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A teacher once asked her students: “What are you thankful for on Thanksgiving?” One little guy wrote, “On Thanksgiving, I’m thankful that I ain’t a turkey!”

This week we celebrate Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for? This has been one heck of a year, hasn’t it?

While we can all be thankful that we ain’t a turkey, we all have so much to be thankful for. Thanksgiving is one of the most spiritually healthy holidays of the year. Notice that doesn’t say it’s one of the most biblical, yet it is one of the most spiritually healthy holidays celebrated as an American.

How’s that? Psalm 92:1 reads, “It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord…”

An attitude of gratitude is a spiritually healthy thing for a number of reasons. Gratitude keeps our spirits right with God. A spirit of gratitude makes it easier for us to get along with others, as ungrateful people are often ill-mannered people. A spirit of gratitude also makes it easier for us to get along with ourselves. Having this attitude of gratitude is necessary for everyday life, but I believe it is especially helpful as we move through Thanksgiving, Christmas and into the New Year.

Folks are typically more giving, more forgiving, more loving, more helpful, more thankful this time of year.

This week, spend time in thought and conversations on what truly makes you thankful. When we think about this, as we mature, the items which we are most grateful aren’t things or stuff, it’s people, love, appreciations, time spent with less work and stress. You see, having this attitude of gratitude can’t be bought in a store. It is much deeper than this. The Beatles had it right back in the ‘60s singing, “Money can’t buy me love.”

The Grinch had it right when discovering, “Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

May our focus on life not be wrapped up in money, bills, events, stores, COVID, elections, or anything the media/social media/society is screaming and shoveling. May we discover what this season of thankfulness is truly all about.

May we embrace this attitude of gratitude. May we focus on the most important things that money can’t buy, like our relationship with God and our relationships with others. May we focus on the quality of life, not simply the quantity of possessions.

There’s an old Swedish statement that goes, “So lite vi har, men so bra vi more.” It means, “How little we have, but how good we feel.” Oh that from this week on you discover life as God intends it to be lived.

Rev. J. Cameron Bailey is pastor of Kenbridge Christian Church. He can be reached at jamescameronbailey@gmail.com.