I went to a church for a time, that whenever they had communion, once a month or so, they would say together this thing called the Great Thanksgiving. I never remember how it goes, but there’s this one part I really like, that says “it is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to God.” And this is a deep truth for me and us to try to let seep into our bones. “It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to God.” Not just at Thanksgiving, not just in November, not just when we’re feeling especially blessed, but always and everywhere “It is right, and a good and joyful thing, to give thanks to God.” If I’m being honest, I don’t always see things that way…
It is a posture of prayer, to look to God in thanksgiving. It is one of the primary ways we ought to turn to God. Often times we look to God in prayer with our requests, as we should. But as we mature in the faith, our posture of prayer will turn also and often to God in thanksgiving until we may, as the Apostle Paul says, “give thanks in all circumstances.” There’s a reason that churches choose to, every week, sing that old song that goes “Praise God from who all blessings flow…” It’s the perfect remembrance that all blessings come from God. That “it is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to God.” May it be so for us, this thanksgiving season, and each season of life.