Why We Should Give Thanks Everyday

By Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher, The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint

As so many of us in this country pause to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, it seems like a good time to remind all of us that every day should be a day for giving thanks.

We should consider how blessed we are as a nation and as a people. While so many of us struggle with such issues as racism, poverty, sickness, and homes and homelessness, we are still blessed. This is important, in spite of whatever problems we might be facing individually or as a society.

We waste enough food each year to feed 25 percent of the world’s hungry people; we have running water; assistance with homelessness and sickness, yet rarely do most of us pause to say, “Thank You” to the God that makes it all possible. We have had more people die from Covid 19 this year, with the vaccine available than all of the year 2020 without the vaccine. We see injustice at every turn as innocents are murdered and killers rewarded and praised for their conduct. In the midst of all this, let us not focus on the problems, but thank God for the solutions he has placed before us.

Let’s be thankful that we still have choices no matter the circumstances. We can choose not to give up. We can choose how we respond to each crisis facing us individually and collectively. We can remember that for evil to succeed, all good has to do is nothing.

The writer of the book of Hebrews in the 12th Chapter reminds us: “Wherefore we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, (speaking of those who have come before us) let us lay aside every weight and sin which so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

We have an obligation to make things better for those who come after us, in spite of the obstacles others may put in our path. Our race, be it personal or as a part of the oppressed collective, is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. Let us give thanks that it is a marathon because that means that our end is not determined by those seeking to stop or block us. We determine how far we go by the commitments we make to self and others.

Yes, let’s make every day a day of Thanksgiving and not be distracted by the food and holiday festivities when there remains so much to be done.