RD’s Thanksgiving Letter

Dear St. Georges,

I was walking Matthew to school one morning this past week when he asked me, “Daddy, why do we celebrate Thanksgiving. I know why we celebrate Christmas and Easter, but why Thanksgiving.”

I realized that Matthew is the 2nd generation in our family to be raised off the farm. My father was raised on a farm and I was raised in King Township, surrounded by fields and farms. Life on a farm reminds us daily that God is our provider. We rely on his goodness to care for the seeds in the ground and the cattle in the field, to bring favourable weather and to grant us the strength to harvest. We plant the seed and pray.

Life in the suburbs fosters the delusion of sanitized self-sufficiency. I go to work, I make money, I go to the grocery store where I purchase food that bears little or no resemblance to its original state. I’m even perturbed when my grocery store doesn’t carry my chosen brand of pickles.

So, I explained to my little suburbanized boy, “Matthew, Thanksgiving is celebrated in the fall because that is when the fields are harvested. We take a day to give thanks to God for his provision; for his tender and practical care.” Matthew thought about it for a moment and said, “Oh. O.K.” Then he ran off to join in a game of basketball.

I turned around to walk home and carry on with my workday. Walking home I began to wonder what my life would look like if I truly believed that everything I have comes from my loving heavenly Father. I suppose I would be more thankful. That thankfulness would displace any sense of entitlement. I would probably worry less and trust more.

James wrote to Christians spread throughout the Roman Empire reminding them,

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” James 1:16-18 ESV

Every good thing comes from our good God whose goodness never changes. But to what end?

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:19-22 ESV

When we truly understand the goodness of God we become good listeners, gracious, slow to anger and meek. Our thankfulness results in joyful obedience to God’s word. Here’s how the logic goes: If God is good, if his goodness is inclined towards me, giving me good things, then I find myself truly thankful and I want to follow His word.

You can’t be truly thankful until you see God as your provider. As long as you are a ‘self-made’ man or woman you will never find the joys of thanksgiving. Take time this weekend to recognize the goodness of the Lord; look to him as your provider and your sustainer. He has graced you with another breath, with food to eat, and the joy of friends and family.

Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving? Because “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.”

Happy Thanksgiving. 

Ray David Glenn