Thanksgiving Talk

November 23, 2008:

First I think I’d better thank the Bishopric for this opportunity to speak on the topic of thanksgiving.  I do not take this responsibility lightly and I feel that it is remarkable, being a woman, that I am welcome to share the thoughts that have been on my mind and inspirations I have received in preparing to address you today.

So what is thanksgiving? What first comes to mind is the holiday this week.  We gather as friends and family for a large feast and celebrate our gratitude to God for all that we have been given, the freedoms we enjoy, and the loved ones who enrich our lives.

Thanksgiving is also a time that we remember the story of the Pilgrims who came to America in search of religious freedom and a better life.  President George Washington, stated in the first Thanksgiving proclamation that "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor."

 The scriptures also speak of thanksgiving.  In Leviticus we learn about the different types of offerings and sacrifices performed by the Israelites.  A type of peace offering was called a thank offering.  In the Old Testament Seminary manual it expounds on the purpose of these types of offerings it states, “ Once the fat, kidneys, breast, and upper part of the back leg were removed, the rest of the animal was returned to the offerer.  Upon returning home, he used it in preparing a feast to which his family, friends, and the poor were invited. …This feast became a holy covenant meal participated in with joy and thanksgiving because it represented fellowship with the Lord. …all enjoyed the spirit of the fellowship meal just as all partake of the work of Christ in bringing about salvation to the faithful and victory over death and hell.”

 Times have changed, but we see that this need to give thanks to God has maintained.  In Psalms 50:14 it reads, “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay they vows unto the most High.”  And Psalms 100:4 “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

 The apostle Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians, proclaimed, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.”  And then to the Thessalonians, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God.”  Many prophets, both ancient and modern speak of the importance of gratitude.  We know that Christ set the example of giving thanks when he blessed and thanked the bread and drink for the last supper. 

 Perhaps the most commonly referenced scriptures on the topic of gratitude is the story of Jesus healing the ten lepers.  I read these scriptures over and over searching for something more profound then Jesus general disapproval of ingratitude and specific mention of a Samaritan.  Luke 17:11-18 reads,

“it came to pass, as [Jesus] went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

“And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

“And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

“And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests.  And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

“And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

“And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?

“There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

“And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: they faith hath made thee whole.”

It is clear that Jesus is disappointed that the nine would not come back to give thanks and acknowledge God.  I think that perhaps Jesus is also sad because while all ten where healed, only one was declared whole.  His faith, his gratitude made him a whole person a full person, a person that could probably do more then endure this life, but also enjoy it.

 

What do you think of when you think of gratitude and thanksgiving? 

Perhaps because I think of gratitude as something that comes natural to people, I never quite thought of it the way Marion G. Romney boldly stated it in his 1982 talk entitled “Gratitude and Thanksgiving,”

 He states, “he gave unto the Church of Zion this commandment (while in Jackson County, Missouri) Now notice how the Lord puts the commandment to be thankful along with other strong commandments.  He said:

“Thou shalt love the Lord they God with all they heart, with all they might, mind and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him.

“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  Thou shalt not steal; neither commit adultery, nor kill, nor do anything like unto it. 

Thou shalt thank the Lord they God in all things.”

“It is perfectly evident from this scripture that to thank the Lord in all things is not merely a courtesy, it is a commandment as binding upon us as any other commandment.” Close quote.

 Equally strong statements have been said about the sin of ingratitude.  “I believe,” said President Joseph F. Smith, “ that one of the greatest sins of which the inhabitants of the earth are guilty today is the sin of ingratitude, the want of acknowledgement, on their part, of God and his right to govern and control.”

 I believe knowing this is a commandment is very important, sometimes we may see the wisdom of God’s commandments and sometimes we may not understand them at all, but we are asked to obey regardless of our understanding. 

 So, if you would, ask yourself what you think of this, what you think about being commanded to be thankful?   And lets ask why this is so important? 

 Does God need our praise?  Does it help God feel appreciated?  Perhaps, but we know Gods purpose regarding us, so we know that God has given us these commandments to help us in this life return to Him.   We know that the commandment to give thanks to God is in reality a gift to us. 

 What is happening when we feel and express our thanks to God.  There are a few things that if gratitude comes natural to you, you might not think about until you break it down:

 First, we are remembering.  We are thinking about the things we are grateful for.  The Book of Mormon repeats over and over again the importance of remembering.  The sacrament prayer states that we “do always remember him” our Savior and that we partake and eat in remembrance of him. 

Secondly, when we are in an attitude of thanksgiving we are giving acknowledgement to God.  This should dampen our pride and give us comfort knowing that God is with us at all times, guiding our paths, and giving us success.

 The final thought I had, though I am sure it does not sufficiently explain the dynamics of such a powerful emotion and action, is that when we give thanks we are renewing our commitment, our trust, and our faith in God. 

 In preparation for this talk I was drawn several times to the beautiful and profound talk recently given by President Uchtdorf entitled, “The Infinite Power of Hope.”  While reading through his talk several times I began to see the intimate relationship between gratitude and hope.  President Uchtdorf states, “Hope is not knowledge, but rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us.”  

