ThanksLiving

Imagine my chagrin. In my high school days (oh my – that was over 70 years ago!) I thought I invented a word.

Our English class assignment was to write an essay suitable for the holiday season. There are lots of things I don’t remember from those days, but I do remember spending a lot of time wondering what I could write that would be different from the usual turkey banquet and jingle bells themes.

It took awhile before mental light bulbs clicked on. Finally, since the essay was due the Monday before Thanksgiving Day, I coined a play on the word and titled my assignment

“ThanksLiving.” I thought I was so clever.

I do not remember what I wrote. But I do remember how I felt when I discovered that the Oxford English Dictionary reported the first use of the noun occurred 75 years earlier, in the writings of Charles Spurgeon, Baptist preacher.

Being cocky and a sometimes-smart aleck, I justified my plagiarism by relying on the dictionary’s further note that there are “fewer than 0.01 occurrences per million words in modern written English.”

Which is to observe that given the nature of these times, as we move toward the holidays, we are well counseled to up the number of occurrences of “thanksliving”–in word and deed.

Author Julie Kierns has a prayer journal titled “Everyday Prayers for ThanksLiving.” She acknowledges that “When my focus is broad, looking at culture, elections, viruses, or educational choices, I don’t find much joy. In fact, it looks a lot like every ounce of joy has been sucked out of the world when I look at it from that level. But if I narrow my gaze a bit, and start looking a little closer to home …I can see much to be thankful for.

• Healthy children and glorious fall leaves
• Enough money to pay the bills
• Boys who still want to hug me at 13 and 15
• A husband who helps take care of our home
• An oldest boy who leads his baseball team in prayer before every game
• A youngest who reminds me to pray for him every night before bed
• Prescription sunglasses

• A rescued kitten we never thought we’d want
• A nephew who got his first college football offer last weekend.”

A quick scan on Google, offers many “recipes” for how to thanks-live in these days, and suggests what gratitude can do for–or to–us!

Even AI (Artificial Intelligence) gets into the act with this advice:

“Thanksliving is a lifestyle of gratitude that involves practicing gratitude every day, not just once a year. It’s a way of life that can help people be more resilient, happier, and less stressed. Here are some ideas for how to practice Thanksliving:

• Find joy in everyday moments: Look for joy in things like a cool breeze, a warm comforter, or a strong internet connection.
• Make gratitude a daily practice: Practice gratitude every day, not just around Thanksgiving.
• Find value in everyday experiences: Appreciate the value of every experience, no matter how ordinary.
• Find gratitude in routine: Find gratitude in the beauty of your daily routine and the quiet moments that bring you peace.

“Some say that thanksliving can help people navigate the complexities of modern life. It can also help people boost their resilience and make it easier to handle life’s challenges. “

Other word-explorers and commentators put it more simply as “thanksLIVING is a lifestyle of thanksgiving that goes beyond one month of the year to the everyday moments of life….”

Scott McKain advises that thanksliving “is more than just a …way of life that can help us navigate the complexities of our modern world…. (It can) open ourselves to a deeper appreciation of life’s simple pleasures, the resilience to face its challenges, and the ability to find joy and meaning in every moment.”

At the age when I thought I invented the word “thanksliving” I was growing up in a conservative evangelical church. While I am no longer a fan of such terms as “hath” and “thee” I remember the 1897 hymn “Count Your Blessings.” These snippets of the text by Johnson Oatman, Jr. underscore the themes for this Thanksgiving Day reflection:

“When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost …

amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all…

Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done..”

Another writer who comments about this hymn, refers us to Philippians 4:6-7:

“ ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds …”

On this 2024 Thanksgiving Day, as crudeness, rudeness, incivility and fears sweep around us and threaten to bury gratitude, we need to be diligent and deliberate in keeping alive the practice of giving thanks.

I have a personal mantra for these nervous times. Perhaps you, dear readers, might care to join me. Here it is:

THANKS-LIVING: make it great again!!

For Reflection (either individually or with a group)
Read the blog. Read it a second time, maybe reading it aloud or asking someone else to read it aloud so you can hear it with different intonation and emphases. Invite the Divine to open your heart to allow the light of new understanding to pierce the shadows of embedded assumptions, stereotypes, and ways of thinking so that you may live more abundantly. Then spend some time with the following questions together with anything or anyone who helps you reflect more deeply.

• If you were asked to define ThanksLiving. What would you say?
• What prevents you from practicing gratitude every day?
• What actions can you take—maybe even this year with others when gathering for Thanksgiving—to use the intentions of ThanksLiving to support others to have more resilience to face life’s daily challenges?

Download a pdf including the Reflection Questions to share and discuss with friends, family, or members of your faith community small group.