Thanksgiving is upon us, the time to stop and give thanks. This is the time of year I set aside to thank God for just being here another year. The thankfulness can continue from that point. There is so much research that has been done on the benefits of being thankful. So, I started wondering what does it take to be thankful? Thankfulness is an onion that has many layers, I want to briefly look at one of those layers, contentment.

In years past, the Christmas season was a period of time from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Day. Today, we have sales that are called Christmas in July. We live in a consumer driven society. You see bumper stickers that say “Those that die with the most toys win”. Our insatiable appetite to own things, to have a lifestyle that is far above our physical means has led to anxiety and discontentment. George Harrison had a song in the 1970’s called “Give me Love.” In his song he sang “Give me love, give me love, give me peace on earth.” In a day when we see an increasing number of young children on anxiety medicine, elevated suicide rates in young people age groups, maybe contentment is the allusive gift. During this season of Thanksgiving I pray you have peace and contentment. When I was young my thoughts were possessions, “toys” would make me happy, like so many things from my youth, I was mistaken. It is in helping others that true contentment evolves, loving those that you are priviledged to have in your life, these are the priceless items. Don’t wait until you are told you have six months left to live to find what really matters in this life. Be thankful for life, for family, for friends. In the end thankfulness and contentment feed each other; as one grows, so will the other. I pray your Thanksgiving is filled with love and contentment. I pray the God of Peace will show you what true peace looks like this season. That is what being thankful is for me. Peace, Shaalam, Shalom, Mír, Paz, Frieden, Paix regardless of what language we speak, it all means the same, Peace.