Un-Thanksgiving
It may be nontraditional, but I think it’s important to give some thought to “Un-Thanksgiving” – that is, to recognize that the human condition includes much that does not warrant gratitude. Take, for example, the significance of Thanksgiving itself. Any Native American, as a descendant of the remnant that survived America’s “Manifest Destiny,” could well have a feeling for the holiday quite different from that of the majority of Americans.
Feeling thankful for what we may regard as the benevolent disposition that God or life has toward us is understandable. But it is no less understandable for people to feel bitterness and resentment toward life or God when things go badly for them, especially when things go very badly. Yet however understandable, bitterness and resentment contract and diminish us.
Some people deal with life’s harsh realities by seeing them as details in God’s master plan or in an alternative benign Order in which every event is meant to be and really the best thing that could happen. But there’s a major limitation to this way of dealing with the greatest blows that life has to offer: it only works well for the major sufferings of other people. And the more other – that is, the less well we know the other person – the better it works.
If, for example, one’s own toddler is abducted and murdered, this is very different from hearing about such an event in the news. It seems to me that the idea that the murder of one’s own child was part and parcel of God’s master plan would provide solace to few of us.
Any thoughts on what sorts of things really do work to help put the worst things that can happen to us in a perspective that isn’t bitter or resentful? I think that for people who have experienced major hardship, this can be a difficult topic. So was forgiveness, which we looked at several months ago. Maybe there’s a relationship between the two subjects.
PS: Sorry to people who’ve invited me to comment on their posts in recent days. I’m dealing with a malfunctioning body, malfunctioning adaptive equipment and health aide difficulties. I’m backlogged on so many fronts that I can see that I won’t be able to catch up on visiting people’s posts.
Feeling thankful for what we may regard as the benevolent disposition that God or life has toward us is understandable. But it is no less understandable for people to feel bitterness and resentment toward life or God when things go badly for them, especially when things go very badly. Yet however understandable, bitterness and resentment contract and diminish us.
Some people deal with life’s harsh realities by seeing them as details in God’s master plan or in an alternative benign Order in which every event is meant to be and really the best thing that could happen. But there’s a major limitation to this way of dealing with the greatest blows that life has to offer: it only works well for the major sufferings of other people. And the more other – that is, the less well we know the other person – the better it works.
If, for example, one’s own toddler is abducted and murdered, this is very different from hearing about such an event in the news. It seems to me that the idea that the murder of one’s own child was part and parcel of God’s master plan would provide solace to few of us.
Any thoughts on what sorts of things really do work to help put the worst things that can happen to us in a perspective that isn’t bitter or resentful? I think that for people who have experienced major hardship, this can be a difficult topic. So was forgiveness, which we looked at several months ago. Maybe there’s a relationship between the two subjects.
PS: Sorry to people who’ve invited me to comment on their posts in recent days. I’m dealing with a malfunctioning body, malfunctioning adaptive equipment and health aide difficulties. I’m backlogged on so many fronts that I can see that I won’t be able to catch up on visiting people’s posts.
Posted by Paul at 9:18 PM Permalink
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