America's Future
Thanksgiving is a day set aside to show appreciation for the blessings we have received, but gratitude doesn't always come easily.
by F.R. DuplantierIt can be difficult to be grateful to someone who offers what is good for us when what is good for us is not what we want. Often we are grateful for the wrong things, the things that spoil us instead of the things that make us strong. As children we may appreciate the teacher who forgoes homework assignments, the parent who slips us cash without demanding any labor in return, and the aunt who plies us with candy. As ignorant, penniless adults with mouths full of cavities, we may take the longer view.
Making a list of the gifts we have received can be a good way to develop our sense of gratitude and to sharpen our ability to recognize the hidden benefits in things that have not come gift-wrapped. We might begin our survey by listing those things that we recognize immediately as gifts: the presents we receive for birthdays, the year-end bonuses, the winning lottery tickets. Then we might list those things we take for granted but would recognize as gifts if we thought about it: our health, our talents, the perfect weather for last weekend's picnic. Next, a list of rights, which, if we're honest, we will concede are not rights at all but privileges or gifts: life, liberty, property.
Last, we might list those burdens that -- if we think long and hard enough -- will be seen to provide some unexpected benefits and to constitute blessings in disguise: those long commutes that allow us time to plan and to reflect, the financial reverses that force us to draw closer to our families in a common struggle, the personal calamities that plumb the depth of our character.
Having prepared a comprehensive list of gifts received -- one that includes not only the obvious gifts, but also the ones we take for granted, the ones we think of as being rightfully ours, and even the ones we are accustomed to think of as burdens -- it remains only to determine the source of all these gifts and to select an appropriate response for communicating our appreciation. We will find that, just as the majority of our gifts have not come wrapped, so too have they arrived without labels identifying the giver. And yet, those of us who are not determined to be dense will readily acknowledge Who is the source, direct or indirect, of all gifts.
But how will we show appreciation to Him? The best way is by putting the gifts He has given us to good use. The familiar parable of the talents suggests that it is not enough to reach the end of our journey merely with the gifts He has given us intact. We are meant to develop our aptitudes, invest our graces wisely, make the most of our opportunities, and overcome the obstacles that confront us. That's what Thanksgiving is all about.
America's Future