A Thanksgiving Reflection

In the 2006 movie Talladega Nights, a racecar driver named Ricky Bobby prays with his family at the dinner table: “Dear Lord Baby Jesus…We thank you so much for this bountiful harvest of Dominos, KFC, and the always delicious Taco Bell. I just want to take time to say thank you for my family: my two beautiful, beautiful, handsome striking sons, Walker and Texas Ranger, or TR as we call him. And, of course, my red hot smokin’ wife…”  Despite the silliness of this prayer, there is something about it that rings true.  The character addresses God in very a personal way.  The things for which he is giving thanks may look tasteless.  But they are what he values and loves.

Now picture the quintessential American Thanksgiving dinner.   A dining room filled with  colonial furniture.  A table that could have been decorated by Martha Stewart. Well dressed aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents sipping from wine glasses. Before they start eating, someone suggests that they offer a prayer.  The room is filled with an uncomfortable silence.  They know they should be thankful for all that they have, but like most of us they take their fortunes for granted.  Waves of white middle-class guilt wash over them.  Finally, one brave person clears his throat. He offers thanks for food, for friends and family, for health and wealth and times of peace. And everyone responds with a hearty “Amen.”

This classic American Thanksgiving prayer and the prayer of Ricky Bobby are eerily similar.  And something about them is equally troubling.  The circumstances that we enjoy are so comfortable and fortunate compared to the way people have lived in other places and times. Many have endured poverty, sickness, war and oppression. Yet they had rich experiences and meaningful lives.  Many of them were quite happy, even happier than us.  So when we give thanks for the things that make life better, did those things actually make life better?  Are those the things that truly matter?

For a fresh perspective on the meaning of Thanksgiving, a good place to look is the book of Psalms.  Psalms span the full range of human experience.  The emotions expressed in Davidic psalms do not always correspond to the circumstances of David’s life.  Were the psalms he composed when he was a king any happier that those he wrote when he was a lowly shepherd boy?  Not really.  Some of his most triumphant and praise-filled songs were written in times of hardship and war.  And during periods of success and prosperity, he often expressed frustration and agony.  Psalms show that there is a spiritual component to life that transcends our possessions and circumstances.

In Psalm 33, the author is praising and thanking God – not for anything that God has given him, but for the goodness of God himself.  Consider Psalm 33:12: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.”  At first glance, this is what I thought it meant: God’s people are fortunate because they are God’s heirs; he has written them into his will as his beneficiaries.  But what the psalmist is actually saying is that God’s people are his portion and inheritance.  God is rejoicing because he has acquired us.  He is literally thanking himself for us.

What a strange and magnificent thought.

As we celebrate this great holiday, as we reflect on the blessings we have received, we should also consider God’s unfailing and unmerited love. We are his most treasured possession.  We are his blessing and his joy. If there ever was a reason to be deeply grateful, I think this just might be it.