November 25, 2014: Gratitude

During my listening and speaking class today, we found that there was some time left over - a very rare occurrence in MY class. To fill the last five minutes of class, I started a group conversation about Thanksgiving traditions. I rather casually mentioned that Thanksgiving is a day when some families go around the table before or after the meal and name one thing in their life for which they are thankful; I also mentioned that many of the Christian families offer thanks to God for all His blessings on this special day, just like our traditional tale states that the Pilgrims did during that first harvest.

After I dismissed the class, one of my more thoughtful Middle Eastern students - a true old-soul-in-a-young-body gentleman - stayed after class to chat, as he often does. We often get into deep discussions about abstract ideas and meaning of life topics, so I was expecting something profound as usual - which it was, but not in the way I expected. He politely asked me to clarify what I had so off-handedly mentioned about giving thanks:

"Teacher, you said that Christians give thanks to God on Thanksgiving. Why only this time? We give thanks to God everyday."

I gently explained that, of course, we give thanks at other times. But then I started thinking. Do we? How much of this manifests itself in our prayer life? Do we give thanks at other times? 

We could learn a lot from our Muslim friends - to give thanks every day for each day of life we are given.

Through my conversations with my Muslim and Near East students, I have come to a greater understanding of the God of Abraham, and I see certain passages in the Old Testament in a new light as a result. Of course, the Christians are covered under the NEW Covenant, but we can also see traces of the Old Covenant among the peoples who still follow the ancient traditions of the near East. I have had some interesting discussions with my students, and I am still amazed and inspired by their absolute reverence for the Creator of All Things.

And their Gratitude.