Commentary

Celebrating Thanksgiving 2023

October 6, 2023 | Ed Scharringa

Every day we are reminded of provisions we receive for our daily life.
From the rising to the setting of the sun.
From the varieties of foods available to us.
For the opportunities for those who want to do more.
Our freedoms of choice, religion and movement around our vast nation. 
For the crops that are grown by many in agriculture and provide our daily nutritional foods.

We are also thankful for health care, fire departments, police protection and the laws and regulations that are meant to protect us. There are so many things that we should be thankful for and to count our many blessings when one honestly looks around. We can only say thank you.

Even those less privileged have ways and means to offer thanks, so they too may have sufficient provisions. A verse in the Bible from psalm 118 verse one says, "O give thanks to the lord, for he is good, for his steadfast, love endures forever. There is no other source that provides us with so much, our Creator of heaven and earth, build provision for mankind on this earth, and everything we see around us." We need to be reminded often of how blessed we really are and this Thanksgiving weekend gives us opportunity for that.

Thankful people are happy people. They radiate a sense of love, compassion, and show true gratitude in life for what they have. Yes, we get anxious at times for happenings around us, but in comparison, to what many other nations endure, we don’t have much to complain about. It’s when we see things in our life as blessings. We can also become a blessing to others around us.

The first thanksgiving began many years ago with the pilgrims who had endured many hardships, and also with explorer Robert Frobisher, who, in 1578 made it through the north passage safely and then held a dinner of thanks.

When we sit around the dinner table with few or many, let’s not forget to thank God for the abundances we have, and can share with others. May our prayer be Thank You Lord, not just for today’s blessings, but may everyday be a day for thanks.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving,
Ed

Ed Scharringa is President of the Board of Directors for the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario. The CFFO Commentary represents the opinions of the writer and does not necessarily represent CFFO policy.