Today is a national American holiday that reminds us to give thanks to the God of the harvest.
Yet the season of Thanksgiving often turns into an occasion to express personal gratefulness at the expense of someone else.
What I’m wondering is whether it is possible to publicly give thanks to God in a way that does not add to the burden of those who believe that God has withheld from them what he has given to us?
Who can deny that one of the most difficult experiences of life may be to hear others thank God for what he has done for them, while wondering why he has not done the same for us?
On the other hand, is it possible to be truly grateful when our table is bare while the table of others is full?
Docked Crab Traps
The two sides I’m thinking about have to do with the personal implications of a national holiday that is both complicated and blessed by the fact that in this blog and conversation we sit together at a very large table– where the person sitting next to, or across from us, may be many nations and circumstances away.
PS Some of these same thoughts came to mind recently as I was absorbed in taking pictures of hundreds of crab traps stacked on boats and docks of a west coast marina. As I clicked away, a voice behind me said, “Look pretty sitting on the dock don’t they? Wish we could get them in the water.” I turned around to hear a professional fisherman tell me how crews like his had gone on strike because they could no longer afford the costs they were being charged by those above them in the food chain.
Obviously, I don’t know the whole story of their strike. But was struck by the fact that what looked like an interesting picture to me… was stirring up very different emotions in someone who saw a very different picture than I did.
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