Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving

 

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, it seems only fitting that this post be dedicated to the holiday. As Christians the act of thanksgiving, or giving thanks, is essential in our relationship with God. Just the very definition of the word implies that the Universal Giver is on the receiving end of the thanksgiving. Something that may not be well-known to Christians is that this holiday was actually established in the United States as a Christian holiday. This post will, hopefully, do two things: Explain the history of the Thanksgiving holiday, and explain the importance of giving thanks in the Christian life.

The History of Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.

Most of us who grew up in the United States learned that the first Thanksgiving was between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans. Although there was a feast between these two peoples, it is poorly documented and not very relevant to the Thanksgiving we have today (sorry to ruin your childhood). In fact, days of thanksgiving were common among Christians and were usually accompanied with days of fasting. Whenever a calamity or tribulation would occur, the Christians would fast, and when deliverance would come, they would celebrate with a feast of Thanksgiving.

The first nationally recognized day of Thanksgiving was instituted by the first President, George Washington. In 1789, Representative Elias Boudinot wanted to establish a national day of thanksgiving. He told Washington:

[I] could not think of letting the session pass over without offering an opportunity to all citizens of the United States of joining with one voice, in returning to Almighty God their sincere thanks for the many blessings he had poured down upon them.

President Washington agreed and established November 26, 1789 as a day of nationwide celebration for Thanksgiving and “as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God” (source). Later on this day was celebrated by many states at different times, and it wasn’t until President Abraham Lincoln’s time that it became an official holiday celebrated on the same day for all states (in an effort to unite the North and South) on the last Thursday of November. Later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 moved it to the fourth Thursday of November for the purpose of giving merchants more time to sell goods before the Christmas holiday.

Therefore, it can be seen that at its origin, days of thanksgiving are a Christian custom, and the national Thanksgiving Day here in the U.S. was originally established as a day when Americans would unite to give thanks to God.

The Importance of Christian Thanksgiving

It is undeniable that thanksgiving to God is an important concept to Christians. In the Old Testament, Leviticus 7:12-15 describes how the Jews used to offer a thanksgiving offering in the temple. Not only that, but all throughout the psalms, there are many instances of giving thanks, one example of which is Psalm 92 (91 LXX). In the New Testament, there are also a multitude of examples of giving thanks to God, but suffice it to say that St. Paul starts every one of his letters (except Hebrews) with some sort of thanksgiving to God. An example is Romans 1:8.

In the Coptic Orthodox Church as well, we start every prayer with “The Prayer of Thanksgiving” (chanted, with lyrics). In the Coptic tradition as well, if it is a leap year, the leap day is dedicated as a day of Thanksgiving to God. Other than this, the underlying emotion or feeling in most Christian feasts, hymns, praises, prayers, etc. is a feeling of thankfulness. For example, on Easter, we are thankful that Christ rose from the dead for us, conquering death and giving us life and hope. The truth of the matter is, every Christian activity must be accompanied with thankfulness to God.

As our liturgy says, “We thank God for everything, concerning everything, and in everything.”

In the Coptic tradition, the congregants, whenever giving thanks perform a hand movement that some may not know the meaning to. Most Copts will know what I’m talking about, but for the non-Copts, I will try to explain (forgive me if I fail). The Copts, when saying the word thanks, will make a hand gesture sort of like this and kiss their hands, then they will flip their hands so that their pointer fingers are parallel and touching and kiss the back of their hands. This gesture is supposed to symbolize the words quoted from the liturgy in the paragraph above. The first gesture symbolizes that we thank God for what he has given us. That’s why the hands look like they’re waiting for something to be put in them. The second gesture is supposed to symbolize giving thanks to God for the things he has kept away from us or prevented us from. That is why we kiss the back of the hands, as if we are telling something or someone to keep away from us. The reason I went through the trouble of attempting to explain this little ritual is that in it we can see the true Christian faith. We can see that the Christian accepts everything God gives him/her with thankfulness and everything that God hasn’t given him/her with thankfulness. The thankful Christian is one that understands that everything God does is for the Christian’s benefit whether it be trials or triumphs, curses or blessings, persecution or praise.

Therefore, having said all this, let us celebrate Thanksgiving Day the Christian way. When we see all the delectable food and our family, friends, and loved ones gathered around the table with us, let us recognize these blessings from God and always be thankful for everything he has given us and kept away from us.

Why “Love & Knowledge”?

For the inaugural blog post, I decided to answer the obvious question of why I chose the name of this blog to be “Love & Knowledge.” Most people know of the famous verse, “knowledge puffs up, but love edifies” (1 Corinthians 8:1). So doesn’t that mean that there’s a contradiction? Is there no room for knowledge in the life of a Christian?

Of course not. In fact, the prophet Hosea shows us that God rejected his people because of a lack of knowledge! (Hosea 4:6 ) So how are we supposed to make sense of this verse?

St. Augustine comments on this verse and says, “Paul means that knowledge only does good in company with love. Otherwise it merely puffs a man into pride.” (City of God, 9.20)

If all we have is knowledge about our faith, but have no love, we are, according to St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:2, NOTHING.

That’s the point of this blog.

One of the jobs of the Christian is to be an ambassador of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). We must promote the truth of the Gospel as much as we can. In order to do that we must be well-equipped and “ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15). But we have to do this with Love. Love is the only way.

When St. Paul tells us to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15), he means that we must portray the truth only in a loving manner. Some people think that we should deliver the truth by any means necessary. In my experience, this can be more damaging than fruitful. We may have seen Christians lose sight of themselves in the middle of a heated debate or get defensive when someone asks a question. Many, myself included, react in negative ways that deter a person rather than helps them. You can be saying the truth, but if it comes off the wrong way, people won’t listen. People pay more attention to how you say something rather than what you’re actually saying. That’s why love comes first in the title of the blog. It’s the formula for success. When talking to anyone, you must present love first, and only after a relationship is established, should you bring in the knowledge.

So now, the question is: how do we do this with love?

The love that I’m talking about can only be felt by a Christian. You must first understand the importance of your faith. Once the mind begins to comprehend what we actually gain by being a follower of Christ, only then can you begin to understand how to preach with love. A Christian who understands that knows that without Christ, we are doomed. We have no hope in anything of this world. As a result of this deeply held belief, we sometimes cringe when we see non-Christians, or even fellow Christians, hope in things other than Christ.

Take the classic example of the Allegory of the Cave by Plato. When you watch the linked video, you see that the person who “sees the light” tries desperately to convince his former prisoners of the outside world. In some versions of this allegory, the prisoners in the cave violently resist him and accuse him of being crazy when he tries to tell them about the outside world. Plato used this allegory to explain how hard it is to teach philosophy to the laymen. Imagine how hard it must be for the Christian! That’s why love is important. Only when a person trusts and respects you will they be able to understand this “crazy” religion we bring to them. To someone who only sees shadows, anything else seems like illusory. However, to someone who has seen the outside world, it is our duty to inform them on what they are missing out on.

This is the struggle of the Christian. We try so desperately to portray something that we have experienced to someone who has not had the same experience and can’t relate. It’s a tough task, and there will be other blog posts to talk about methods of doing this. But suffice it to say that without love and knowledge, it cannot be done.