Giving Thanks in a Broken World
As Thanksgiving approaches, we find ourselves again surrounded by reminders to “give thanks.” For many, this season carries the warmth of family gatherings, familiar recipes, and quiet gratitude for life’s blessings. Yet for others—and perhaps for most of us—it comes with a deeper ache.
We look around and see a world that feels fractured: wars rage, neighbors struggle, families grieve, and the weight of uncertainty presses in on our daily lives.
How do we give thanks in a world that is so broken?
Scripture does not call us to give thanks for all things, but rather in all things (1 Thessalonians 5:18). That small preposition makes all the difference. Gratitude in the midst of sorrow is not denial—it is defiance. It is the stubborn, holy act of declaring that God’s goodness is still real, even when the world’s pain seems louder.
The Psalms often model this paradox. The psalmists cry out in lament—naming their grief, confusion, and anger before God—and yet, almost in the same breath, they proclaim, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever.” Thanksgiving and lament are not opposites; they are companions. Both are ways of telling the truth.
This year, perhaps our Thanksgiving tables will hold both laughter and tears. Perhaps our prayers will be softer, more aware of our dependence on mercy. And maybe that’s exactly where true thanksgiving begins—not in pretending all is well, but in trusting that God is present and faithful in the midst of all that is not.
So let us give thanks—not because the world is whole, but because God is.
Not because our hearts are unbroken, but because Christ meets us in our brokenness and whispers hope.
Not because everything is easy, but because grace is still enough.
May your Thanksgiving be honest, tender, and filled with the quiet joy of knowing that even here, even now, God is with us.
With gratitude and hope,
Rev. Dr. David Dubovich