From Where I Sit: Focus on the blessings this holiday

While the first Thanksgiving celebration might have been to give thanks for a bountiful harvest and religious in its origin, for most of us it has long become a day of family gatherings, overindulging at the dinner table, football games and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Very little time is spent pondering our many blessings of the past year.

On the first Thanksgiving Day, the Pilgrims, who had persevered through many months of hardship, sat at the table with the Indians whose home they now shared and gave thanks. I am sure some of them probably felt as many American do today that there wasn’t much to be thankful for. To put food on the table in this new land had come with personal sacrifices, for some even death a loved one, yet they gave thanks, and so should we.

As in the Pilgrims’ day, many American still face hardships. Many families have suffered and are still suffering as they endure job layoffs, home foreclosures and financially hard times. Some families are making sacrifices just to put food on the table. And some must look to others for a helping hand.

The fact that we can sit at a table and eat a bountiful meal on this day, whether it is in our own home, a friend or relative’s home or in a soup kitchen, is reason enough to give thanks.

Those with the fortune to have good health have an added reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving Day. Those who have loved ones within arm’s reach at the table are doubly blessed.

As I pause to reflect on my many blessing, the words of a beautiful hymn sung in the Methodist Church called “Hymn of Promise” comes to mind.

The song begins, “In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

“There’s a song in very silence, seeking word and melody;
There’s a day in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future; what it holds a mystery.
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.”

The song is a reminder that God has a plan for every thing and every one, and in its own time or season it will be revealed.

This may not be the best year for many people in this country, but in a nation that was built on hope and freedom there is always something to be thankful for even if it is only for the promise of something better to come.

From winter comes spring; from despair comes hope. From where I sit, I’m praying that each of you has a safe and blessed Thanksgiving Day with even more blessings for the coming year.

Happy Thanksgiving!