Let us thank God through our joys and trials
Hands down, Thanksgiving is my favorite secular holiday. Yes, I like turkey and football as much as anyone, but I really relish the commercial world shutting down for a day and society pausing for a moment of gratitude. After a big meal, I usually need to walk off that extra piece of pie. Strolling the neighborhood, I observe families gathering, bringing their favorite dishes, cherishing their loved ones, and counting their blessings. Practicing gratitude is a virtue, one that is also good for your mental and emotional health.
Hands down, Thanksgiving is my favorite secular holiday. Yes, I like turkey and football as much as anyone, but I really relish the commercial world shutting down for a day and society pausing for a moment of gratitude. After a big meal, I usually need to walk off that extra piece of pie. Strolling the neighborhood, I observe families gathering, bringing their favorite dishes, cherishing their loved ones, and counting their blessings. Practicing gratitude is a virtue, one that is also good for your mental and emotional health.
I attend a Saturday morning accountability group where one of my spiritual brothers, Pat, always reminds us to be thankful for our blessings and our trials. God is present in both — accompanying us in good times and in struggles, in health and in sickness, in wealth and in poverty. Our divine bridegroom promises to be there through everything, just as marrying couples pledge constancy to one another. Yet preoccupied with our busy lives and fancying ourselves the architects of our own successes, we can forget who gifted us with everything we have. Likewise, we can forget how God is present even in our trials while we ask, “Where is God in all this suffering?”
Luke’s Gospel for Thanksgiving Day (Lk 17:11-19) features the 10 lepers cured by Jesus where only one — the Samaritan — returned to thank our Lord in person upon realizing he had been healed. Are we one of the nine who went on, intoxicated by good fortune, or are we the one who recognized from whom our great gift had come? Did the Samaritan at the feet of Jesus praise him only for the cure or did he thank the Lord for everything, including his considerable trials, which made him more compassionate and rendered the healing so sweet?
One of the trials in my family this year is cancer. Grappling with my own diagnosis of prostate cancer had me reeling with uncertainty. Even though asking where God was in all those developments did occur to me, thanking God for the trial of cancer did not. Once it did, choking out that prayer was a whole different matter. I cannot say I’m there. But I can see myself surrounded by a marvelous team of doctors and caregivers and enfolded in the loving arms of family and friends near and far — blessings in the trials. Treatment completed, my outlook is excellent. However, my brother was diagnosed with a more ominous cancer, and his prognosis is unclear. Yet, witnessing the family rally around him is a thing of beauty.
Sirach (Sir 50:20-22) urges us to bless God for his wondrous works and pray for joy of heart and peace, among the most sublime of life’s gifts, regardless of cancer or any other malady or tragedy. I think my friend Pat is right. Through our trials, we can begin to see God’s omniscient presence in ways we did not notice before. My Thanksgiving resolution is to pray in gratitude for my blessings and my trials, even cancer, so I may echo Psalm 145, “I will praise your name for ever, Lord.”
Louis A. Gamino is a clinical psychologist at Baylor Scott White Health and a member of St. Luke Parish in Temple. Find more about him at www.LouisGamino.com.
