If you are a surviving turkey, I suspect this comes natural this time of year. For the rest of us, it’s easy to get caught up in all the negative things. Stuff that went wrong. Stuff that happened that shouldn’t have. Stuff that didn’t happen that should have. Painful stuff. Bad stuff. Just plain too much stuff.

Life can come with some heavy baggage. It’s okay – it’s even a good thing – to cry when we need to, to mourn what we’ve lost, to grieve out the sadness of whatever hurt us so badly. But it’s not okay to wrap ourselves in our grief and pain and refuse to let them go. Grief, anger, pain, all those feelings that come in bad times, have a rightful place but they are not meant to be a wallowing hole. A season, not a year.

This is why, when we hurt, it’s so important to look away for a moment from the painful toward the joyful. We need to ponder the sunrise. We need to enjoy our favorite TV show. We need to laugh at a fond memory. We need – we desperately need – to focus on all the good around us and in our lives. Otherwise, we lose all perspective and a healthy grief becomes a debilitating depression.

Thanksgiving is a time for counting our blessings and reflecting on the good. It’s a time of gratitude for all the good in life. It’s not a naive pretense but a solemn remembrance that good still exists and that there is more to life than our present sorrow. This isn’t something nice we do; it’s one of our deepest human needs. We need to be able to focus on the good or we lose our way.

This is how we are made. Now, I personally am convinced that we are made by and in the image of God. This need to see the good and express gratitude is a feature of His design in us. Perhaps you believe that being the offspring of countless generations of humans that managed to not get eaten is what makes you into the human you are. But either way, the need to express gratitude and to count the good in our lives is very, very real. You can thank natural selection if you like; I will thank the Almighty. Both of us will be better for the being thankful.

Tomorrow, when you’re carving up that lovely turkey, remember he lived a pretty good life being well fed on a farm. Don’t forget the folks that humanely did what you are glad you didn’t have to do to get that turkey on that plate. Don’t turn a blind eye to the suffering of others (don’t worry, the turkey never knew what happened) but don’t stare only at the suffering.

Remember the good. The warm bed you woke up in. The comfy house, the noisy family, the cranberry sauce all over the rug – all the good little blessings. Remember the good. The friend who helped you out, the stranger than made sure you were okay after you fell, the little kid that gave you a special picture he drew just for you – all the good bigger blessings. Remember the good. The successful surgery, your new spouse, the love of a child, the job that provides for your financial needs, the friends that don’t laugh at your dreams, your dreams – all the good, better blessings.

Remember most of all, whether you believe in Him or not, God loves you. The best blessing of all is God’s love. He sends the sunshine and the rain. He’s there when we laugh and when we cry. He listens when we scream our pain and He loves us when we can’t love ourselves. He’s there when we don’t think anyone is. He’s there when we don’t notice.

God loves you.

Happy Thanksgiving.