Cultivating One’s Mind for Thanksgiving

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:4-5 NIV

What comes to your mind when you think about Thanksgiving Day? For many, it will be family gatherings, lots of food that you get only one day a year, and lots of laughter. Singer Amy Grant writes, “Thanksgiving Day is a good day to recommit our energies to giving thanks and just giving.”

Thanksgiving is rich in traditions spanning the generations, traditions beyond food and family to such things as football games and parades. The Detroit Lions have played continuously on Thanksgiving Day since 1934 except for five years during World War II. Naturally, Thanksgiving wouldn’t be complete if it didn’t include watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade which has been part of the celebrations since 1924. Now for the truly brave at heart, there is Black Friday to end the celebration. Black Friday allows those brave hearts, who venture out into the malls and shopping centers of America, to be part of an indescribable shopping frenzy.

Memories are embedded into our minds as we reflect upon Thanksgiving celebrations from the past. In these past Thanksgivings, we set aside time to remember the gifts of gratitude, love, and fellowship in our lives. Author Jonathan Safran Foer wrote, “Thanksgiving is the holiday that encompasses all others.”

The third stanza of Edgar Albert Guest’s poem, Thanksgiving reflects well on cultivating your mind for Thanksgiving. Guest has been called “the poet of the people” as his poems presented a deeply sentimental view of everyday life.

Bowed are our heads for a moment in prayer;

Oh, but we’re grateful an’ glad to be there.

Home from the east land an’ home from the west,

Home with the folks that are dearest an’ best.

Out of the sham of the cities afar

We’ve come for a time to be just what we are.

Here we can talk of ourselves an’ be frank,

Forgettin’ position an’ station an’ rank.

Cultivating One’s Mind for Thanksgiving looks beyond the superficial traditions. I enjoy the football games on TV and watch some of the Macy’s Day Parade but what counts is family, faith, and fellowship. Through the years we all have planted memories into our minds from the countless Thanksgiving meals as we gathered around tables, chairs scattered throughout the house or anywhere we could find a space to sit.

I never could relate to Charlie Brown’s quip, “I can’t cook a Thanksgiving dinner. All I can make is cold cereal and maybe toast.”  Growing up in Oklahoma, our little four-room home became Grand Central Station as family and occasionally a few strangers gathered. Whoever came found a place at the table to enjoy a feast that my Mother lovingly and skillfully prepared.

Cultivating One’s Mind for Thanksgiving looks for ways to express gratitude. However, to truly express gratitude it has to come from a mind that knows God as the ultimate giver of gifts. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)

John Milton wrote, “Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life.”  It is in this time of thanksgiving that we express gratitude, not only for what we have but for what we are becoming. We come to where we can “Taste and see that the LORD is good, blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” (Ps 34:8).

Cultivating One’s Mind for Thanksgiving needs to have a mind that is filled with the only One worthy of Thanksgiving. “The more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for.” (Norman Vincent Peale) As our minds become focused on God, we can then say “I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.” (Ps 63:5)

Centuries before the American version of Thanksgiving, David proclaimed a call to set aside time for a celebration of thanksgiving as the Ark was finally coming home to Jerusalem. “After David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD. Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each Israelite man and woman.” (I Chron 16:2-3 NIV)

David closed out the celebration with a prayer of praise, ending with the words, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Cry out, “Save us, God our Savior’ gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise.” Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the LORD.” (I Chron 16:34-36)

Cultivating one’s heart, soul, and mind for Thanksgiving Day can draw us closer to family, friends, and most importantly to God. Hopefully, as the days were marked off in November you have found sacred moments to reflect upon being thankful. “To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.” (Johannes Gaertner)

Happy Thanksgiving Day.

God is great!