Thanksgiving was made an official national holiday by presidential proclamation.  I commend this action taken long ago.  I think it is still a good idea, even if you are not Christian but of some other faith or of no faith at all.  Everyone needs to be thankful sometimes.  Why?

Well, there is a fundamental recognition that when we give thanks we are admitting that we have been the recipient of something from someone else.  We ourselves are not always in control of our lives, nor are we always the most competent about everything.  When we give thanks to someone, even to God, we are saying that we are not the center of the universe; we take our place in it and benefit from it.

Of course, I like to posit that there is a God and that He is the center of the universe.  I like to admit that I am who and what I am by virtue of his grace and goodness.  My continued life and involvement depend largely on HIm and on His desires for my life.  Somehow, when you affirm that God is God, other things fall into place.  I happen to think that this is the first and most foundational truth in all of history.  Certainly scripture proclaims it--from beginning to end.  The Ten Commandments make this the number one commandment:  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.  Psalm 100 proclaims it:  "Know ye that the Lord, He is God; it is He that hath made us and not we ourselves."

There.  And I haven't said anything yet about turkey and dressing and football.  Those are really just sidelights and not the most important parts of Thanksgiving Day.  We as a people have largely lost the importance of giving thanks and of living thankful lives.   We have so much which we take for granted that we have lost that perspective of gratitude which characterized some of our forebears.  How can we change this? How about this:  On Thursday, when the dinner is ready, turn off the TV.  You don't have to watch every down, every play.  As the family gathers together, have a time of sharing those things and persons for which you are thankful.   Encourage everyone to share, even the children out in the kitchen eating at the kitchen table.  Bring them in with the adults and let them share as well.  You may discover that you have been missing a blessing by not being more conscious of being thankful on a daily basis.

Turn every day into a day of Thanksgiving.  That would be a wonderful result of giving serious attention to the holiday season that gets squeezed out between Halloween and Christmas. Thanksgiving has its place.  Let it have its place in your life.