October 13th, 2026

Dear Friends,

“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (Romans 1:21) 

Our annual Thanksgiving holiday weekend is over. When we talk about it, we’ll talk of travel (perhaps) of food (most certainly) and gatherings with friends and family. I wonder if we’ll talk about the actual act of giving thanks, or if we even took time amidst the festivities to actually think about what we have to be thankful for?

I used to think that thanklessness was mainly the result of pride (the internal rationale that makes me think I actually deserve the “blessings” and may even have earned them by the sweat of my brow) and it may well be, according to Romans 1. However, I am now wondering if thanklessness may also result from neglect to nurture the expression of gratitude. This, in turn, may have resulted from a failure to really think about that for which I have reason to be thankful. Maybe my great problem (and, maybe, yours as well) is that I simply don’t pay attention and take the time to consider what God has done and is doing.

Most of us can come up with a list of things for which we are thankful when it is required of us. Those lists are pretty standard, aren’t they? Food, family, friends, shelter, work, health — these headings pretty much capture the big six thankfulness categories. And, indeed, we should be thankful for these things and not take them for granted.

However, I’d like to suggest that we might benefit from looking deeper into our lives and the world around us to find fodder for thanksgiving. For example, if you let nature actually teach you about the God whom it reveals, you might be thankful for a beautiful Fall that precedes the death cycle of winter. God makes everything beautiful in its time, including the dying process.

You might consider being thankful for your failures or inadequacies or your trials and challenges. These humbling experiences actually put us in a place (as long as we don’t resist them but accept them as from his hand) where we can learn more about him and the way he relates to us, comforts us, guides us, even sustains us. God loves us and he will go to extreme ends to purify us from the dross of self that mars and impedes our character development. He is a consuming fire and he will relentlessly burn away the wood, hay and stubble of our lives to enable us to produce lasting good work. It’s not something we’re likely to be thankful for at first blush, but if you consider it seriously, I’m confident that you’ll see what a blessing this kind of love is. This is love that prepares us for an eternity serving him.

So, on this day after Thanksgiving, I offer two exhortations: Give thanks in everything; give some thought to deeper things for which you can be thankful!

Blessings!

Doug