Yes, Virginia, There Will Be Thanksgiving This Year

"Bah, Humbug!" OK, maybe those two words are supposed to be reserved for next month but who knows ... maybe Ebenezer Scrooge said it first at Thanksgiving before he said it at Christmas?
Thanksgiving 2008 might seem like a good time for us to finally join Scrooge's "Bah Humbug" choir. Really, is there anything to be thankful for this Thanksgiving? The economy is down; unemployment is up; and Wall Street is like a Disney roller coaster ride - very high one day and dipping very low the next. Is there anything to be thankful for this Thanksgiving? Housing is in a slump; health care needs a jump; alternate energy needs a bump; while our national debt is in the dump.
And just when I can afford gas again ($1.90 a gallon) the car makers can't afford to make cars anymore! Is there anything to be thankful for this Thanksgiving?
I got a letter from my insurance company saying they won't pay for my cholesterol medicine. I got a statement from my retirement account showing funny little brackets that indicated my retirement funds were sinking like the Titanic. Is there anything to be thankful for this Thanksgiving?
With all the hard hits, all the frightening financial forecasts and all the negative nightly news, can there be any response to Thanksgiving this year other than "Bah, Humbug?"
Maybe you are familiar with the classic newspaper editorial "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus." The editorial was written as a response to an 8-year-old's question about the existence of Santa Claus. What would we say to Virginia today if she asked whether there would be a Thanksgiving this year in such tough times? I know what I would tell her, "Yes, Virginia, there will be a Thanksgiving this year."
Is it even possible to be thankful during tough times? The pilgrims who started this annual day of giving thanks thought so. It has been said that the pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts ...nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. Since President George Washington, on Oct. 3, 1789, made Thanksgiving Day a designated holiday, Americans have never ceased to observe this day of giving thanks whether the times were good, whether we were fighting a war or whether times were bad. There has always been something to be thankful for.
Granted, a thankless heart is the real Scrooge of Thanksgiving. If you can read this article right now, you can give thanks for your eyesight - there are about 1 million blind adults in America who can't read this article. Even if you don't have turkey and dressing with all the fixings on Thanksgiving Day, you can give thanks for whatever you eat because by the time you read this sentence, 200 people have died of starvation. And although the problems and needs in your life are very real, most people on the planet would trade places with you in a heartbeat to have the blessings that come from living in America.
The Bible says in Psalm 92:1, "It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord." There is something beneficial about taking the time to count our blessings. But blessings don't always show up on a bank statement. We can give thanks for our family, our friends, our food, our home, our health (even if your health is poor, at least your name is not in another section of this newspaper called the obituaries), our homeland, America, our faith and the list goes on and on. If we pause to review our blessings, the "Bah, Humbug" blues will be replaced with an attitude of gratitude.
Maybe you still won't be able to say, "I'm too blessed to be stressed," but you can say "Thank you, God, that I have something to be thankful for."
Yes, Virginia, there will be a Thanksgiving this year!