Psalm 92:1-2 — It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High: to show forth thy loving-kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,

It was a blessing to be in our chapel yesterday evening with hundreds of others who wanted to come together and give thanks to God for all his goodness in the last year. It was a necessary corrective to the sadness I felt, and wrote about, a few days ago. There’s a real difference between those at the heart of the church and two other groups. There are the many people who are not Christians, to whom Thanksgiving is an occasion for a good meal, a family gathering and — perhaps — some bargain pre-Christmas shopping. Then there are those who are sure they are Christians but whose hearts are not really filled with gratitude for all God has done for them.
The twentieth-century Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, defines gratitude wonderfully:

To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us — and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not be hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes the difference.

This is a great litmus test for faith. Or maybe it would be better to see it as a barometer. We all, I suppose, have our good days and bad days. If you are never grateful for anything you might well wonder if you are a Christian. But perhaps a better question to contemplate for most of us is “How often do I give thanks unto the Lord, and sing praises unto His name?” If it’s not very often, what should I do about it. I have come to believe that gratitude, like love, is not just something you are, but also something that you do. More, it is something that you decide to do. Habakkuk 3:17-18 expresses this determination:

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Many of the people gathered in the chapel last night have been through some hard things in the last twelve months. It would have been easy for them to stay at home and be depressed. Many of them can see no clear path into the future. It would have been easy for them to stay at home and worry. But instead …
Instead a good number gathered together to bless The Lord in song and prayer. They obeyed the exhortation of Governor Bradford’s first Thanksgiving Proclamation which I quoted in that earlier piece, “gather at ye meeting house, … there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.” Together we recognized the love of God in everything God has done for us. If you weren’t with us, never mind! Every day is a good day to praise The Lord!