We just celebrated Thanksgiving here in the States, when — on a Thursday to be exact — the “firehose of news across the country is getting turned off for a brief moment of calm,” as journalist Isaac Saul of Tangle describes.
Similar to several American rituals, the tradition may have less than noble roots, but it is observed because, at its core, it’s when people come together and spotlight the blessings one has. We can debate later on why what follows, a mere hours after Thanksgiving dinner, is the peak expression of American consumerism.
This year’s celebrations, however, are tainted by one of the most toxic presidential campaigns in American history. There are empty places at dinner tables because of it, which only reaffirms that the human capacity to express contentment is unnatural, as it requires a resolve to see the good amid negativity and differences.
For those who claim to follow Jesus like me, gratitude is integral to strengthening our belief in a God whom we do not see but whose presence and power we experience by faith through prayer and meditation. “More than anything else, we thank God for an unspeakable gift,” said Bishop Noel Pantoja, head of the Philippine Council for Evangelical Churches, an evangelical network with 55,000 member churches, “And that is the gift of eternal life.”
Pantoja refers to the power of Jesus’ death on the cross, which our faith tradition deems the one act that redeemed humanity. Jesus’ crucifixion restored our relationship with a powerful and holy God, fully realized when a person commits himself to the lordship of Jesus. A Jewish man believed to have been born out of immaculate conception, whom we refer to as Christ — the Messiah.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast,” Ephesians 2:8-9 in the Bible reads. Foundational to the evangelical faith is the acknowledgment of the grace God has given us, an undeserved kind. The idea is worth being thankful for over and over again.
As my friend Timothy Joseph Aquino, a civil servant and a pastor in training at Victory Church NYC, preached the Sunday before Thanksgiving, the moment we experience God’s grace, there is “nothing to do but to be compelled to be grateful and show him [God] our gratitude.”
This year, two days after Thanksgiving, is the Advent, a four-week season beginning Sunday, December 1, and ending on Christmas Eve. It is a time when most of the Christian world reflects on a period in history when there was much waiting for the Messiah’s arrival (a literal meaning of advent), culminating in the virgin birth of Jesus.
For Christians, Advent is remembering the final days of a world without a savior. It is to ponder the anxiety of those searching for the one who will save and identify with the faith journey of a people Hebrews 11 refers to as men and women who were “commended for their faith, yet none of them received what was promised.”
It is a time of reflection where the focus is on the character and persistence required in the waiting and the faith needed to walk along a valley filled with perils and uncertainties.
The latter, unfortunately, is abundant in our world today.
A world beset by multiple global conflicts, an environment in crisis — the Philippines on the receiving end of its wrath, and with leaders devoid of self-awareness or remorse for the toxic by-products of their pursuit for power and wealth. The undeserving stewards of vast resources meant for those in need.
We are living in a precarious history that is still being written. But for those who believe in a savior, the Advent reminds us that there are reasons to remain steadfast in our faith.
“We are an Advent people, bearing the tension of joy and sorrow, of light and darkness,” wrote Joy Allmond, executive editor of Christianity Today, the flagship publication of evangelicalism, where I’m a contributor. “As we wrestle with the darkness, we have a sure and certain hope in the person of Christ.”
Gratitude is the disposition that helps us see and embrace God’s grace for our lives, the highest expression of which is the gift of his son Jesus — the person of Christ. The one who came to save.
“To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything he has given us,” wrote the American Trappist monk Thomas Merton in his 1956 book Thoughts of Solitude.
“Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is grace, for it brings with us immense graces from Him. Gratitude, therefore, takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, and is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.” – Rappler.com
Caleb Maglaya Galaraga is a freelance writer and journalist. His work has appeared in Christianity Today, The Presbyterian Outlook, Broadview Magazine (formerly The United Church Observer), Times of Israel, and the news services of The Episcopal Church and The United Methodist Church. He lives in New York City.