Chaplain
A secondrate
holiday?
Why is Thanksgiving considered a second-rate holiday in contemporary America? I believe it is because there
is no personal payoff for people. We receive presents on our birthdays, Christmas, and sometimes even Easter;
for Halloween we are treated to candy and we get to wear zany costumes; on Independence Day we enjoy
spectacular ?rework displays; but for Thanksgiving we just eat a large meal and watch football. It isn’t really
much different than most other days, right?
This attitude towards Thanksgiving exempli?es how western society has become dominated by commercialism
and consumerism. However, one of the reasons that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday correlates with this
trend: I love Thanksgiving because it has not been overwhelmed by our materialistic culture, as many of our
other celebratory days have been. Furthermore, it is a uniquely American holiday. It commemorates the time
when our pilgrim forefathers thanked the Lord for providing their basic needs when they founded a colony to
freely worship God in the New World. Since I am thankful to be both a Christian and an American this holiday
really resonates with me.
A child psychologist, Dr. James Dobson, has pointed out that few teenagers get up in the morning and express
appreciation for joints that don’t hurt, excellent vision and generally good health. Why is that? Since, thankfully,
the majority of American children have never known prolonged pain and sickness they just accept their healthy
state without even considering it. Likewise, those who have suffered few deprivations often take their privileges
for granted. This is vividly demonstrated in our af?uent country. Living in deployed environments gives me a
renewed appreciation for what theologians call common grace or general providence: good gifts that God gives
to all, like delicious food, good health, a secure home and peaceful circumstances. I have seen that soldiers who
have live in remote and spartan conditions possess a deeper appreciation for these things, as well as having little
patience for those in better circumstances who complain about their problems!
Put another way, when we are tempted to gripe over things that are of little consequence, instead we should thank
God for the blessings that he gives to us. There are always people who have it worse than you. This principle
is poigently conveyed by Brad Paisley in “One of Those Lives.” In this song he has had a bad day, but then he
hears that his friends’ young son has been diagnosed with a reoccurrence of cancer. He re?ects that we all have
“one of those days,” but some people have “one of those lives.”
As Thanksgiving approaches, meditate on the following Scripture: “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
His love endures forever.” (Psalm 36:1)
FCP Chaplain
CH (Capt.) Robert Miller
PG 18