Give thanks anyway

Martina McBride’s song “Anyway” says: “You can spend your whole life buildin’ somethin’ from nothin’; one storm can come and blow it all away. Build it anyway. You can chase a dream that seems so out of reach and you know it might not come your way. Dream it anyway. This world’s gone crazy and it’s hard to believe that tomorrow will be better than today. Believe it anyway. You can love someone with all your heart for all the right reasons and in a moment, they can choose to walk away. Love ‘em anyway. You can pour your soul out singing a song you believe in that tomorrow they’ll forget you ever sang. Sing it anyway.” The chorus of “Anyway” says: “God is great, but sometimes life ain’t good. When I pray, it doesn’t always turn out like I think it should, but I do it anyway.”

McBride shared about her song, “The part about believing tomorrow will be better than today was especially meaningful to me to write because I have a tendency to hear the news or read some kind of article, whether it is about terrorism or global warming or whatever, and I get really scared and nervous about our future.  So that line is especially helpful and meaningful to me; it helps me remember that we’re all part of a bigger plan, and that we must have faith in the future, and it isn’t all gloom and doom.”

The apostle Paul wrote a thank you note to the Philippians in which he expressed, “I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need.” Paul’s attitude could be another stanza in “Anyway,” maybe something like: “Sometimes you might be going hungry and in need, and think there is nothing to be thankful for. Give thanks anyway. Sometimes you might be well-fed and have plenty, and think there is no reason to be thankful because you’ve achieved it all on your own. Give thanks anyway.”

“Give thanks anyway” is not meant to be a throw-away line or a meaningless platitude, nor does it ignore the very real needs faced by many of our neighbors today. “Give thanks anyway” is an honest admission that “God is great, but sometimes life ain’t good.” “Give thanks anyway” is a reminder not to neglect God, either when we’ve got it so bad we wonder where God is or when we’ve got it so good we start thinking we’ve achieved it all on our own and, of course, we deserve it. This Thanksgiving, when life is uncertain and scary, let us “Give thanks anyway.” And, then, let us channel our gratitude into our efforts to help our neighbors who find it “hard to believe that tomorrow will be better than today.”

Philip Gladden is a retired minister who lives in Wallace.