Thanksgiving is about focusing on what we are actually grateful for...giving more grateful attention to what we tend to take for granted. If we are to live more mindfully, as Zen spirituality and the Ignatian spirituality teach, then, we would not have to have make a "Thanksgiving" holiday, as everyday is a day of thanksgiving. To those who believe in God, thanksgiving also means praising the Lord.
In giving thanks and praising the Lord, we become less wanting - less greedy.
The Zen wisdom, "吾唯知足" (ceasing my desire to have more), which literally means "I only know I am satisfied/content", has been well know in China and Japan. And, this Eastern wisdom match the Biblical wisdom in Psalm 23:1, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want" and echoed in St.Paul's writing in 2 Corinthians 12:9 and further in St. Ignatius of Loyola's Suscipe prayer.
People spend billions and billions for tranquilizer in dealing with anxieties and depression. But, if we make everyday a day of thanksgiving, acknowledging 吾唯知足, which is Zen way of what St. Ignatius of Loyola prays "Suscipe", then, more and more people can live with less anxiety and depression - less money spent for medication. As our gratitude increases, so is faith, according to Jesus in Luke 17:11-19, which is the Gospel reading for Thanksgiving Day Mass.
Clinical psychology affirms the Zen and Ignatian spiritual wisdom of knowing what we have enough, thanking the Lord, and praising the Lord for what He has given us, as below review article show.
"Receive,
O Lord, all my liberty. Take my memory, my understanding, and my entire will.
Whatsoever I have or hold, You have given me; I give it all back to You and
surrender it wholly to be governed by your will. Give me only your love and
your grace, and I am rich enough and ask for nothing more." Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola 234 - "Suscipe"
Happy Thankskgiving.
Happy Thankskgiving.
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