It’s Saturday morning and I am sitting here watching ESPN College Gameday and getting ready to spend the day watching college football. I have enjoyed the time off from work the past few days and really enjoyed the time I got to spend with family over the break. As I sit here and reminisce about the past few days, I can’t help but think how my life is no different today than it was on Thanksgiving Day. Today the sun came up just like it did on Thanksgiving. This morning I ate breakfast. This morning I read the news online. Today I am just as thankful for what I have as Thanksgiving Day. Today I am fortunate to have the same loved ones. Nothing has changed.
Contentment is best described as being thankful for what you have and not worrying about what you don’t have. As I sit here this morning, I am aware that many people are packing into stores preparing for the upcoming Christmas holiday. That doesn’t bother me. What does is the ever increasing commercialization of Christmas to the point where people feel the need to go out on Thanksgiving evening to go shopping. In addition to that, many feel the need to buy something for themselves. I guess what really bothers me is that Thanksgiving Day has been relegated to a partial day of thanksgiving by many. They spend the morning and afternoon being thankful but throw that out the window when the evening comes. They forget the purpose of the day and quickly return to being the ultimate consumer. Many would argue they do it to get better deals. How could Dr. Thrift argue with that you say? I believe there are plenty of opportunities to practice frugality throughout the remaining days of the holiday season. Rushing out to spend on Thanksgiving Day sends a message you might not really be living a contented life.
It’s nice to have a national day of thanksgiving to express our thanks for all that God has blessed us with. It’s nice to have a day designated to show others’ how thankful we are to have them in our lives. It’s nice to have a day that encourages us to stop and think about everything we should be thankful for. Don’t let it stop there. Thanksgiving Day shouldn’t be the only day we do this. Scratch that. Thanksgiving Day shouldn’t be the only partial day we do that. We need to treat the other 364 ½ days the same. Those days didn’t do anything to deserve less of our attention.
Once a week at work our cafeteria has on the menu a Chinese dish. I’m not a believer in fortune cookies so I took the one I received two weeks ago with a grain of salt. As I opened it, I had to chuckle when I read something to the effect that what I say has impact on others. Last night, my aunt told me she really enjoyed reading these articles. I’m sure these two events are just a coincidence but in case my words do speak to some people, let me encourage each of you to treat every day as a day of thanksgiving. Be content every day. Don’t let the holiday season change that. The last thing you want is to create days in the future where you can’t be thankful.
There is a song in our church hymnal titled “Count Your Blessings”. Contained in the lyrics are the words, “Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.” May we keep those words in mind each day and live a life of thanksgiving, not just half a day.
Now if my team will just win today.
