Thankfulness has an inner connection with humility. It recognizes that what we are and what we have is due to others and above all, to God. - Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
If you are of a certain age, you can't think about Thanksgiving without thinking about Les Nessman. Les was a character in the 70s sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. In the Thanksgiving episode, he intently reports on a live publicity stunt put on by the radio station in which live turkeys are dropped from an airplane with tragic results. At the end of the clip, the owner of the station, the one responsible for the decision to run the failed promotion, bows his head in defeat and announces, "As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." For some Thanksgiving belly laughs, you can watch the whole scene HERE.
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Was it full of laughter? Did you recall a loved one and share a memory? Did you get excited when your favorite float appeared on your TV from the Macy's Day Parade? Did you root for your favorite football team? Did you get outside and play football in the beautiful weather we experienced? What did you do to actualize gratitude?
As Jews, we take care in preparation for so many of our Jewish holidays and holy days. We plan our gatherings and meals, we shop specifically for Pesach, we atone before the Days of Awe, we dig in our closets for the perfect Purim costume, and we clean last year's wax off of our hannukiot in preparation for Hanukkah. I add to my list of gratitude preparation for Thanksgiving.
There are moments all through the year when we feel anger or disappointment. These are the seeds of resentment. Whether this negativity is directed at someone else or turned inward toward ourselves, these thoughts appear, and we all deal with them differently. Many of these moments are easy to recall in our minds and oftentimes rent space in our heads as unwanted tenants.
But what about the gratitude? Do you remember seeing the snow-capped mountains and being so thankful that your home is in Colorado? Did you get a call, text, or email from someone that made you laugh at a moment in your life when happiness was elusive? Did you wake up and notice that an ache or pain that controlled your yesterday had loosened its grip on controlling your today? Did you mark the moment with a thought of gratitude? Did you say out loud, "Thank you."? What if, starting today, you keep track of those moments? Literally, write them down and put them in a jar. Then, what if you opened the jar on Thanksgiving 2023 and read through all the moments of gratitude you experienced over the last 12 months? Let your moments of gratitude fly (unlike turkeys) for Thanksgiving. Preparing for Thanksgiving can become a year-long exercise in gratitude spotting. And opening up your jar and living your past year through moments of gratitude makes God your witness.
As God as your witness, you have had grateful moments. Why not start the new tradition of a gratitude jar this year to say it out loud and help you remember that every day is a good day to feel grateful? What moments will you include?
Author and Holocaust survivor Ellie Wiesel reminds us that every day can be Thanksgiving if we just remember to notice it. "For me, every hour is grace. And I feel gratitude in my heart every time I can meet someone and look at his or her smile." With gratitude... Shabbat Shalom!
