Thanksgiving: A Secular Holiday?

On Monday, I re-posted a blog entry from a couple of years ago.  The topic was basically the secularization of Thanksgiving.  What prodded me to write it was that it was increasingly bothering me how much people say how thankful we are without really expressing that the thanks go to God.

I hate to be picky, and I know that even people who are truly thankful to God don't have to say it constantly just for my benefit.  It's really between each of us and God, anyway.  When you see what I'm griping about today, you'll really think I'm getting picky.  Well here it is.

The Mini Page.  Yeah, that's right, I'm peeved at The Mini Page, the dear old standby of the daily newspaper.  In years gone by I praised The Mini Page for informative features on the pilgrims and accurate history of their journey.  I used it in school for years and years.

So when I read this year's Thanksgiving Mini Page, something didn't ring true.  The following things were enumerated for children to be thankful for:

• Be thankful for school
• Be thankful for flowers
• Be thankful school is nearby
• Be thankful for school workers
• Be thankful for books
• Be thankful for running water
• Be thankful for clean water
• Be thankful for swimming pools
• Be thankful for boats
• Be thankful for bathrooms
• Be thankful for toilet paper
• Be thankful for our blue planet

So WHO do we thank for all these things?
How easy would it be to say, "Like the pilgrims, we have so much to thank God for."  But I'm not really trying to be critical of The Mini Page.  The author has to try hard not to be offensive, and it's not her job to provide religious training.  But it certainly makes me mindful how easy it is to fall into the trap of being thankful to no one in particular.  And how easy it is to intentionally include God whenever we offer thanks for even the smallest blessings.

And yes, thank you God for toilet paper.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful celebration of this holiday with God at the center.