Sharing in Thanksgiving

Dear Friends,

We have now come to November. This is the month of Thanksgiving, our most distinctively American holiday, as well as one of our most beloved celebrations. This day goes back to our Pilgrim forebears, who set aside a time after the harvest to thank God for His abundant blessings, and to enjoy the bounty of their new land.

I think one of the main reasons why this holiday resonates with us is that it is based on the virtues of thankfulness and generosity.

Throughout the Bible, God tells us to remember our many blessings, and to give thanks for all that He has graciously given us. The only specific command in the Jewish Law to pray is found in Deuteronomy 8:10, where God tells us to “eat your fill and bless the LORD your God for the good land that He has given you.” The Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot, with its emphasis on rejoicing in God’s abundant provision, was the inspiration for the Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving. When we express gratitude to God and to one another, we are lifted out of our temptation to focus only on ourselves, and to see the higher purpose of life – to love and serve God, and to live our lives in loving service to others.

This brings us to the virtue of giving. One of the central aspects of Sukkot was the command to make sure that those in need were to be given food and gifts so that they too could celebrate the harvest. Thanksgiving is a time when we are called to remember the hungry and to provide for them, and also to remind us to be generous with the abundance God has given us. I believe that we are called to have a generosity of spirit; a willingness to share our blessings with others; a mindset that seeks to encourage the healing of our world by daily acts of lovingkindness. Thanksgiving calls us to live not just for our own comfort, but with the awareness of the needs around us, and to be generous in sharing the blessings that God has entrusted to us for the common good. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we lived by these values throughout the year?

Rev. John Peters, rector