When I was a child, Thanksgiving was all about the dining room table — the turkey and stuffing (oyster dressing!), the pies (my mom’s pecan pie!). Maybe it was the same for you. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve realized that Thanksgiving is less about what’s on the table and more about who’s around the table. And even more than that — it’s about why we gather around it.
We gather to remember the gifts of life, to give thanks for them, and to recognize that all we have, even life itself, is grace.
The Bible tells us that gratitude is not just a feeling we have when life is going well — it is a practice, a discipline, a way of living.
For instance, in Deuteronomy 26, the people of Israel are instructed to bring their first fruits to the temple. And before they settle down to enjoy the harvest, they are told to remember their story. They remember slavery in Egypt, the cries of their ancestors, God’s mighty hand leading them to freedom, and the gift of the land and its abundance. Out of those memories, they bring their offering to God. Gratitude flows from remembering who they are and where they’ve come from.
I think that’s a powerful reminder for us today. Thanksgiving isn’t just about our personal blessings, though those matter — it’s also about remembering the larger story we belong to.
Here in Hawaii, that means remembering the gifts of this land and the people who have cared for it long before us. It means being mindful of the farmers who grow the taro and watercress, the fishermen who brought in the catch, the grocery workers who stocked the shelves, and all those whose labor makes our feast possible. Gratitude opens our eyes to the interconnected web of life.
I once heard someone describe gratitude as “finding the blessings that are hiding in plain sight.” For example, when you sit in traffic on H-1, frustrated at the slowdown, maybe gratitude notices the mountains in the distance, or the fact that you’re in a car that runs. When you’re anxious about a doctor’s report, maybe gratitude notices the nurse who greets you with kindness, or the friend who drives you to your appointment. Gratitude doesn’t deny a difficult reality — it gives us strength to face it.
On this Thanksgiving Day holiday, as many of us anticipate a delicious turkey dinner, it’s good to be reminded that even the best meal cannot fill the deepest hunger of our hearts. We hunger for love. We hunger for belonging. We hunger for peace. We hunger for a world where no one goes hungry, and all creation is healed.
As we gather around our tables, let us remember that all of life is a gift from God. The food before us, the people beside us, the air we breathe, the land and sea that sustain us, even the challenges that form our character — all of it is grace. And let us give thanks not just with our words, but with our lives.
The Rev. Peter Wallace is vicar at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Aiea.
