On Thanksgiving
By Jonathan Ragheb
“What is the medicine which heals grief, and distress, and all that is painful? Prayer, thanksgiving in all things. And so He wills that our prayer should not simply be requests, but thanksgiving too for what we have. For how should a person ask for future things, who is not thankful for the past?”
– St. John Chrysostom
Why do we give thanks? Here, St. John illustrates one reason: we give thanks so as to combat pain and grief with healing and happiness. Thanksgiving allows for us to become content in order to bring about this joy. Moreover, in this illustration, St. John builds a subtle but important connection between making requests of our heavenly Father and thanking Him for what He has already given us. Both of these come from the same Fruit of the Holy Spirit: humility. For how can we request something from God without first recognizing our inability to provide it for ourselves? Thus, making a request of God demands humility. Similarly, thanksgiving is impossible without humility because, in order to thank God for the things He has provided for us, we must first discard any claim that we have gained these things by our own merit. We can only give thanks when we humbly acknowledge that our blessings come from God’s abundant grace, love, and mercy.
With the importance of giving thanks in mind, it makes sense that, with every hour, we thank God with the prayer of thanksgiving:
“Let us give thanks to the beneficent and merciful God, the Father of our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ, for He has covered us, helped us, guarded us, accepted us unto Him, spared us, supported us, and brought us to this hour.”
– The Thanksgiving Prayer
However, it may seem that we only thank Him for that which is “good”–His protections, likely from what is evil, His acceptance unto Himself, His mercy on us, and His support in all that we do. We offer thanks for these readily and often enough that one might claim we have become exceptional at giving thanks–expert thanksgivers, if you will. But this offering of thanks to our Lord for that which is “good” is an incomplete fulfillment of thanksgiving. What, then, is missing?
“[I]f we thank God concerning gifts only, then our love is for gifts not for God the giver of the gifts! If however we give thanks to God over tribulation we prove that we love God Himself and not His gift—that we do not only love Him for what He gives us of wealth, generosity, comforts of life, or what He grants us of calmness and peace.”
– H.H. Pope Shenouda III
His Holiness explains that it is not enough to thank God for that which we perceive to be good, but we must also thank Him for our tribulations. However, this is not to be confused with thanking God for that which is “bad,” as we know that all that comes from God is good.
“We ought to give thanks for all things, even for those which seem to be grievous, for this is the mark of the truly thankful person. Offer up such prayers; for He disposes all things for our profit, though we know it not."
– St. John Chrysostom
If a person lives the true life of thanksgiving, he would give thanks to God over every breath he takes, every step he walks, every work he does, everything that comes to him. He does not see anything which is not worthy of thanksgiving, and says about all that happens to him, 'it is all for good.'” – H.H. Pope Shenouda III
So then, does the thanksgiving prayer fall short in its purpose to aid us in giving thanks? Indeed, it mentions that we thank God for any and every condition, but it quickly reverts back to giving thanks for the aforementioned things which we perceive to be “good.” Is this prayer insufficient in offering our thanks to God?
“O Master, Lord, God the Almighty, the Father of our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ, we thank You for every condition, concerning every condition, and in every condition, for You have covered us, helped us, guarded us, accepted us unto You, spared us, supported us, and brought us to this hour.”
– The Thanksgiving Prayer
The prayer does not fall short, but it demands of us to make an adjustment when we use it in order to correctly practice the virtue of thanksgiving. Surprisingly, however, this adjustment is not in what we are giving thanks for, but rather, our perception of what is good. We have already concluded that all that comes from God is good, but now we must apply this understanding to our prayer. If all that comes from God is good, then even our tribulations are instances of God covering us, helping us, guarding us, and accepting us unto Himself. With this understanding, we can utter this prayer with confidence that we are truly giving thanks for all that God has given us, and as His Holiness Pope Shenouda III explains, this is an essential way that we can show our love for Him.
"When happiness is present, let us give thanks for God’s consolation. When happiness is lacking, let us give thanks to God. Let us always be grateful, never ungrateful; let us be grateful to our Father, who soothes and caresses us. Let us be grateful to our Father when He chastens us with the scourge and teaches us, for He always loves, whether He caresses or threatens. Let us say what is said in the Psalm 'It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord; and to sing praises to Your Name, Your Most Highest.'”
– St. Augustine
Glory be to God forever. Amen.