Thanksgiving Lesson
Thanksgiving Lessons remind us to embrace gratitude and share kindness every day.
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Thanksgiving Lesson
By Catherine Pulsifer, last updated October 21, 2024
Be inspired by this positive message written by James Russell Miller back in the early 1900s gives you thoughts to think about when it comes to the word Thanksgiving. There is a lesson in his words, one which applies today as much as it did back in the early 1900s.
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Positive Message - The Thanksgiving Lesson
Discover how James Russell Miller’s message brings inspiration and timeless wisdom about Thanksgiving.
Gladness and Thanksgiving
Gladness may not be thanksgiving. It certainly is not all of thanksgiving. One may have a heart bubbling with joy, without
a note of thanksgiving. The task of happiness is one to which we should all firmly set ourselves. To be miserable in this glorious world is most unfit. We should cultivate joyousness. But our present lesson is a larger and deeper one.
Thanksgiving as a Thought of God
Thanksgiving implies thought of God. One may be glad all the day and never think of God. Thanksgiving looks up with every
breath and sees God as Father from whom all blessings come. Thanksgiving is praise. The heart is full of gratitude. Every moment has something in it to inspire love. The lilies made Jesus think of his Father, for it was he who clothed them in beauty. The providence of our lives, if we think rightly of it, is simply God caring for us.
Gratitude Amid Hardships
Our circumstances may sometimes be hard, our experiences painful, and we may see nothing in them to make us glad. But faith teaches us that God is always good and always kind, whatever the present events may be. We may be thankful, therefore, even when we cannot be glad. Our hearts may be grateful, knowing that good will come to us even out of pain and loss. This is the secret of true thanksgiving. It thinks always of God and praises him for everything. The song never dies out in the heart, however little there may be in the circumstances of life to make us glad.
Thanksgiving: A Quality of Noble Life
Thanksgiving is a quality of all noble and unselfish life. No man is so unworthy as he who never cherishes the sentiment of gratitude, who receives life's gifts and favors and never gives back anything In return for all he gets.
Recognizing Everyday Gifts
Until we think seriously of it we do not begin to realize what we are receiving continually from those about us. None may give us money, or do for us things which the world counts gifts or favors, but these are not the best things. Our teachers are ever enriching us by the lessons they give us. Those who require hard tasks of us and severely demand of us the best we can do are our truest benefactors. "The man who gives me a new thought, enriches me. The man who puts iron into my blood, puts health into my blood. The man who in this world of snow and sleet keeps me moving, saves my life; and if the
movement be an upward and onward movement, every step is so much nearer the kingdom of heaven."
Embracing Life’s Challenges
Sometimes we complain of the hardness of our lives, that we have had so little of ease and luxury, that we have had to work so hard, bear so many burdens, and sometimes we let ourselves grow bitter and unthankful as we think of the severity of our experience. But ofttimes it has been in these very severities that we have got the richest qualities in our character. If we are living truly, serving God and following Christ, there is no event or experience for which we may not be thankful. Every voice of our lips should be praise. Every day of our years should be a thanksgiving day.
The Beauty of Thanksgiving
He who has learned the Thanksgiving lesson well has found the secret of a beautiful life. "Praise is comely," says the Hebrew poet. Comely means fit, graceful, pleasing, attractive. Ingratitude is never comely. The life that is always thankful is winsome, ever a joy to all who know it. The influence of an ever-praising life on those It touches is almost divine. The way to make others good is to be good yourself. The way to diffuse a spirit of thanksgiving is to be thankful yourself. A complaining spirit makes unhappiness everywhere.
Learning the Thanksgiving Lesson
How may we learn this Thanksgiving lesson? It comes not merely through a glad natural disposition. There are some favored
people who were born cheerful. They have in them a spirit of happiness which nothing ever quenches. They always see the bright side of things. They are naturally optimistic. But the true thanksgiving spirit is more than this. It is something which can take even an unhappy and an ungrateful spirit and make it new in its sweetness and beauty. It is something which can change discontent and complaining into praise, ingratitude into grateful, joyful trust. Christian thanksgiving is the life of Christ in the heart, transforming the disposition and the whole character.
Making Thanksgiving a Habit
Thanksgiving must be wrought into the life as a habit before it can become a fixed and permanent quality.
An occasional burst of praise in years of complaining is not all that is required. Songs on rare, sunshiny days, and no
songs when skies are cloudy will not make a life of gratitude. The heart must learn to sing always. This lesson is learned only when it becomes a habit that nothing can weaken. We must persist in being thankful. When we can see no reason for praise we must believe in the divine love and goodness and sing in the darkness.
Thanksgiving in Everyday Life
Thanksgiving has attained its rightful place in us only when it is part of all our days and dominates all our experiences. We
may call one day in the year Thanksgiving Day and fill it with song and gladness, remembering all the happy things we have enjoyed, all the pleasant events, all the blessings of our friendships, all our prosperities. But we cannot gather all our year's thanksgivings into any brightest day. We cannot leave today without thanks and then thank God tomorrow for today and tomorrow both.
Today's sunshine will not light tomorrow's skies. Every day must be a thanksgiving day for itself.
Related: Famous Thanksgiving Poems
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Summary of The Thanksgiving Lesson
A brief overview of the key themes and lessons from the Thanksgiving message.
In "The Thanksgiving Lesson" by James Russell Miller, the author explores the profound difference between mere gladness and true thanksgiving. He emphasizes that thanksgiving is inherently tied to an acknowledgment of God and His constant blessings. While one can be happy without gratitude, true thanksgiving involves recognizing and praising God for all aspects of life, even amidst hardships and challenges. This deeper form of gratitude maintains faith in God's goodness and kindness, encouraging a heart full of praise regardless of circumstances.
Miller also underscores that thanksgiving should be an integral part of one's character, cultivated as a habitual response to life. True thanksgiving goes beyond natural cheerfulness; it transforms even the most discontented spirit into one of joy and trust. A life of constant gratitude not only enhances personal well-being but also positively influences others. Miller concludes that every day should be lived as a thanksgiving day, with a persistent spirit of praise and recognition of God's enduring love and provision.
Related: Gratitude Poems
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About James Russell Miller
Learn about the life and contributions of Christian pastor and writer, James Russell Miller.
James Russell Miller (1840–1912) was a prominent Christian pastor, author, and devotional writer known for his insightful and inspirational teachings.
He was a Presbyterian minister and served as the editorial superintendent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication.
Miller wrote extensively on topics of faith, Christian living, and practical spirituality, aiming to offer readers comfort, guidance, and wisdom in their daily lives. His works, filled with timeless reflections,
continue to inspire readers with their messages of gratitude, kindness, and moral strength.
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The Poem - Thanksgiving Lessons
Written by Catherine Pulsifer this poem reflects on finding gratitude through faith, even in life's challenges.
In joy and gladness hearts may sing,
Yet true Thanksgiving’s a deeper thing,
It looks to God in every breath,
And finds His love in life and death.
In hardship's grip and sorrow's tear,
Gratitude sees His kindness clear,
For faith reveals a constant light,
In darkest days, a guiding sight.
Each day a gift, each moment praise,
In sunlit hours and cloudy haze,
A thankful heart, in every trial,
Turns pain into peace and grief into a smile.
So let us live with a grateful song,
In every heart where thanks belong,
For in this life of faith and love,
We find our blessings from above.
Related: Thanksgiving Poems
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More Positive Messages
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We hope James Russell Miller's positive message about Thanksgiving gives you words to reflect upon and hopefully make you realize that every day is a day of Thanksgiving, not just the official Thanksgiving Day.
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