Post 16--Thanksgiving 2014

Post 15 contains the promise that the next few posts will deal with the thorny issue of “evolution vs creation.”  I have every intention of carrying out that promise, except that at the time of writing I had a senior moment and forgot that Thanksgiving was just a few days ahead. So, a disruption, but not a broken promise. I do fully intend to continue with that earlier subject, but Thanksgiving is too important to pass over silently.

American readers, if you check out the date of this post, you will see it is too early for your Thanksgiving celebration, but this is a Canadian blog to which I invite you. Canadian Thanksgiving is held on the second Monday of October. 

I wonder if you, my American friends, notice anything different about this post. If I were an American, I would not even mention the Canadian version; just skip over it; not even be aware of it. That’s because you are so many that you tend not to notice the rest of the world, let alone a northern neighbour with less than one-tenth of your population. We may be slightly bigger geographically, but population wise we hardly count. So you blithely ignore our Thanksgiving version like so many other things. We Canadians, on the other hand, are all too conscious of the elephant south of us and can hardly avoid noticing all she does. So, like any good Canadian, I cannot help but alert you to the different dates for Thanksgiving; I simply cannot avoid it. We tend to think continentally; you,  nationally.  

But here I am, spending precious Thanksgiving time on a major cultural difference between our two nations. Sorry about that, but it had to get out! This leaves me with only a little space left for one thanksgiving thought.

Douglas Todd draws our attention to a number of recent books about thanksgiving and related attitudes like contentment, written by psychologists. These writers emphasize the effects of gratitude on our health and happiness. Todd points out that these studies show that grateful people “on average, have lower stress levels, lower blood pressure, more satisfying relationships, higher grades, smoke less, get in fewer arguments, feel a stronger sense of community and are more likely to donate money or volunteer their time.”

Though religious and spiritual people appear more inclined towards gratitude, even non-religious folk share it, which indicates that “the spirit of Thanksgiving is universal.”  That conclusion should not surprise us, for we are created to praise and thank God. That’s one of the fundamentals of life, inherent to us.  To the extent that this attitude diminishes amongst us or even disappears, to that extent life and culture become more harsh and brutal, not to say barbaric. 

So, it is no surprise that scientists have made this discovery, but a people that have their noggins straight have known this secret all along: Gratitude is one of life’s fundamentals. It should come natural to all of us. Happy thanksgiving—throughout the year.  To God, that is, the Creator and Giver of it all.

(Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, Oct. 11/2014, p. A3)