“Perhaps it takes a purer faith to praise God for unrealized blessings than for those we once enjoyed or those we enjoy now.”

A.W. Tozer

How do we give real thanks this year when our culture expects us to be ever-shiny and abundantly grateful? The holidays are hard enough already.

The empty seats at the Thanksgiving table are painful reminders of those we have loved and lost. The closing of the year highlights all of the things that should have happened but did not. Family gatherings call to our minds wrecked expectations. And for those of us with anxiety and depression, the pressure to be merry and bright can be crushing. 

And this year?

Over 250,000 American lives lost to COVID-19. Millions of jobs gone. Routines halted. Plans cancelled. Families separated. Communities dismantled.

We are all grieving. There doesn’t seem to be a lot…