Thanksgiving In his struggle to understand the function of praise, C. S. Lewis wrote, “…It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete until it is expressed” (1958, p. 95). From The Psychology of Gratitude, Robert A. Emmons; Michael E. McCullough write… “More than any other emotion, gratitude is the emotion of friendship. “It is part of a psychological system that causes people to raise their estimates of how much value they hold in the eyes of another person. Gratitude is what happens when someone does something that causes you to realize that you matter more to that person than you thought you did.” It is in these emotions, praise and gratitude, that “thankfulness” finds both its nourishment and its “selfishness.” John Tierney, co-author of Willpower, published a column in The NY Times, which begins with the declaration that Thanksgiving is the most “psychologically correct holiday.” At first glance we might find this statement offensive. We wouldn’t think of thanking anyone simply to make ourselves feel good, right? What if, after taking close examination we find that we are doing that very thing with God? Isn’t there, if we looked carefully enough, hidden within our most righteous intentions a small portion of pride nestled in our “thanking” Him? We pray … “Thank you Father for doing “this and that” for me!” But, where is our delight, really? Is our thanksgiving sincere or is it nothing more than psychologically correct behavior? Are we, without quite knowing it, expressing our thankfulness because we misguidedly think that God, obviously must be so impressed with us that He answered our need(s)? Do we see His action based on our “right standing” or our “Christian behavior”? We would do well this Thanksgiving to understand that all that we find to thank God for has nothing to do with us and everything to do with Him. Our “perfect walk” is filled with misstep after misstep, and yet, God in His mercy still hears every prayer and provides for every need. Now, that’s something to be thankful for!!
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 08:22:12 +0000
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