Sometimes it's hard to be thankful

“Gratitude should go forward, rather than backwards.” Bill W.

Thanksgiving is upon us. For what are we thankful?

I’m struggling to come up with an answer to that question this year. It seems events overseas and around the country have gotten so chaotic and violent, I just don’t know what to think, what to do, or how to respond.

I feel guilty anticipating holiday feasting, football, and family gatherings when all around us, wars rage across the pond, the homeless are dying in our neighborhoods, and the plagues of gun violence, drug addiction, and drug-resistant diseases are banging on our doors.

Jesus said these things will always afflict us. Nations will rise up against other nations. Pestilence will ravage the lands. Families will be torn apart – fathers against sons and sons against fathers; mothers against daughters and daughters against mothers. The earth will shake, the skies will darken, stars will fall.

Egotistical souls will insist we are living in the end times, but egotists have been saying that for thousands of years. We always feel we are in the worst times, simply because when times are bad, we assume no one has ever had it as hard as us.

“What fools these mortals be,” says Puck in a Shakespearean play. Jesus cautions us against calling anyone a fool, lest we subject ourselves to judgment. But I think Puck is right. I don’t mind calling people fools as long as I remember that I am describing the “we” and not the “thee.”

We are silly creatures, so I don’t mind starting off by acknowledging that I am sometimes a fool, yet I’m alive to tell about it. Life is serious, to be sure, but we need to be careful not to take ourselves too seriously. I’m thankful for that.

When I finished raking leaves in the front yard a few weeks ago, I did more. I drained the hoses, coiled them, and put them away (along with the sprinklers and nozzles). I covered the outdoor faucets with their foam insulating caps. Consequently, when I found hard frost upon the ground today, I could drink my morning coffee – with a smile – for I was ahead of the game (for once). My procrastinatory nature was overcome by a bout of industriousness; I’m thankful for that.

I usually wait until after Thanksgiving to put up my holiday decorations. OK, yes, my Christmas decorations; let’s be honest. While it has been chilly, the sun is shining and the rains are holding off (if one can believe the weather person on the television), so I may get them up a little early. I don’t do rooftop or eavestrough lights any more as I prefer to avoid such heights, but I can put out ground-level decorations at my leisure. I’ve got the health and energy to do what I can do. What’s more, I can do it with good cheer; I’m thankful for that.

I do like to keep up on news of what’s happening around the world and around this country, but I don’t obsess over it. I can’t control wars in far-off places, but I have neighbors with whom I get along reasonably well. We don’t fight. We don’t argue. We don’t endanger one another with our driving. The neighborhood dogs are either well-behaved or kept on their own properties. The deer don’t come through too often, but when they do, they leave their calling cards with the neighbors and not with us. The raccoons amble through on occasion, but they leave our trash bins alone (so far). I’m thankful for all that.

The fact is, I find complaining embarrassingly easy to do, but I’ve learned to take life one day at a time; I’ve learned to give thanks for what I have, and not to worry about what I may not have. I have far more than I need, so gratitude really ought to be on the tip of my tongue, rising up from the bottom of my heart – daily. It doesn’t always happen, but it does often enough, for which I am thankful.

What’s more, I am grateful for having an opportunity to regularly share a little bit of myself with you, my readers and publishers here in this, our valley. I am thankful for you, one and all!

Keith Axberg writes on matters concerning life and faith. Author of: Who the Blazes is Jesus? Good News for a Vulgar World (available through Amazon in Print and e-book)