Editorial: Is thanksgiving a distraction?

Are you already feeling the stress of the holidays? Or is it just the stress of living in a world on fire? Or is it both?

Could you use a distraction?

Thanksgiving would be the perfect thing, wouldn’t it?

That is, if you’re not the one doing all the cooking, cleaning and hosting. Thanksgiving also isn’t the perfect distraction if it’s a time of sorrow for you.

But that’s not the thanksgiving I mean. I’m not referring to the holiday, the parade, the turkey and the football. I’m also not referring to the people who are or aren’t there for the day.

I’m referring to giving thanks.

Is giving thanks a distraction from reality?

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Another way of asking that question is where does thanksgiving fit in a rough and tumble world?

During a time of so much conflict, suffering, instability and uncertainty, giving thanks may seem worse than a distraction. It may seem callous, privileged, almost immoral. What right do we have to be thankful? How can we give thanks for all we have when so many have so little?

I have a roof over my head, clothes on my back, shoes on my feet and more than enough food to eat. I have good transportation, running water, reliable electricity. I have money in the bank, health insurance and good doctors.

I have family and friends still living and who care for me. I have a mostly peaceful life. And I have much more besides.

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you have much of the same.

What does it mean to be thankful for having so much when so many in the world have so much less? Do we expect those with less to be as thankful as we are who have more? Could we be thankful if we had so much less, too?

If we take Paul at his word—“give thanks in all circumstances”—the question isn’t “can we,” but “will we?”

The same goes for love.

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Jesus elevated the command to love others as second only to loving God, the first and greatest command. “The second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’” Jesus said (Matthew 22:37-39).

Danish philosopher-theologian Søren Kierkegaard examined the command to love in his excellent book Works of Love. In his analysis, the command “you shall love” makes love a duty in obedience to God who issued the command.

He is also careful to distinguish the love commanded by God from worldly love. The love God commands is grounded in eternity and isn’t contingent on the circumstances and whims of life in this world.

When a person loves God and the neighbor in this way, the person is eternally free and secure. Furthermore, the person who loves this way is eternally guarded against despair.

If such love entails joining those who sorrow, Kierkegaard writes, “I do not have the right to become insensitive to life’s pain, because I shall sorrow; but neither do I have the right to despair, because I shall sorrow; and neither do I have the right to stop sorrowing, because I shall sorrow. So it is with love” (p. 43).

And so it is with thanksgiving.

This may seem like a giant leap, but both Kierkegaard and Paul connect God’s love and thanksgiving.

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In Paul’s instruction to “give thanks in all circumstances,” or “in everything give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:18), I see the same principle at play as Kierkegaard saw with love. With Paul, “you shall” is implied.

Returning to the question whether thanksgiving is a distraction from reality, I say, “No, it’s a proper response to reality.” It is not a distraction, but is a dutiful expressive of love in the midst of reality. It is a statement that nothing in this world or this life will dim my esteem for God’s love.

Thanksgiving as a duty is an expression of our love for God that isn’t contingent upon our circumstances in this world. It’s also not contingent on our ability to be or to feel thankful. This means giving thanks is our expression of love even when life is painful, even when we sorrow, even when we don’t want to be thankful or can’t see what there is to be thankful for.

But this sounds forced, hollow. Worse than a distraction, could this kind of “thanksgiving” be meaningless?

It could be meaningless if we give thanks only to appease our conscience or assuage guilt, or if it’s merely a mouthed prayer around the dinner table, or if it claims ownership by not acknowledging God is the source of all we have and that all we have is for God’s purpose, or if it isn’t followed with the acting out of love for our neighbor.

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Jesus told a story about a wealthy man giving his servants differing amounts of money. He didn’t give instructions, but he did have expectations for what happened with the money.

We may see ourselves as the servant given the least amount. No matter. We shall give thanks. Or we may recognize we were given more. No matter. We shall give thanks. And this doesn’t make our thanks pointless, if it points to the one and same giver of every good thing any of us have.

No matter our lot in life, let us not be distracted by thanksgiving, but let us prove our thanks to God through acts of love toward each other.

Yes, even in sorrow, even in want, even in the press and pull of life, let our thanks be our declaration that nothing will dim God’s love.

Eric Black is the executive director, publisher and editor of the Baptist Standard. He can be reached at eric.black@baptiststandard.com. The views expressed are those of the author.