If we were in Canada this morning, we’d be celebrating Thanksgiving Day.  The Canadian holiday is based on giving thanks for a bountiful harvest.   (No Pilgrims there.)   Since Canada is further north, their harvest is earlier than ours, but their  celebration  is similar:  a day off from work, families gathering to express their  gratitude, and an extravagant feast usually centering around a turkey.

Our Thanksgiving celebrations are not until next month.  We’ll have to wait.  But, do we really?   Yes, there’s no turkey in the oven today, but it can still be a day of thanksgiving.

“Be joyful always;  pray continually;  give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I’m touched by the words “give thanks in all circumstances.”  Ouch, this means thankfulness in times of want as well as in bounty, in sickness as well as in health, in loneliness as well as in happiness, in all times and in all circumstances.  Wherever or however you find yourself this morning, God’s unconditional love is upon you.

This is the day the Lord has made, rejoice and be glad in it!   Thanks be to God.

Judy