Giving Thanks

Every year proclamations of "Happy Turkey Day" are met with rejoinders to remember the real meaning of thanksgiving. The celebration is supposed to be about being grateful, and not about football (Go Cowboys), big meals or shopping. Sometimes it seems that the expositions on the genuine reasons for the holiday are just as contrived as what they are rallying against. Their purpose is understandable but I fear that their redundancy sometimes results in them being tuned out. Does anyone really think that they are going to convince an adult to be grateful instead of glutinous by recounting the stories of Presidential Proclamations?

However, this season, I considered another meaning behind the admonition to "give thanks." After all, we tend to think of it as another way of saying "be grateful", but what if instead, we tried to be the reason that others gave thanks. In other words, instead of giving thanks for what we have, what if we, through our actions, bestowed thankfulness to others; if our actions reflected God's goodness and caused others to express gratitude to Him? Would that also not be commensurate with the purpose of the celebration?

I think it is. And I hope that this holiday season I'll find ways to give thanks.