The Importance of Gratitude

"What are you thankful for?" This is a question that I have been asking myself often lately. As many of you know, especially if you came to any of my classes last week, the American holiday of Thanksgiving was celebrated on November 26th. Thanksgiving is one of the most important holidays in the United States, second only to Christmas and celebrated in almost exactly the same way. For me, this day is very significant because it is centered on a concept that I believe is extremely valuable: since its inception, this holiday has been an occasion for people to reflect carefully on the blessings in their life.


The celebration originated because the Pilgrims, who were among the first Europeans to settle in North America, desired to thank God for helping them to survive their first winter in the new land. And that first year on the Western side of the Atlantic Ocean had unquestionably been a year of hardship and challenges. Imagine for a moment the things that the Pilgrims had gone through before that point: they had left their families, friends and possessions behind in Europe because they were being persecuted for their religious beliefs. In other words, the way that they wanted to practice their religion was not acceptable by British law at the time. Their options were to either keep their beliefs a secret or abandon everything that they had in order to seek religious freedom elsewhere. Making a new life on the other side of an ocean was the option that offered them hope, but also involved a great amount of sacrifice.


To make matters worse, half of these settlers did not survive the first year. Remember that there were no houses waiting for them when they arrived; there were no markets for them to go and purchase food. In fact, the Pilgrims had to continue living on their ship, The Mayflower, until four months after their arrival, when there were finally structures for them to live in. That first winter they spent living on the ship was harsh: lack of a sufficient food supply meant malnutrition was a serious problem and many of the settlers also died of illness. From the moment they arrived in the New World, they were faced with the task of completely building a new life for themselves in addition to meeting their most basic daily needs.


Thinking about the Pilgrims' circumstances from this perspective might make it awfully hard to find anything for them to be thankful for. But things eventually changed for the better, and that is what they chose to focus on. By the end of their first year, in fact, the Pilgrims had experienced many blessings: they had escaped religious persecution, they had been able to grow enough food in the summertime to survive on, and they had made peace and found friendship with the Native Americans. Their new Indian friends had taught them many things that had contributed to their survival, such as how to grow corn, which plants were poisonous, and which plants could be used as medicine. The Pilgrims could not ignore these blessings from God, and so that autumn they chose to celebrate them.


Nowadays for Thanksgiving, Americans who are Christians--like me and my family--go to church and give thanks to God for his provision. People who are not Christians also find other ways to express their appreciation for the good things in their lives. No matter how you celebrate, though, I think the Pilgrims can teach us all a valuable lesson about gratitude. Not only does their story remind me of the importance of taking time to think about all of the ways in which I have been blessed, but it is also a reminder to be thankful in spite of the challenges, grief, or hardships that I may be facing. That is a habit that I believe should be practiced no matter what country you are from.

▼▽▼▼【講師】Melanie先生のバックナンバー━━━━━━━━
・【An Oregonian in Tokyo, Part 2】2009.11.06 (Fri)