Thanksgiving

This past week we had the Thanksgiving holidays. The celebration caused me to reflect some on purpose of our holiday. From the name of the holiday it's clear that we should be focused on giving thanks. Everything we have comes from the Lord and so the thanks rightly should go to Him. On Thanksgiving day I was at my roommate's family's house (because home is little far for me to go to just for a few days) and as we ate and had fun I thought of the things that I'm thankful for. I'm thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for His Atoning sacrifice. I'm thankful for my knowledge of Him and how it has shaped my life. I'm thankful for the words of God in the Book of Mormon, Bible and Doctrine and Covenants and that I live in a land that has laws protecting my right to worship God in the way I wish. I'm thankful for my family, even though they're far from me now, and for the love and support they give me. I'm thankful for amazing friends. I'm thankful for a lot.

Even though this holiday was great for me, in other parts of the country people didn't fair as well. I read in the newspaper about the recent deaths, fights and all the craziness of "Black Friday". Right after giving thanks for everything, many left their gratitude at home, put on their greedy hats and went out into the world of "stuff" ready to shop and get their hands on all of the possessions they wanted regardless of the cost. I read one story of a Jamaican man trampled to death at a Wal-Mart in New York. How do you just step on another human being? The other customers were so uncaring about this person that they not only walked all over him until he had died, but they had to be forcibly removed from the Wal-Mart so that police and employees could get to and move his body. Is getting "stuff" for cheap really so important? More important than human life? Just a day before others may have been giving thanks for the presence of this son, brother, husband, friend in their lives, and now they lament the loss. We shouldn't let gratitude overcome our greed. and rule our lives. We should be thankful for what we have and let thanks rule our lives.