Thankful To Give Thanks

Thanksgiving 2020 will be a Thanksgiving holiday like no other.

But one tradition will continue to reign true for many families: the roundtable giving of thanks.

In many families, before the annual Thanksgiving dinner begins, there is a requirement for each friend and family member in attendance to speak up and share what they are thankful for on this special day.

The most common answers are, “I’m thankful for my family,” or, “I’m thankful for this meal that we are about to share together.”

And those are wonderful answers! The combination of family and delicious food has been an extravagant blessing since the beginning of time.

But 2020 is – as we all know – a different year.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Thanksgiving celebrations across the globe will look different.

Some families that are used to spending the holiday together will not have the opportunity this year, mainly because it is not particularly safe to travel.

Some families will not have the chance to see each other because while they might be willing to fly, they cannot afford airfare at this point.

Some families will not have the opportunity to spend the holiday together because an older member of the family – such as grandma or grandpa – are at high-risk of contracting the dangerous disease.

And some families, unfortunately, may have lost a loved one in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Albeit a difficult pill to swallow, it is important that we all be safe during this time, and if we do have family members that might be high-risk, we must take caution around the holidays, even if that means not seeing your beloved grandmother or even your parents.

Still, there is a silver lining.

And if you, your parents, your grandparents, your friends, or anyone close to you have the opportunity to even give thanks on this day, that is a blessing, especially in a year as troubled as this one.

Here are a few things that we can be thankful for in the year 2020:

Our Church
It has been difficult to not be able to worship in person for approaching a year, but Bishop Blake has taken it upon himself to continue being a responsible, God-driven leader in the Los Angeles community and globally. Bishop Blake will continue to implore all members of West Angeles to be safe and stay healthy, until the day comes when we can all congregate once again.
Technology!
How many Zoom or FaceTime or Skype calls have you had over the past eight months? Technology, now more than ever, has been vital to our society, and even if we are sick of seeing the younger generation – mainly our kids – glued to their screens, the cel phone, laptop, tablet and other devices have become invaluable during this time, giving us all the opportunity to get some much-needed face time with the ones we love, even if we can’t see them in-person.
Our Freedoms
While many of us in the United States chose not to travel for Thanksgiving, we were able to make that choice. There are many locales in the world where travel is banned, and the same freedoms are not given. Let’s be thankful that we were able to make smart decisions for ourselves and for our families. In addition, be thankful that just weeks ago, we were able to cast votes in the 2020 Presidential Election, which saw the most voter turnout in the history of our country, with over 150 million votes cast.