Thanksgiving 2005

Thanksgiving is, without a doubt, my favorite holiday. Free of the overheated commercialism of Christmas, of the lack of spirituality of the other national holidays, and of the misunderstood theology of Easter, it is a holiday of simplicity, a true day of rest and family. There is something blessed about a day of thanks. The one day of the year when we pause, set aside the things we want to have, and take stock in the things we do have.

Thanksgiving's joy is that it is the holiday of Now. In giving thanks we have to ignore what could have been or should have been, and put off thinking about what could be. What counts is what we have. We cannot give thanks for things we do not have yet or things we could have had if things had been different. We also cannot feel thankful for things we have lost.
So today, those of us who take this holiday seriously dismiss all of our hopes and regrets and look at today. Today, when you think about it, is the only thing we really have. Or, as C.S. Lewis once put it,  the light of eternity only illuminates the present moment. We have no awareness other than our sensations now, we have no thoughts other than our present thinking, we have no emotions other than or feelings now.

Living in the moment is one of the fullest and most transforming of virtues. In giving thanks, we live in the moment, and see ourselves as we really are. By making the effort to be thankful about it, we look for the good in what we have. Self-examination is never bad. But self-appreciation, when salted with an appropriate sense of humility, is an expression of grace.

I do not know of another holiday that gives us a similar opportunity to do so much.

Comments

[Moof]

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"We have no awareness other than our sensations now, we have no thoughts other than our present thinking, we have no emotions other than or feelings now.

Living in the moment is one of the fullest and most transforming of virtues. In giving thanks, we live in the moment, and see ourselves as we really are. By making the effort to be thankful about it, we look for the good in what we have. Self-examination is never bad. But self-appreciation, when salted with an appropriate sense of humility, is an expression of grace."

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I was recently correspoding with a fellow blogger about "living in the moment." He was extolling the virtues of a book he'd read, and which must have had some sort of transforming influence on him - it was called "Living in the Now," and was written by Eckhart Tolle. Interestingly, the fellow I was communicating with had also been educated by Jesuits. I have yet to acquire and read the book, but intend to do so.

You wrote: "By making the effort to be thankful about it, we look for the good in what we have." ... and I was wondering if you could please clarify what "it" refers to in that sentence. Are you referring to what we have, or to living in the moment, or something else?

You have an excellent blog. I've read the first two months of posts, am going to blogroll you, and come back to read the rest.

Keep up the great work!

[Michael Hebert]

I can see that the anticedent of "it" is not entirely clear. I was referring to "what we have."

Thanks for your comments.