Being Thankful

We’ve been taught since we were old enough to talk, the importance of saying “thank you.” We teach our children from the time they could put a crayon to paper, the importance of a thank you note. There are times when saying or writing “thanks”, although important, isn’t enough. Being thankful by “doing” thanks is needed and essential. Let thanks be always on our lips and, more importantly, in our deeds. Being thankful by doing thanks is the best way of giving thanks.

We can say thanks to those who help us, and we can also pay it forward by helping others. If we have good health, we can use that health to help someone who has failing health. If we are good with children, we can offer to babysit for a frazzled parent or coach a youth sports team. If we are blessed with a little extra time, we can welcome home our returning military at the airport and thank them for their service. If we have a good education, we can tutor a struggling student. If we have life experiences that we learned the hard way, we can share those experiences with others to help them on their paths. 

Are we looking for blessings to come into our life or are we looking to be a blessing in someone else's life? Nelson Mandela noted: “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” The concept of ‘Pay it Forward’ embodies the principle - be a blessing. It is responding to a person's kindness by being kind to someone else. Paying it forward and being blessings are forms of doing thanks. We control the choice to be a blessing to those we meet and be someone else's aide, support, encouragement, luck or godsend. CS Lewis said, “Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.” Remember the question is not “who is my neighbor?” but “who can I be neighbor to?”

Doing Thanks and Being a Blessing can be as simple as showing Gratitude. Gratitude is not a feeling or an act; it needs to be a virtue and an attitude. It is a thankfulness for what we “have” as opposed to looking at what we “don’t have?” God gave us what we need to live the life He has in mind for us. Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough. It can turn chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. 

Giving thanks is not only good, polite and a thoughtful gesture; giving thanks is necessary. We begin Mass by saying “It is right and just” to give God thanks. The priest continues by saying: “It is our duty and salvation always and everywhere to give you thanks.” Our duty and our salvation! We proclaim this every week, but do we mean it?

Gratitude is a driving force for a life of service. Let me serve God by serving others; let me give what I have received.  If we are thankful for what God has given us and for the blessings in our lives, we leave behind being wantful and become powerful.

Let’s not allow Thanksgiving to be a once-a-year event but rather the beginning or refreshing of a daily ritual to be aware of who God made us to be and His gifts we were given. Thanksgiving is intentional, not accidental. Establish a deliberate set of thoughts and actions to recognize our gifts. He gave us our gifts to be used inside of His unique plan for our lives. Start recognizing the gifts we have been given and the meaning for them. Maybe to us it’s not a glamorous job, but to Him it is everything. This season of Thanksgiving is an appropriate time to reflect on our lives as people of faith, and ask ourselves, “What are the ways in which we can be thankful?” Not only by giving and saying thanks, but in living out what we believe as Christians.