Today is Thanksgiving Day in America. A day that is for the most part a celebration of our history as a nation, (although very dimly remembered) and all that is good and right about America. This is not to say that America is without blemish for we surely have fallen in many instances, and continue to fail to uphold the ideals which our forefathers envisioned. Nevertheless today is a day of giving thanks for the lives we have and the many attendant blessings, whether we use that particular word or not.
In the midst of this time of reflection I wonder though about the many Americans who increasingly disavow God. If current studies are accurate and the latest statistics can be believed, Americans are becoming more secular and less religious in significant numbers. This has a direct bearing on our ability to see life as precious and worthy of our best efforts.
This is so for many reasons, not the least of which is that for those who have abandoned God and certainly for those who have never claimed belief in God, having a thankful attitude is a purely contrived state of mind. Those who reject belief in God are left with “what is.” What I mean by this is that what the current state of affairs is, is as it should be. There is no ability to attach moral value to “whatever is, is whatever should be.” Any attempt to do so is driven purely by emotion or pragmatism, neither of which can sustain categories of right and wrong, good and evil.
Taking this a bit farther, from where does this idea of thanksgiving come from if our lives have no anchor in transcendence? What are we to be thankful for and to whom? If all we have is “what is” then we are left with the monumental task of creating our own realities including what turns out to be an illusion of thankfulness. The result of rejecting God is not freedom but bondage to illusion. Interestingly, that is what many atheists claim the status of Christians to be. This appears to be a classic case of transference if ever there was one.
Friends, make no mistake – life has a moral framework not of our own creation but of the God who gave us the gift of knowing Him. Included in this gift of knowing God in faith is the gift of a new heart, able to offer up thanksgiving to God who has made all things possible.
May God draw you close to Him today and assure you of His great love for you.
This article originally appeared on drmikespaulding.com on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 2014.