He also speaks of its opposite, despair.  He states, “The adversary uses despair to bind hearts and minds in suffocating darkness. . . . Despair kills ambition, advances sickness, pollutes the soul, and deadens the heart.  Despair can seem like a staircase that leads only and forever downward.”   I believe that gratitude and giving thanks is the stairway that leads us back to hope.  It sustains hope by triggering our memories of God’s love and our past experiences with faith and hope.  Gratitude begins to shift our perspective and builds back up our minds that we might hope again. 

         We know that despair, doubt, and heart ach will find us.  We are here to have these experiences, to deepen our understanding and appreciation.  There is a place for sorrow and sadness and I believe it is as sacred as joy, but we are not meant to remain in despair.  We are to pass through sorrow and return.

 In our kitchen there is a wedding photo of Ryan and I on one of the cupboards.  A while back I placed a little fortune from a fortune cookie in front of it.  It reads, “No one is happy who does not think himself so.”  When I first read this fortune and sometimes now when I read it I understand it to mean that it is all in how my mind is thinking and my perspective.  Yet other days, days when Ryan works late and the kids are sick and the thinking in my head has shifted and it says to me I am not happy, I cannot do this, this is not how I pictured my life; I read this fortune and the word “Think” almost visually becomes a little hill and I realize that I have work to do, ‘thinking’ work ‘brain’ work.  The athletic coach in my head reads it again.  “No one is happy who does not think himself so.”

 Everyone has seen the image and heard the analogy of the glass of liquid.  Is this glass half full or half empty?  While it does not change how much liquid is in the glass weather we say if it if half full or half empty, how we perceive this liquid and in analogy how we perceive our lives can change everything. 

 One of my earliest memories of feeling gratitude, where I really felt my heart as Captain Moroni states, “swell with thanksgiving” was one Christmas morning when I was about 8 or 9.  I come from a large family and so we draw names for Christmas presents.  I don’t know why I was so excited, but one year my sister gave me Pictionary junior and I thought that it was so amazing and so generous.  I can’t explain why I was so overpowered but I remembered being so overcome that I tripped over the game on my way to give her a hug and thank her.

 Commanding us to express gratitude assumes we have something to be grateful for.   Perhaps you cannot now remember all the times that God has fulfilled a promise made to you.   If you cannot yet recognize God, then begin with the beginning.  Your life.  Your mother was not perfect, but she gave you life.  Who else in your life has made it richer a father, teacher, sister or brother?  If we begin somewhere just remembering the times and acknowledging that someone has been their in the past, we are one step closer to hoping and trusting that someone will be their in the future.  

 Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin states, “Gratitude turns a meal into a feast and drudgery into delight.  It softens our grief and heightens our pleasure.  It turns the simple and common into the memorable and transcendent.  It forges bonds of love and fosters loyalty and admiration.”

 Looking back on my life I feel that when I was younger I was inclined to have negative thoughts.  I believe it was my first year at college, far from home, in perhaps the most beautiful place in the world – Hawaii.  I spent much of my time being very sad and full of self-pity.  One of these nights a thought entered into my mind and said, Camille, what you are doing is wrong, and God does not agree with what you are choosing to do with your mind.   That knowledge would not leave and after a matter of time I decided that I would use the same tactics to build up my brain and thinking as I had used to tear it down.  This has been a continuous effort for me and as new challenges present themselves I have found that gratitude is a powerful and effective tool in shaping my mind and returning me to state of hope.

 As my husband said to me one day and which I know to be true, “If you are sad or depressed you need to remember your blessings and then find something to do for someone else.”  Or put simply, have gratitude. 

 In a talk given by David A Bednar in our last general conference, He speaks of spiritual creation and links it to our morning prayers.  He states, “Spiritual creation preceded the temporal creation.  In a similar way, meaningful morning prayer is an important element in the spiritual creation of each day  - and preceded the temporal creation or the actual execution of the day.”  Of the three recommendations on how to make prayer more meaningful, expressing heartfelt gratitude is one.  I believe gratitude can literally change and shape our minds; all actions begin in the mind.  Perhaps much of the battle we will face in these latter days will be within our own minds and thoughts.  A special friend of mine always says that your soul has to dwell where your mind chooses to be, in thought, in effort, and in attitude. 

 I know that God wants us to enjoy this life.  I know that he has given us the commandments to give our lives meaning, direction, purpose, and happiness.  Gratitude is essential to shifting our perspective, to making the spiritual pre-creation of our entire lives. 

In closing I want to quote a collection of thoughts put together by our Prophet Thomas S. Monson in his talk entitled “Finding Joy in the Journey.”

 “Our realization of what is most important in life goes hand in hand with gratitude for our blessings.

"Said one well-known author:  “Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities.  It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend . . . when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present – love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness] – the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”

 “In the Doctrine and Covenants, section 88, verse 33, we are told: “For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift?  Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.”

I pray that we can be whole through our Faith in Jesus Christ.  That we will choose to receive all the gifts that God has planned for us.  I know that God loves us and that we can place our faith and trust in him.  I know that Joseph Smith restored the gospel of Jesus Christ and I feel the spirit testify it to me again and again when I read the scriptures.  I know our sins and troubles can be washed clean through the power and love of the atonement of Jesus Christ.  I say these things in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.