For my American readers you are probably thinking, this is a little early. It’s kind of like seeing that first Christmas ad just after Halloween. Let me assure you, I am not trying to be the first to get your attention about Thanksgiving. In Canada we celebrate turkey day earlier than our friends south of the border. The reason is actually quite simple, we have a shorter growing season, so harvest is earlier leading to us being thankful before our American neighbours. I tell you this in case the American president decides to suggest that their northern neighbors (notice the two spellings purposely placed in this blog) are not playing fair by being first to celebrate Thanksgiving leading to some sort of cranberry tariff…

Now that all that is out of the way…

…it’s time to be thankful. Let me take that back, it’s always time to be thankful but we take it to a new level on Thanksgiving. We are thankful that we didn’t explode due to the overindulging that takes place at the dinner table. We are thankful that weird Uncle Bob didn’t show up. We are thankful that Aunt Sally’s 2026 New Year’s resolution was to stop drinking and she kept it at least through the Thanksgiving weekend.  We are thankful that politics only came up in conversation once and we were able to slip out of the room before the fireworks. We are thankful that the turkey and the fixings were finished cooking around the same time, not like last year when you had to go vegetarian because the turkey was still partly frozen when it came time to eat. There are so many other mishaps and crises that did not happen this Thanksgiving but there’s always Christmas!

I hate Thanksgiving.

It’s not the holiday but rather the expectation that I have something to be thankful about. Okay, that’s not quite what I meant but I hope it shows the pain that many people feel. There seems to be a demand to be thankful. It is tradition at some houses to verbalize to those gathered at the feast what you are thankful for. Even if you don’t have to say it out loud, there is an implied state of being on a holiday called Thanksgiving. What if I can’t find something to be thankful about?

I am sure some are thinking…

… there’s always something to be thankful about. While true, for some this has not been a year that has produced a lot of experiences that cause one to be thankful. Sickness and death have visited some of you. Loss of income or housing has hurt others. A troubled child or a struggling relative have been all some can think of. Maybe you, like me, have seen your world changed by personal disability or illness. Others might simply be in a not so good place in their marriage, family, job or life. It is possible I have missed your challenge this year or even worse, you look at this list and say all of the above and more.

I’m not going to tell you to look harder.

 I’m not going to say there is always something to be thankful for. I do believe there are things, no matter how little, to be thankful for in every life however, when life throws the big stuff at us, we are often overrun. To insult people with, “look for the good things,” is not my style. That being said I am going to ask you to look at one thing that you can be thankful for. Yes, I know this seems to contradict what I said before but bear with me. The Bible says “… give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV). It would be arrogant and sinful for me to contradict the Bible but still I want to suggest that we are not called to be thankful for every situation. As a matter of fact, I am not sure that we are called to look for things to be thankful for all the time. We do however have one thing we can be thankful for no matter what. When we can’t bring ourselves to look on the bright side and be thankful, we can be thankful that God’s love does not hinge on our ability to remain thankful but rather is offered freely and not removed when we cannot bring ourselves to see the good in anything that is happening.

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV)