The establishment of a national day of thanks to God for His countless mercies bestowed upon our country by President Abraham Lincoln demonstrates how once, our nation and its government were truly “one nation under God.”
As we gather with family and friends during this “holiday season,” we should remember that for the Orthodox Christian, we must be grateful to God for all His bountiful mercies every day. Certainly we do give thanks in our daily prayers, as is correct to do. But do we really think about the blessings we receive from God daily, or do we simply recite the words?
I was reminded of this myself recently, when I was able to attend the 50th anniversary celebration of my high school graduating class. It was truly wonderful to be able to reconnect with so many of my classmates, with whom I had had little or no contact since high school. While speaking with some of my old friends and acquaintances, I was happy to hear of their successes and to share some of my own with them. At the same time, however, I was saddened to hear of how many of my classmates had recently lost their spouses, were unable to attend the reunion because they were caring for an ill spouse or child, or were simply too ill themselves to attend. Saddest of all was to see the names and faces of over 50 of our classmates who had already died. These were people who graduated together with me and had their plans and expectations for their futures, as I did. Yet, they are no longer with us. I was deeply moved by this. As I was driving home, I considered my own life over these 50 years and—realizing how incredibly fortunate I have been—had to ask, “Why me?” What had I done or how could I have possibly deserved the countless blessings and mercies of which I have been the beneficiary? With an immense feeling of gratitude to God, I thought to myself, if I die tomorrow, I certainly cannot complain.
I believe that we must do more than simply express our gratitude to God in our words but to feel it from the heart and soul. We must remember the reasons for which we are so grateful, remembering how many times we had asked and prayed for God’s help and how He gave it. If we do this, then we will never lose hope when things are not going so well or the answer from God to our prayer is “no.” If we trust in God’s benevolence toward us and recognize that all He does is for our eternal well-being, we can learn to be grateful even for the difficulties we encounter in our lifetimes. And if, in the final analysis, our lives do not turn out the way we may have wanted, or are plagued with misfortune, disease, and even an untimely death, we know that if we live our lives in a way well pleasing to God, we will receive the benefits of God’s justice in His eternal kingdom. For this, along with all the countless blessings and mercies we have received and continue to receive from Our Heavenly Father, let us ever cry from the depths of our souls:
“Glory to Thee, O God our Benefactor, unto the ages of ages!”
—Akathist of Thanksgiving
Archpriest Alexander Krassovsky
