Last Thursday was the joyful Thanksgiving Day. We had quite a few families come to our house to celebrate the beginning of holiday season. Preparation is certainly laborious but is rewarding. I got the assignment, from my wife, to clean up our stuffed porch and basement, in order to accommodate more people. Initially, we were not sure whether our house could fit that many of people.  Thanks to our friend in neighbor who was willing to accommodate all the young people in their house.

Sometimes, I was wondering what the meaning of thanksgiving is. According to the Encarta dictionary, there are at least three interpretations of the thanksgiving.  The first one is “a prayer that offers thanks to God”, the second is “an expression or an act of giving thanks” and the last is “a public acknowledgement of divine goodness”.  From these interpretations, I could say that the meaning of Thanksgiving is to express our thanks to God – either through a prayer or a public acknowledgement.

The questions we can ponder upon are “Do we express our thanks “only” when God says “yes” to our request, or, let me put it this way, do we feel “more compelled to” give thanks when our request has been granted?” In my recollection of my younger days, my parents always taught me to say “thank you” when I received a favor or something from others. On one hand, this was trying to teach me to build a habit of good manner, regardless whether I truly appreciate what I have received or not 🙂 On the other hand, this molds me, unintentionally, to appreciate or to give thanks ONLY when I receive. Consequently, it becomes more difficult for me to give thanks when I didn’t receive anything. Based on this mentality, in my journey of faith, I am more tuning to say thanks when God say “yes” to my request and unlikely to give thanks to Him when He says “no”.  Immediately, I know this is a problem and I need to back off from this mentality.

This leads us to the crux of my question: “Do we give thanks to our God, from bottom of our heart, in all circumstances – regardless He says “yes” or He says “no” to our request?”  Because this is the true meaning of Thanksgiving, as it was taught by apostle Paul to give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  Personally, I like a hymn “Thanks to God” by August L. Storm and John A. Hultman very much, as it depicts the attitude and meaning of Thanksgiving very well. Below is a glimpse of it.

Thanks for pleasant balmy spring-time, Thanks for dark and stormy fall

感謝神，賜溫暖春天，感謝神，蕭瑟秋景

Thanks for prayers that You have answered, Thanks for what You does deny

感謝神，禱告蒙應允，感謝神，未蒙垂聽

My dear brothers and sisters, can we still give thanks when God says “no”? I certainly hope you can. It is my prayer that we give thanks in all circumstances, as we know our God is good and He answered our prayers abundantly more than we have asked.