Thanksgiving can’t arrive fast enough

For most of my adulthood, I appreciated Thanksgiving for a less-than-noble reason: Low stress.

Thanksgiving launches the “holiday season”—the jocular jubilee that commences on the fourth Thursday of November, builds across December to a crescendo at Christmas and then descends to its denouement on New Year’s Day.

Without a doubt, Christmas is the biggest, grandest holiday, at least for Christians. We celebrate the Savior’s birth. We get together with family and go to parties with friends. We attend special services at church. We decorate our homes and send out cards. We exchange gifts. But Christmas piles stress higher than cotton snowdrifts at a shopping-mall North Pole. You’ve got the logistics of herding all the family to the same place at the same time and feeding them, as well as orchestrating the parties, home decoration, card-sending and shopping. And then comes the pressure of shopping itself—finding the “just-right” gift for special people. “Black Friday” still is more than a week away, and I can sweat just thinking about it.

Beyond Christmas, New Year’s always seems overrated. Every morning marks the beginning of a new start. I’ve never really understood why folks need to place markers at the beginning of a year; just get on with it. On top of that, when our little family lived far from our extended family, we always started the year a bit blue, because the Christmas trips back home just reminded us how much we missed parents, siblings and other kin.

But I adored Thanksgiving because it was easy, not to mention fun. We always seemed to get four consecutive days off from work—long enough to unwind, but too short to drive 900 miles one way to see family. So, Joanna, the girls and I relaxed, ignoring the rising storm of Christmas expectations while we gathered with friends, watched football, played games and enjoyed each other’s company.

Years later, I still appreciate the low-key mirth and goodwill of Thanksgiving. But my motives have improved even as my fondness for Thanksgiving has grown. Now, I love Thanksgiving because I realize giving thanks is one of the very best things a person, especially a Christian, can do.

Expressing thanks—cultivating a spirit of gratitude—is good for your body, your attitude, your spirit, your soul. When he provided advice about prayer, the Apostle Paul admonished, “… in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Giving thanks opens our hearts to communicate with God and to reciprocate God’s love. It’s the door that opens our lives to God’s presence.

And ironically—or maybe consequently—we need God’s presence most at the times we’re inclined to be less-than-grateful. When we feel neglected, frustrated, disappointed, put-upon, overlooked and perturbed, taking the time to thank God for our blessings changes the way we see the world and our place in it.

This year, Thanksgiving couldn’t come quickly enough. The long and bitter political campaign season took its toll on the American psyche. Ferocious storm Sandy reminded us we live in a volatile and fragile ecosystem, balancing on precarious infrastructure. Stories of violence taunt us day by day. And we’re peering over a monumental fiscal cliff, wondering if our leaders possess the wisdom, courage and grace to prevent catastrophe.

So, we need to say thanks. I’m going to start my list, and you can write your own. On this November 2012, I thank God for:

• Saving my parents’ lives during their head-on car wreck July 4. Providing responsive emergency workers and miracle-working nurses and doctors, particularly those at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center, who put Mother back together.

• The privilege of living in a strong, durable democracy. Our political system is chaotic, frustrating and wasteful, but at least we the people have a voice in our government.

• Colleagues at Baptist Standard Publishing—board, staff and donors—full of “grace to risk something big for something good” as we build FaithVillage.com, transform the Baptist Standard and launch CommonCall magazine, ventures that will change lives and expand God’s kingdom.

• Family and friends who exceed my wildest dreams and far transcend anything I deserve.

• Clean water, healthy food and a safe home.

• The blessing of rising early, pulling on sneakers and running outdoors.

• Music, Tex-Mex, books, Southwestern sunsets, jokes, podcasts, solitude and dogs.

There. I feel better and hope you do. Happy Thanksgiving.

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard.