By Jonathan Keller
Thanks for nothing!”
Thanksgiving conjures up thoughts of changing leaves and stuffed turkeys, and we strive to drum up some warm sense of gratitude to express at the table in the spirit of the holiday. In conflicts, though, how easily can we weaponize thanks to tear down someone?
“Mhm, sure. Thanks!”
Or, when the toils of work and home clog up our minds, how easily do we empty our thanks of all gratitude?
Last week, we waded into the idea of thanksgiving toward God as the provider of everything and toward other people as they reflect God’s provision in many small ways. But how easy is it for our hearts to search for every motive besides genuine thankfulness to drive our thanks-giving? A veneer of social etiquette drags out thanks to keep the peace. What happens when that thankfulness becomes almost required in a world of rising prices and tips requested to subsidize said increases? Will our façade hold up, or will the drudgery of modern life win over our gratitude?
A Heart of Thanksgiving
Our motive for thanksgiving is simple (thankfully): look with your eyes and see that what someone has done or given is a gift!
Someone bought a gift card for you. How cheap! Or is it? They had to think of you, think of the idea of gift card as somehow relevant for you, go to whichever merchant to purchase the card, and deliver the card to you in some form. Even if their relationship to you is only cordial, a simple gift card shows their intention toward you. They gifted both their money and their thoughts toward you for a brief time, and that ought not be taken for granted. In a world with many cares, they chose you out of many “deserving” people for a few moments. Kindness ought to pervade our society, yet kindness toward an individual is always a gift.
Forming a Heart of Thanksgiving
Ought we wait for our hearts to see the gift as a gift? Should we only thank when we see rightly the grace before us? No!
Your thanks-giving, as we discussed previously, is part of the ongoing dance of relationships. Your gift of thanks keeps the flow of intention going, but it also stares back at you, saying, “Look at their gift! Look and see the bow! Look and see their care!”